Your competition is not who you think it is. In this episode, I’ll take you through a different way to think about competing in Multifamily. And, I’ll give you an answer to who your competition really is.
Look I get it. It’s fierce out there in Multifamily. Sales people are hired to produce a high volume of sales and sometimes they will do whatever it takes to get attention.
For you, instead of competing with companies, it’s time to dominate the marketplace, build trust so that your ideal customers will stay with you and your brand for a long time.
Well, There is an old way and a new way. Let’s get on with the new.
Let’s talk about the 2% Mindset. This podcast and the training we go through is about being in that top 2%, that’s for income, brand, and the results you get. Imagine how life would be different if you were the top 2%.
So if that’s you, and you want to be the best in the world at what you do…you’re in the top 2%.
Before we talk about the 2% let’s flip it and talk about the 98%.
The 98%. These are the people in their comfort zone.
So to give you a picture. I want you to think about a big circle. Lets just say this big circle is the size of a big watermelon. And inside this circle or watermelon, is a smaller circle, the size of a quarter.
That quarter is the 2% and the watermelon is the 98%. You with me?
So let’s talk about who’s in these circles?
We know that there are north of 17 million people that make the Multifamily Industry go around. These are your potential customers, and people you can help. They represent the entire watermelon.
Now let me stop where we are and talk briefly about Mindset:
Your mindset is all of your knowledge, including beliefs and thoughts about the world, the Multifamily Industry, and how you fit in it.
So this is typically how it goes. Someone who works in Multifamily, gets results. Gets promoted, climbs the corporate ladder, and then teaches others what they know and expects them to operate how they did.
That’s part of our innovation problem but it’s important to know your mindset is your filter for information you get in and put out. So it determines how you receive and react to information.
So back to the watermelon.
You either sit on the 2% mindset or the 98% mindset. Remember that the 2% mindset is a smaller number of people (that quarter) as most people are in the 98%, the larger watermelon.
This matters when you are trying to get someone to try something new, maybe that’s your product. You might be doing everything necessary to sell your stuff, but the person you are selling to has a different view of life and the industry and even what’s possible.
When you hear people say things like “our industry is 10 years behind others”. Someone has told them that, they’ve taken this in and they believe this is true. Is there data to support this? The first step is to stop saying that and focus on the 2% mindset. Think differently. Don’t get sucked into the herd or the 98%
Now the 98% are those that will likely stay in their comfort zone.
- They want to be like everyone else and this will leave them with regret in the end. Think about the auto industry, they were the herd when elon Musk was launching Eclectic vehicles. He even gave them the patents so his process. The NADA literally created a campaign to keep things in the comfort zone. So now, there are regrets for that and they are chasing Telsa and will likely never catch up.
- They find themselves just getting by
- In many cases, settling for less
- These are the people that will just play it safe
- And likely will procrastinate
- They are just trying to survive
- Which means they are living in fear
So let’s talk about Getting the most out of life. That’s the 2% mindset. What does that look like?
- They explore new things
- They choose happiness
- They act in SPITE of fear
- These are people that go for their dreams
- They embrace the unknown
- They have excitement
- They like Change
- This group thinks in abundance (there are clients for us all)
- They seek fulfillment
- Because of all this, they have confidence
So think about that big watermelon again. This represents the big audience, the marketplace.
Interesting fact, the largest event we had in Multifamily pre-covid was 11,000 people. And probably half are not even your buyers. So if there are 17+ million people, why are we so focused on the smaller circle? That quarter?
And just to do the math, 2% of the 17 million people in Multifamily is 340,000. So the largest event in our industry pre covid represents .0006% of the market.
So why do people spend so much money for such a small amount of the audience?
Are they in the 98% and just watching what everyone else does?
Here is the good news:
Your competition is trying to get the small pile of money inside the little circle or the quarter; that 2% or in our case .0006%, and nobody is paying attention to the big pile of money in the big circle – the watermelon.
Your competition is not who you think it is. Your competition is the attention span of your ideal client.
What do you think people in the big area of that watermelon are thinking about buying?… What do you think they are doing right now?
I’ll tell you:
- they are doing product research trying to find out everything they can
- probably comparing your stuff to the competitors. And you don’t even know this.
- reading reviews
- watching webinars
- Searching for solutions on google
- Watching videos on youtube
- Requesting demos or free trials
- Reading case study studies
What they are also doing is:
- still struggling with pain
- Missing opportunities
Doesn’t it make sense that if they are doing all this research, that we can help them formulate a decision?
Before someone thinks of buying they sit in that large circle area. And 60-90 days before they are ready to buy, they are doing research. So even if you had the greatest salesperson on that lead….the buyers are not ready. They are at the top of the funnel in the research phase. They need to digest things, process, maybe talk with peers, the CFO, they maybe looking for a safe decision. They need to trust the brands.
Yet during this phase, this is where the sales teams focus and rush for a demo meeting. Then the sales person gets discouraged and drops off and leaves a lead behind while they move on to the next lead.
It’s a cycle of getting leads, chasing them down, then rushing the process. Repeat. No growth.
So the question is how do we sell to both? How do we educate and motivate the bigger portion of the market while making sure that the people in the small circle are always hearing about us until they are ready to buy?
The flaw in the way people go about marketing products is they focus their marketing on the people ready to buy and talk about their products and information.
People don’t want your products or information, they want what’s possible, or they want a problem to go away. The don’t want self guided tours, the want to be able to lease when an employee quits on them.
Everything we do is should be about the prospect.
What they want and how they get it.
Now, If you know what your prospects want, and how they get it…you will never be at a loss for content.
This type of content provides value, this is all deliberately designed to help the people thinking about buying.
It’s designed to help them come to the conclusion that your stuff is the right solution.
You are giving value in advance of them giving you any money.
So what happens? Well, they have this natural decision….they’re thinking…this person is helping me, they may think you are pretty cool….I think I’ll do business with them.
Here is a cool thing. Demonstrate you can help them by actually helping them.
Did you know that like 90% of decisions are made at home? And that was pre-covid. The home is more than where the heart is, it’s where serious decisions are made.
Have you ever heard….”Let me think about that”, “let me sleep on it”. Where are they sleeping? At home! Give them the tools to research, learn and develop the confidence to make a decision with you.
And now people are working from home. so that is likely to be higher today.
So the results you get…. is in direct proportion to the amount of value you provide the marketplace – and the amount of goodwill you provide.
This is everything inside and outside the circle.
Listen, I know this stuff is hard. And like I said, if you are thinking. I get it I’m in. Let’s start getting this stuff done. You don’t need to know how to do this, you just need to know who can do this.
Go to Mclients.com and book a free strategy session. You can find a time on our calendar and see if we can help you take all the complexity out of the process and get you in motion for inbound leads. Turning strangers into clients.
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