Are You Playing By Their Rules?

04 Sep Are You Playing By Their Rules?

Are You Playing By Their Rules?

The online vs. high-street agency debate rumbles on.  With both sides claiming a few small wins.

It will always be thus.

Until high-street agencies stop playing the same 'game' and playing by the same 'rules'.

The 'game' only surfaced with the advent of online.  Until then, there was no competition.

Just a collection of high-street agencies, each attempting to establish their identity and build their power-base.

The advent of online is a well documented story and one that doesn't bear repetition here.

The story that does need to be told, however, is the strategic response and capitulation of the high-street to this perceived threat.

Things that are vs. things which are not.

"It is strange that those who embrace the present and hang on to it with all their might should be the least capable of defending it.

The successful businessman is often a failure as a communal leader because his mind is attuned to the way things are."  Eric Hoffer - The True Believer.

The least capable of defending it?

So it would seem.

The response by many  to the perceived threat of online agency has been to set up rival online agencies.

Countrywide's brief foray into this domain, along with Savills investment in hybrid agency, YOPA, spring to mind.

Hedging the bet might seem sensible.

But the enquiring mind would then seek to understand:

If the strategy of the online agency was not so much to gain market share as to establish online as a credible alternative, was not the action of the high-street in doing that very same thing, counter-productive?

Elon Musk is credited with the introduction of a mass market electric car.  His vision was a world without combustible gasses.

It little worried him that BMW, Jaguar and other car manufacturers copied his idea.  It helped his vision.

Unless an estate agency shares that vision for online, it ill-serves them to offer both a traditional full service agency and the online option.

Not simply because the online component will, at some stage, take an instruction from the full service option.

But because it lends credibility to the online sector.

Which, in my opinion, deserves little.

There are those, of course, that will argue that the world is high-tech and those failing to sign-up will be left behind to wither and die.

I have a different point of view.

Your worth as an agency is determined not by your visibility on social media. the accumulation of reviews on Allagents and TrustPilot.

Or whether your platform is online or traditional.

Leave that to those agencies that have far less to offer.

Your worth is determined by the impact that your agency makes on the community your agency serves.

And if you associate your brand with the online 'crew', in order to seem 'cutting -edge', don't be surprised when vendors side with them over your agency.

"People that don't know they have a problem are very good at ignoring you"  -  Seth Godin

If you truly believe online has a future, go all in.

But remember, the internet isn't a mass medium.  It just seems like one.

And a not particularly attractive one at that.

"Freed terrorist uses Facebook to promote jailed hate preachers" -  Sunday Times 2/09/18

"Exposed: The great 'gifts for good reviews' online shopping scam." Mail on Sunday 2/09/18

Chat bots, automated email/text responses, lead generation via online valuation, re-targeting ads that 'stalk' vendors around the internet.

Is that the brand image for which you wish to be known?

"Young people, not to mention people of all ages, really, really don't like being annoyed. And ads, almost always, were annoying. There is nothing beautiful, let alone useful, not to mention authentic, about being distracted or annoyed by something you didn't choose to see.  Andrew Essex, The End of Advertising.

Make Your Own Rules.

Be more real, more human.  More personal.

Some experienced voices within the industry tell you that vendors don't listen to your message.

They don't care about you.

If all you can say is that your agency offers a free valuation & other meaningless platitudes, I agree.

If all your agency ever does is drop leaflets & knock doors, I agree.

If all your agency does is Facebook advertising that showcases your less than unique talents, I agree.

Give them something of interest, therefore, that makes them listen.

Make them care about you.

 

If it's a truism that people buy from people they know, like and trust, then it has to be all about you.

A personal brand that supports the corporate brand, but has a life of its own.

As Richard Branson is to Virgin.  As Gary Vaynerchuk is to Vayner Media.  As Bill Gates is to Microsoft and as Warren Buffett is to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

 

Not as some maverick, chaotic or rampant lone voice that iterates, on social media, the first thing that comes to mind.

But a carefully crafted message that attracts like-minded souls in a very specific way.

Sharing values, beliefs and convictions.

On a disperse range of topics.

So that vendors first know.

Then like.

Then trust.

Then pick up the phone.

And start a conversation about why they need your energy and dedication.

And when only YOU will do, that's an entirely different conversation from the 'norm'.

Making them care about you.  About your agency. Won't be achieved by winning the game of attention that most agents play.

The biggest social media spend.  The highest profile digital billboards. Or, the most feature articles in local press.

Followed by a sales call once the 'lead' has been snared

It requires enrolment.  People wanting to go where you're going.

People that like what you say and want to hear more.

And the way that you achieve enrolment is by focusing on specific rather than generic.

A web site that has everything they need.

A blog that inspires and informs.

A podcast that addresses very specific 'local' issues.

Video posts that demonstrate how much you belong in this community.

In short, your own media company.

Where there is no competition, no advertising, no false claims and nothing to stop you, or the agency, being that category of one.

It's not hard for a high-street agency to implement.

It's surprisingly affordable.

Gradually and then suddenly, the online agencies have very little to say that you haven't already said.

Same game, different rules.

There's plenty of help out there to establish your own media company.

Drop me a line and I'll point you in the right direction.

Check out our web site at www.andsothestorybegan.co.uk

And thanks for reading.  Comment if you have any opposing views.  I'm very into debate and thinking outside the box.

chris@andsothestorybegan.co.uk

 

chris.