How To Compete with Big Boys?

Question: I’m a relatively new agent and would like to compete against the "big boys" in my local area. What’s the most feasible, effective marketing scheme and the best way to advertise or market my listings?

The best way to grow a business is not to compete with the "big boys" but on the contrary, to use guerrilla style marketing and avoid direct competition!

Big boys have deep pockets and a lot of muscle in areas where you are quite weak. Direct competition can completely deplete your limited resources and diminish your already fragile self-confidence.

Before you decide to compete with the big boys, take a closer look at your long term strategy and see if direct competition is indeed necessary. Usually it is much more productive to select a small niche, overlooked by your bigger competitors, and set out to dominate your own small pond where the big fish aren’t swimming.

If you are forced to compete, however, you need to find out:

In what areas is your competition doing better than you in the eyes of your potential clients? You may not be able to match everything they do, but at least be aware so that you know precisely what you are against.

In what areas are you and your competitors performing just the same in the eyes of your prospects? You might be surprised by how similar you are.

In what areas are you doing better than the competition in the eyes of your potential clients? If nothing is significantly different, you need to become significantly different! In what areas that matter to your clients and customers COULD you do better than others?

After that research you will be able to communicate to your target market how you differ from others – and that’s the key to successful competition. Concentrate on establishing a personal relationship with your prospects early in the buying/selling process. Demonstrate your knowledge by educating them and show how much you care by being involved with your local community. No matter how much money the other guys spend on advertising, no matter how flashy their marketing materials, you can OWN your niche and be virtually untouchable there if you focus and work smart.