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Building Your Profit: Three Strategies to Turn Your Brand into the Tiffany’s of Your Market

When your eye catches the distinct shade of the blue box labeled Tiffany & Co., your mind immediately connects quality and craftsmanship to the contents. Tiffany’s introduced the blue box shortly after opening in 1837, and to this day the coveted box is only available with the purchase of a Tiffany’s item. The value of the brand is so recognizable that when you go to the Tiffany’s Web site one of the frequently asked questions is, “Where can I get a Tiffany’s box?” The brand is as desirable as the contents.

In the recruiting arena, do your agents, and the candidates you seek, value and support the services associated with your brand, or does your brand blend into the vague mix of agency ambiguity? Are you the Tiffany’s blue boxes, or the indistinguishable brown bag that is overused and under-noticed?

Companies spend a tremendous amount of money building brands. Validating the unique branding tools within our industry should be a widespread practice, yet few initiatives drive agents to use our tools. The result has been notoriously low adoption rates. Despite certain costs associated with affiliation, our industry does not require anything from our agents to become part of our brand.

Managers have been ineffective at getting agents to use the unique tools available. When agents don’t use the tools, it waters down the affiliation of a particular brand and results in the customer believing every brand looks alike.

As leaders of an organization we’ve consistently failed to substantiate the value of our brand by insisting our agents use our unique tools. Requiring agents to show their affiliation through the use of branding tools demands leadership to focus on three issues:

• Manager buy-in of the tools’ value and how those tools promote success.
• Clear communication at the time of new agent affiliation concerning expectation onthe use of tools
• Ongoing training to demonstrate how tools enable agents to differentiate and articulate the value proposition to the customer.

Managers Must Buy into the Value of Tools

Historically, the real estate industry has not required agents to use their affiliate’s branding tools, despite the knowledge that the tools enhance performance. The promotion and advertising of industry brands are often misunderstood and neglected by the managers and agents who use them. In order for managers to appreciate the value of the brand, and how tools can impact performance, conversations must begin from the top. Leadership must clarify company philosophy with managers and demonstrate how branding tools substantiate value and increase productivity.

The apparent disconnect between the tools that are available for use, and the manager’s delivery of those tools, stems less from complacency than from a lack of understanding in the benefits they offer. When managers fail to internalize how the tools benefit the agent, they are not as likely to promote using the available tools and inherently fail the agent by omitting a key instrument for enhanced performance.

The obligation of explicitly training managers on the use of the tools and the value they deliver falls on leadership. Once you can trust that the manager buys into the company philosophy and appreciates how the tools affect profitability, you should expect the manager to make a good case for the tools, and demand a high adoption rate.

Communicating Expectations at Recruitment

Hiring the right people means orienting them to your expected practices and aligning them with the aims of your brand. Conversations about what those aims are should begin before the candidate has an opportunity to affiliate with you. Focusing on company beliefs from the start to make your philosophy clear to the candidate shows the importance you hold in communicating and implementing your affiliate’s values.
When managers understand the value of tools, and can demonstrate how those tools impact success, they have a powerful recruiting mechanism. When you bring a new agent aboard and expect anything less than the use of your tools, you are negating the value of something you know enhances productivity.

No agent should be hired without a clear understanding that your affiliate’s tools will be used. Failure to establish these expectations at the time of recruitment opens the door to later incompatibility issues. Tools should be positioned as a value proposition enabling recruits to recognize the potent opportunity your affiliation offers. By discussing the resources and the rationale for using them up front, you affirm how agents can use the tools in the field to demonstrate their value and collect higher fees for their services.

Training for Differentiation and Articulation of Value Proposition

In an overcrowded marketplace the unique and desirable vision that a company adopts is the basis for differentiation. The multitude of options available to the customer requires that agents must be able to articulate their value and place themselves as the person uniquely qualified to get the job done As representatives of their affiliate’s brand, agents must be trained to clearly present to the customer how their services are different than the competitions and how the agent’s specific tools will bring about a successful transaction. Unfortunately, too many agents do not know how to communicate their value.

