The Purple Cow Law

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Hey friend,

Welcome to the 13th weekly edition of Pillow Talk! This is where I share my personal thoughts on property management topics.

This week, I’m talking about how to leverage the Purple Cow Law in property management.

Unfortunately, being really really good at property management fundamentals is no longer a differentiator.

Most owners take their property manager for granted. Even if you provide outstanding service on all the things they expect from a property manager, it’s because they expect it that they don’t appreciate it.

Fortunately, you can use this to your advantage.

There’s a principle in marketing popularized by Seth Godin called the Purple Cow Law. The idea is that in a field full of brown cows, only the purple ones get noticed. It’s a fun way to think about differentiation; What can you do that is so different from everyone else that your ideal clients have no choice but to notice?

“Different gets shared. Familiar gets ignored.” - Seth Godin

Liquid Death is a great expression of this principle. Until they came onto the scene, 99% of bottled water packaging was the exact same: Clear, plastic bottles with a logo displayed on a cheap wrapper. But Liquid Death sells water in a tallboy can with heavy metal branding… They took every consumer by surprise, and they’re a billion dollar company.

In a world full of property managers who can collect rent and fix toilets, a new approach is required if you want to stand out. I think that approach looks like asset management.

If you go above and beyond the expected, and offer something that used to be exclusive to institutional investors, you’ll surprise every owner.

Don’t take my word for it

Mark Brower and Peter Lohmann dished on an asset management offering and what it might look like as a productized service in this terrific conversation.

At the end, after a detailed discussion, they refer to asset management as a “next-generation idea” and “totally differentiated offering that isn’t property management.” And in this LinkedIn post, Mark refers to it as creating “unexpected value.”

If you’re ready to be a purple cow, let’s talk.

Good night 😴

Lior Abramovich
Co-founder, CEO