Any successful business can answer the question, “How are you different than your competition?” Before anyone will do business with you, you must be able to answer this question, or, to put it another way, “Why should your prospects do business with you?”

The answer to this question is also called your “Value Proposition”. In order for even the most powerful value proposition to be effective, there must be a need. You can be the most talented and successful real estate advisor in your area, but if a prospect isn’t interested in buying or selling, it won’t make a difference.

Once you’ve established the need, you must be able to show that you are the best candidate to meet their needs. The more of a distinction you can make between you and your competition, the more logical it is for a buyer or seller to do business with you. Just saying you work hard, you’re honest and you’re reliable won’t do the trick because everybody else says the same thing. The difference between you and your competitionmust impress your clients.

For example,

• Instead of saying you work hard, say you’re available 24-7.
• Instead of saying you’re the best agent, show that you’ve sold the most homes.
• Instead of saying you have experience, read testimonials from your satisfied clients.
• Instead of saying you have strong market knowledge, show the comprehensive market analysis data you’ve researched.
• Instead of saying you have the best affiliations, prove the how your affiliations’ reputations are known nationally and internationally.
• Instead of saying your company is the best, show graphs that prove your company’s dominance.
• Instead of saying you have the best marking materials, compare your brochures, photography and ad copy to your competition.
• Instead of saying you have a global reach, do a Google search as if you were a buyer and prove how your exposure is the best.
• Instead of saying you’re the best negotiator, show your list-to-sale price ratios or your percentage of offers successfully negotiated to close.

The next time a buyer or seller asks you (or even if they don’t ask), “How are you different?”, respond with, “Please forgive my confidence, but I’m different in every way.” and then go over points from above.