When agents understand that supporting the company brand is a means to increased productivity, they recognize that adopting the tools becomes key to articulating their value proposition. Agents that position themselves as the provider of value-added services, and articulate this clearly to the customer, are less likely to succumb to the increasing pressure to lower fees. Using their tools to create a presentation that demonstrates how they will sell a home makes them more convincing to potential sellers and more likely to command higher commissions.

With a manager that now buys into the profitability of using tools, training must be provided on how to use those tools. Training should emphasize how the agent uses the tools to differentiate service and articulate value package opportunities. This training should include all levels of agent experience and target specific technological needs. It must be provided on an ongoing basis and in an accessible manner, be it the virtual classroom, mobile computer lab, or on site.

Insisting agents use the tools available begins when there is a company culture that assumes ownership of the affiliate’s brand and everything it represents. It starts with leadership and ends with the agent. Has leadership properly conveyed the company philosophy, and is alignment with that philosophy forced or cooperative? Does the manager value what the branding tools can do and implicitly believe they enhance performance and increase productivity? If your manager cannot affirm these questions he will be incapable of serving as a positive advocate for the value of your tools.

By communicating expectations to new recruits right from the start you significantly increase the adoption rate of tools. Candidates recognize the power of your affiliate and the opportunities you offer as a means to increase profitability. Providing ongoing training to agents at all levels of experience on how to differentiate service and articulate value ensures the tools will continue to be used. When the training and practices of your affiliate constantly reinforce the message of your brand, so will the delivery of services to the customer.

When Tiffany’s first opened their doors in 1837, they made front-page news with a revolutionary concept for that time: Every single item for sale was marked with a non-negotiable price. To this day people understand that Tiffany’s does not put its merchandise on sale. The customer trusts that the purchase is worth the value of the brand.

Do your agents substantiate the value of your brand? Tiffany’s does not, and never has, discounted their brand. Can you say the same?

Are you the Tiffany’s of your marketplace or the company whose name has no value to remember?

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Bringing the Magic of Disney to Real Estate Recruiting Practices

Every year,Walt Disney Company screens and interviews 71, 000 applicants for 1,500 job openings. How do they select the kinds of people who won't just wear the costume, but can become the image that Walt dreamt and created ?

When it comes to the selection process, the real estate industry could learn a lot from the masters at Disney. Most of us realize that Disney is not an inexpensive or frivolous luxury. It takes both time and money to enjoy the good natured land of Mickey and Company- and go back again and again. Disney hires people with the ability to perpetuate the magic that brings the dream to life. What can the real estate industry learn from Disney's recruiting practices?

The magic starts the moment a candidate walks in the door.

Walking into the conference area for the information session, you immediately know you are in Disney. From the pictures of Captain Hook on the walls to the name badge complete with Disney characters, the surroundings reflect the company culture, and its spirit of fun and adventure. The orientation focuses on the company philosophy and beliefs, which are solid, disciplined and without compromise. Candidates are steeped in the corporate culture- Disney's heritage, quality standards, shared values, and the traits and behavior necessary to be successful in its environment.

Is the door to your organization as welcoming ?

When a candidate visits your office, do they feel the magic and excitement of your company? Do your candidates get a sense that their dreams are withen reach when they learn more about your culture ?

At Disney, candidates go on a journey showing what it is like to be hired.

They learn about Disney's culture, selection policies, training, communication and care. Disney's "Pixie Dust Formula" is designed to be both informative and fun. Candidates get a good feeling about the company - good enough to come back to the park as a guest - even if they're not hired.

As a Disney employee, candidates assume an on-the-job role. The idea is to cast the best candidate for each character. Standards are presented in a video that discusses every aspect of what it takes to work at Disney. At this point, about 10% of the candidates eliminate themselves because they cannot commit to the requirements.

Are your standards as uncompromising?

Do you live up to the commitments set forth in your own business ? Do you make your standards clear the minute you meet a candidate ? Or do you bend your own rules to hire someone you hope will fit in later ? How do you communicate and implement your company's vision and values, not just to candidates and new hires, but throughout your organization ?

