Ask yourself this: Why should sellers choose your agency over other agencies?

Think about the process that occurs when a home owner decides it’s time to sell.

First, they ask “Who will I trust to sell our home/investment?” Perhaps they’ll use a friend’s or a family member’s past experience or recommendation. Sometimes they’ll go with the agency that they’ve dealt with before, or have seen advertised online, in the local paper, on signage or on letterbox flyers. Maybe they’ll do an online search for agencies that service their area. No matter which, it’s more than likely that they’ll then take a look at each agency’s websites they’ve shortlisted.

What do you think they’ll be looking for?

They want to be reassured that whoever they select, that person will be doing everything possible to promote their property so that it sells quickly and for the best possible price. Sure, they may be swayed by the highest price quoted or, to a lesser extent, the lowest commission but that will unravel itself after a few weeks on the market when the agency says that the price they’ve previously quoted needs to come down, and heavily. No, they’re more likely to be looking at the quality of the listings of each agency. And the one thing that will determine that will be the quality of the photos. Not video or drone or virtual tours/3D/360/VR, especially in tough economic times and they’re each so expensive. It’s mostly the photos.

If they see outstanding, professional photos on one site and ones that are average or taken on a phone on another, which agency do you think they’re likely to go with?

Every business wants to be a customer's first choice. Your brand is what you are really selling to your customers, not just a product or service for which there may already be many dozens of existing providers. A strong brand can make any business stand out in the crowd, particularly in competitive markets. And a strong brand in real estate is closely tied to consistently great photos on the real estate agency’s web site.

And if the owner picks your competitor instead of you, you’ll never know.