As of April 29th, Prudential Americana Group Realtors officially transitioned to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties! We are very excited about being affiliated with such a widely respected company, and this article by the president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices explains the core beliefs Berkshire Hathaway brings to the real estate industry.
RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE April 2014
101
Brand Power
Commentary by Stephen Phillips
Let’s begin
where it all starts for us at Berkshire
Hathaway HomeServices —the brand.
In an
increasingly competitive business world, we are all searching for a sustainable
competitive advantage, but it’s very difficult to find, especially the
“sustainable” part. A competitive advantage might be identified, but how long
can it be sustained, and at what cost?
The great
promise of competitive advantage in the real estate industry over the past 15
years has been technology. The theory: Create a new, online capability and the
buyers and sellers of the world will beat a path to your door. But what happens
when your toughest competitor adopts very similar technology almost as soon as
you do? The once-promising advantage becomes anything but sustainable. And the
barriers to technology development, which have never been high, are lowering
all the time. In a nutshell, technology is an arms race; it’s a battle that
must be fought, but can’t be won.
So where do
we look for the elusive sustainable competitive advantage? At Berkshire
Hathaway HomeServices, the answer to that question is easy: We look to our
brand. The brand is our network’s shared identity and shared image in the
marketplace. It is the foremost component of our value proposition.
Like all
brands, ours is a promise… a promise of strength, integrity and trust in the
buying and selling of real estate. And unlike technology or patented processes,
our brand can’t be copied and doesn’t expire; it’s ours and it goes on
indefinitely.
The essence
of any brand is consistency, or meeting the promise day after day. It’s the
same with a lot of things in life. A breakfast cereal must be the same each
time a buyer tastes it; a pair of jeans must fit the same way every time
someone tries them on.
The
experience customers have with us and our affiliates must be absolutely
dependable. Their experience must always be consistent with the brand promise.
We feel honored and privileged to have the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
brand. Our brand means something very positive and powerful to consumers across
the country, and with each yard sign placed, or each business card handed out,
it becomes better recognized and more highly respected every day.