Disney seeks to hire detail-minded, team players who are concerned with whether a customer is really happy, and care about their fellow "cast members" . They seek people who are not afraid to take risks and stand up for what they believe is right.

After an "audition" every cast member goes through a "Disney Traditions" process. No one is exempt - from the newest vice president to the minimum wage employee. All are required to participate. In this way, everyone is "Disney-ized" with the same buy-in from the start of their role in the Disney culture.

Do you communicate your expectations as clearly ?

Does your management participate in your company training programs ? Too often, real estate managers feel they "know all that stuff" or think it would take too much time away from the job to participate in a sales training program. The message gets sent that the training may be important for "them" but not for "us". Do you allow your priorities to get muddled - and send the wrong message to your associates ?

The Disney selection process culminates with a walk through "The Tunnel" where the magic happens.

This underground area of Disney's backstage is where the employees are transformed into those characters whose job is to make others happy. They become part of the magic that guests from around the world come to experience. The characters who were educated to feel good about one another greet each other with hugs.

The Disney characters ascend from the tunnel with a clear understanding that they embody the culture that makes guests want to come back again and again. They smile, laugh and hold hands while walking to their assignments, with an unwavering sense of purpose and commitment to Disney's vision.

Do the people in your company show this kind of spirit ?

Do you have a first-name, open door policy that allows your people to interact with each other in a way that makes them feel good about their role, their customers, and each other?

Disney's phenomenal success and outstanding selection process comes down to the standards that set and how they select people who fit that model.

If you're sincerely looking to be the best in your marketplace bring the magic of Walt Disney to your organization by selecting only those who embody the vision of your company - without compromise.

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Exploding the Recruiting Challenge Myth
September 1999,Volume XII, Number 9

According to recent studies and anecdotal observation, the industry is having trouble recruiting new qualified people into the business. Blamed somewhat on the unusually strong economy and low unemployment rate, numerous brokerage firms report that the industry is challenged as never before to attract and develop new comers to the industry.

However, one of the nation's foremost consultants on the topic of recruiting and developing of new people, Steve Friedman of Recruiting Services, Inc. , disputes that there is any problem with finding available talent. Friedman has worked with several hundred of the nation's leading brokerage firms, including Arvida Realty, Long and Foster and Prudential California Realty, in designing and implementing successful recruiting programs.

"One of the industry's biggest problems is that we believe what we have created,"Friedman said. "We continually try to recruit experienced people even when we know they are the least profitable and are often short-term in their dedication to the goals of the brokerage. We don't focus on new people because we don't feel comfortable recruiting them. We are leaving the field of new talent to other industries, not even trying to compete.

" We try advertising and yet we know that it doesn't work very well. If it did, neither I nor others would have any work. Recruiting does not function when it is a shotgun effort. It has to be a well thought out, well implemented program."

According to Friedman, new people are far more intelligent than we give them credit for and are more career-oriented. They want substantial information about what a brokerage will do to support their careers and how it will help them through the start-up period. These new people particularly desire information about the differences between company A and company B.

"The lack of differentiation is startling," Friedman said"Too many companies really don't give a thought how eah community represents different recruiting opportunities and challenges. The recruiting effort must reflect the community. A community of young Web lords is not the place to recruit"Baby Boomer" sales associates. They will not have the networks nor will they have the "feel" for the customer base. Each manager should first get to understand the community in which he operates and then target the kinds of people who live and relate to that community."

Friedman indicated that when managers and broker/owners are encouraged to pursue tightly focused recruiting plan based on community, the results can be immediate.

"The myth of a lack of available talent is just that-a myth," he explained. "There is plenty of talent available and there are great opportunities for those wanting to enter the field. The problem is the lack of an organized, disciplined plan for finding new talent, presenting a real business opportunity to them and working to determine their business goals and objectives. For those who don't organize their efforts, there will be a shortage of talent. For the talent will go to firms that offer real opportunity and know how to communicate it."

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