I recently called an investor and thought I had the wrong number. The voicemail greeting said “You’ve reached [Acme] Construction, please leave a message”. I did not leave a message.
Instead, I called back an hour later and a man answered, “[Smith] Real Estate, this is [John].” (The names have been changed to protect the innocent.)
“Is this [John’s] Investment Co.?”, I asked, using the company name he had given us previously.
“Oh yeah, this is John. How can I help you?”.
John is the one that could use some help here. He’s having an identity crisis. You see, John is a residential real estate investor. He advertises “John Buys Houses” with billboards and postcards – all with the same number that I called to reach him.
He is also selling the houses he flips (his wife is an Agent), and he is a partner in a construction company with his brother. (His brother is the project manager for the rehabs they do to investment properties.). And for all those activities, he has different business names and phone numbers that all forward to his cell phone. At this point, he should probably just answer the phone “This is John!” and wing it from there!
John was interested in using the We Buy Houses® system. (Notice I said “using” rather than “joining”.) He said, “I like that website address and phone number. I’m interested in anything that can help me get a few more calls.”. I could see it now. John would put out some We Buy Houses® bandit signs and when people saw them and called 877-WeBuyHouses, they would probably hear “You’ve reached [Acme] Construction, please leave a message”. Click.
IT’S ALL IN A NAME
1-800-GOT-JUNK? is a franchise success story. Started with $700 in 1989 by CEO Brain Scudamore in Vancouver, British Columbia, it is now the world’s largest junk removal service with 175 franchise locations in Canada, the United States, and Australia. What is the secret to their success? According to 1-800-GOT-JUNK?:
“Everybody has junk but has difficulty getting rid of it! Just look in your local newspaper – there are countless ads for ‘man with truck’. This shows that the junk removal business is a fragmented industry in need of a national and trustworthy brand – that’s where 1-800-GOT-JUNK? comes in.”
Their secret to success is the most obvious thing about them – it’s the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? brand and the IDENTITY that comes with it – the logo, the vanity number, the fleet of blue and green trucks (which are rolling billboards for the brand), the clothing that franchise employees wear, the website, phone system, etc. It all works together to create a brand experience. If you needed junk removed, who would you think to call?
Now, what if you called 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and someone answered the phone “Fred’s Carpet Cleaning & Paintless Dent Removal, how can I help you?”. Click!
You get the message. The brand experience – from seeing the ad, to calling the number, to meeting with you in person – is extremely important to the way that people perceive you. If there is a break in that chain of the brand experience, you lose trust in the mind of the homeowner.
BRAND MATTERS
Can you think of any other fragmented industries that could benefit from a reputable, national brand? How about residential real estate investing?
In any major city, right now, there are dozens of active real estate investors trying to find their next deal (or their first). Each one has their own “brand” – from “Billy Buy Houses Fast in Dallas Fort Worth Texas” (seriously, no “s” on Buy) to “SuperCashForHouses.com” to ____insert any of a 1,000 more names here____.
Ours is a very fragmented industry.
Heck, consider John in our story above. He is a very fragmented business person! When his phone rings, he literally has an identity crisis.
Look, I’m not going to turn this into a sales pitch for We Buy Houses®. I’m assuming that you’re “one of us” now. But have you joined We Buy Houses® or are you just planning to use it? Is it one way that you’re going to generate some leads, or is it the way that you’ll do business?
With We Buy Houses®, you have all the components to create a brand experience that homeowners will trust. So, when that phone rings, how will you be answering it?
We Buy Houses® is the best brand in real estate investing. We encourage you to take full advantage of this integrated marketing system. BE We Buy Houses® in your community. Your investment in this brand will put you head and shoulders above the competition.
Happy Investing!
Dev Horn
VP Marketing
dev{at}webuyhouses[dot]com
