By Rodney Carey
As an entrepreneurial company, innovation goes hand in hand with everything that we do.
Since the inception of Woodward Asset Capital, we have looked at ways to innovate the real estate market through agent activity and technology innovations. In launching our real estate brand this year, SellerNation, it became evident early on that consumers were interested in hearing our story and what makes our value proposition unique.
I also began to notice that there was a distinct difference between what potential customers saw as innovative and where they perceived our firm to be experts in our field, based on our experience. Innovation was interesting but being an expert is really what they seek in an agent.
Then last week, sorting through the mountains of articles that I scan on a regular basis, I came across one by Geoff Nesnow at InnovationExcellence.com that addressed the issue of innovation in real estate perfectly.
Here is the passage that jumped out at me:
Let’s step back for a minute and think about what an innovative service provider (or product) does. By definition, they do things differently. They try new things. They approach the problem differently. They take risks. They experiment.
Let’s think now about the application of these traits to a realtor trying to list high-end houses in a generally risk-adverse population (suburban, professional families). I’d suggest that almost none of those prospective customers want to talk to someone who is trying something different or risky.
My hypothesis is that they’d actually prefer someone who is sophisticated, not innovative.
Here is the difference.
Someone who is sophisticated knows what usually works and what usually doesn’t. She is experienced, perceptive and mature in her approach. She watches what other people do and learns what does and doesn’t work (she borrows successful ideas).
Someone who is innovative is doing something that isn’t proven to work today. She tries new things and makes many more mistakes.
What Mr. Nesnow points out is what we have experienced in real time.
It’s great to be innovative and cutting-edge, but when you are working with a customer, they will more often want a sophisticated expert over someone with a “great new idea”.
It doesn’t mean you can’t build an innovative business. But this realization reinforced for me that the way you present your business to the customer may need refining.
It’s important to focus on the benefits (showing your sophistication) of your business rather than the unique or innovative features. If your business model is successful, the innovation will lead to the results your customers hire you for.
