Most real estate agents are always on the lookout for new ways to differentiate themselves in their marketplace, and to generate more leads.

Home buyers and are very interested in saving money on household items – especially since they are in the process of moving. 

If both the statements above are true, you owe it to yourself to look into how Sears can help you help your clients – and look like a hero in the process!

Sears has a Realty Home Advantage program that allows real estate professionals to offer a 5-10% discount to their contacts.  It’s easy and free for you!

As I understand it, here’s how it works:

• You call 800-359-2000 and ask to speak to the Commercial representative for your area.  The representative will call you back.
• You set up a non-billing Commercial Account with Sears.  You don’t use the account for purchases, just for administering this program.
• You’ll receive a Commercial Account Number.
• You can offer your clients Commercial discounts on their purchases at Sears.  That equates to 10% off on regular retail purchases, and 5% off on sale merchandise.
• Your contacts use your Commercial Account number when they make purchases, and they receive the appropriate discount.

I really like this program.  There are no cards, you don’t have to purchase a gift card at a discount – you  just offer a discount to your contacts.  It seems easy to me.

Sears will provide you with all kinds of marketing materials customized with your name and logo, and displaying your Commercial Account Number.

Are the possibilities popping into your head?

What about a compelling proposition for your website?  You offer the discount in return for information that will help you to start establishing a relationship with your web visitors.

You can use this program as a closing gift, or as a reason to contact folks you haven’t been in touch with lately.  You can incorporate this into your drip email campaigns - find local sales at Sears, and identify what your contacts would pay for the same merchandise – just because they’re YOUR contacts!

Has anyone tried this program?  If you have or you do, let us know how it works for you!

As Kevin Kaiser mentioned earlier this week in his real estate website post, Five Reasons Why Your Real Estate Website is Flailing, consumers are very concerned with the credibility of the professionals they are working with.  This is especially true in today’s shaky economy.

This post will discuss three ways you can reinforce your credibility.

1.  Create a brand and logo

At the end of this post, you’ll see a screenshot of the “About” page of a website we recently completed.  That project included brand creation, logo design and a customized Point2 Agent website and blog.

If you look at the website “about” page, which is for a company that markets Burleson TX homes for sale, you’ll notice several things.  First, there is a logo at the top of the page.  This site was created for a new brokerage, but the same principle applies to an individual agent’s marketing strategy.

A logo that represents your brand automatically sets you apart in your marketplace.  With your own brand, you aren’t just another agent associated with your brokerage.  You take on your own individual persona, with your brokerage as the strength that supports your business.

You’ll also notice that the logo isn’t just a cute graphic that plays off the broker’s or agent’s name.  The logo itself starts to “train” consumers as to what your real estate business stands for.

Then, if you read the about page, you’ll see how the brand provides a structure within which to communicate the benefits the consumer will receive when they work with you.  It’s a powerful way to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

2.  Acquire Specific Designations for Your Target Market

On the sample about page, you’ll notice the e-PRO and SFR logos.  And, we used the SFR logo that includes the tagline.  If you’re like a lot of professionals who are targeting the foreclosure and/or short sale market, don’t underestimate the value of a designation in that discipline and its effect on your credibility.

And, don’t display the logo for your designations with no indication of what it is for.  For example, the SFR designation would mean nothing to most consumers unless they know it stands for Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource.

3.  Create a Professional-Looking Information-Rich Real Estate Website

As you can see from the screenshot below, the website includes a professional design.  The site also contains a Community Guide, information on buying foreclosures and avoiding foreclosure, a full-featured MLS search, a blog and a strong marketing message on the about page.

While it’s true that your Internet visitors won’t care much about you when they first land on your website, they will want to know more about your business services when they get closer to working with a professional.  The about page gives them the reasons they need to choose you as opposed to the other agents or brokerages they know about.

And, finally, notice the prominence of the contact telephone number.  It’s in the header.  It’s at the top of the right column on the pages in the “contact image” that also acts as a link to an email form.  The telephone number appears in the call to action at the bottom of the page.  If you ask a visitor to call you, don’t make them search around for your telephone number!

Finally, all contact information is available on the Contact page and at the bottom of each page.  The footer of the page contains both a physical address (especially important for Internet marketing) and telephone numbers.  Don’t worry about overdoing it.  Your visitors will be glad you made it so easy to contact you!