Brand Yourself and Your Department for the Future
What should we be doing to set ourselves up for success in 2025? While we are already more than halfway through February, it isn’t too late to get a strategic plan in place to capitalize on what we hope will be a busy summer selling season. Many parts of the country are getting pummeled with snow, so spring seems a long way off at the moment. But all indicators are that we have some pent-up housing demand. Keeping Current Matters reported that a recent NerdWallet survey says that 15% of people in the US plan to buy a home this year, versus 11% in 2024. It has been hovering between 9-11% since 2020. Maybe people are finally making their peace with higher interest rates.
Broaden your scope.
That said, the hangover from the holidays has worn off, and it’s time to get down to business. And I don’t mean doing the same old thing you did last year. We will see more company closures, and mergers and acquisitions this year, so Relocation Directors need to step it up in a big way. That means stopping focusing solely on corporate relocation. There just isn’t enough business for everyone to go around. People are buying and selling houses in different ways. Broker-to-broker referrals, online leads, and local affinity programs are the ticket to your success. There are ancillary partnerships that can also legally generate revenue. So, that comes down to branding you and your department differently so you don’t narrowly define your services.
Branding matters.
I know it's hard to get away from the monikers of Relocation Director and Relocation Department, but it’s time. We may have narrowly defined our role in such a way that it now proves detrimental to our future. If we can’t show that we are open to creating and managing new revenue streams, we might find ourselves perceived as expendable by our leadership. If your marketing department manages your company’s online leads, you have a problem. If you have the right staff, your department is literally set up to manage referrals and leads of any kind. You should be handling any and all company-generated business.
We must learn to be more literal in how we define our roles. I was recently struck by the genius branding of two different products. The first I came across while on some business trip somewhere. The hotel products that were offered were shampoo, conditioner, and hand lotion. It was called ‘This Works’. It is a genius branding effort. What is wrong with literally branding something the way you want the end user to perceive it? Another I recently bought was a makeup line called ‘Thank Me Later.’ In a time where there is a lot of competition for the end user’s attention, why not get creative? Tell them what you want them to believe.
Make it easy.
As a person with a marketing and public relations degree, I have always had a heightened sensitivity to how products and services are positioned. People shouldn’t have to try and figure out what we do. That’s the beauty of taglines, program names, and effective logos. They can help tell the story if the actual company name doesn’t get the job done. That is why so many brokerages use real estate, realty, or Realtors in their name.
Did you know there are seven types of logos?
Wordmark logos
Lettermark (or monogram) logos
Pictorial mark logos
Abstract logos
Emblem logos
Mascot logos
Combination logos
I will not define all the different types here, but when you see them, you know them. A mascot logo, for example, is the Colonel Sanders KFC logo. An emblem logo is the National Football League logo. If you can look at a product and tell what it is, the name or logo doesn’t have to be so descriptive, such as Coca-Cola. The tricky thing about a stand-alone logo or program name is that you may need a tagline if it is not a known product or service or it isn’t clear what we are offering. We aren’t selling a thing; we are selling services, so no physical product represents that service.
For example, when you see the Apple (pictorial) logo, you know that it represents a tech company. Apple was initially called Apple Computer, Inc. But they evolved into just Apple after they became a household name. That’s why I recommend we be pretty literal in our program or department naming at the start. If a logo is to accompany it, then use a tagline if it is not a defined logo or acronym.
When you think about what your end game is for your department, think of a name that is generic enough that it doesn’t limit you but is also specific enough to let people externally know you mean business. Change your title to reflect the new department name. Don’t worry about how the name is perceived internally in your company. You can explain it to the agents and leadership. They will respect the fact that you are expanding the business opportunities that will ultimately benefit them. Explore words like client, corporate, business development, programs, services, resources, initiative, etc. Any combination of those words is a good start, but the sky’s the limit.
It’s not a yes or no question.
By hiring and training staff to handle various types of business, you can become immune to fluctuations that may affect one business line, such as corporate relocation. By looking at niche marketing opportunities, it can spread the risk. Creating a program targeting seniors, first-time buyers, or credit unions is a great way to offer services to groups that are typically very loyal.
If you are a one-person shop, consider employee sharing with another department or another non-competing brokerage. Trying out a virtual assistant can reduce the cost of personnel significantly by delivering the help you need so you can focus on business development. If you aren’t finding time to develop new business sources daily, your business will stagnate and wither away if you aren’t careful. The easy business is gone. It won’t just pile in like it used to. We have to work for it now.
It may feel crazy to think about asking for resources when brokers are consciously shrinking staff and expenses. It is much harder for them to say no if you can do a strategic business plan to clearly state how your efforts will contribute to the bottom line and help with recruiting and retention. Don’t make it a ‘yes or no’ question. Give them options, and ‘no’ shouldn’t be one. Let me know how I can help you and your company achieve your rebranding and growth goals.
“If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.” ~ David Brier, branding and brand identity expert, designer, speaker, blogger, and author of Brand Intervention.
Loving the branding ‘This Works’