There is one skillset that is critical to surviving and thriving in any market: communication. As professional salespeople, we’re paid in direct correlation to our ability to communicate. Whether we’re having a listing conversation, negotiating an offer, handling an objection, prospecting leads or answering real estate questions, our skill in effectively communicating our ability to help our clients and customers get to their Next Level® will determine our level of success.
I believe one of the best possible ways to connect with people is to use stories, metaphors and analogies to communicate. Why? Because they help you speak from your heart rather than your head, and be more present when you’re face-to-face, belly-to-belly or even voice-to-voice with the people you’re looking to serve.
Anyone who’s been through a new agent training and had to learn (and deliver) a memorized script knows how incredibly uncomfortable that can be, and how inauthentic it can feel. It sure doesn’t make us eager to pick up the phone, or even sit across a kitchen table from someone.
I’ll give you an example of what I mean. On one of our recent weekly coaching calls, I got a question from an agent who has had several FSBOs tout a flat-rate MLS service as a reason to not list. I shared with the group the following hammer analogy to help handle the objection. It goes something like this:
“Mr. Hunna Hunna, let’s just say you’re not going to sell your house and you’re going to stay here and build an extension onto your home. You go to Home Depot and buy a bunch of supplies, including a very expensive hammer. Then you come home and put the hammer on the kitchen table. But is that hammer going to jump off the table and build you an extension? Of course not! You’ve got to pick it up and use it, because the hammer is merely a tool, and the tool itself does not produce the results. Like the hammer, the MLS is just a tool, and if you don’t use it a particular way, it’s not going to give you the results you want. Simply paying a flat fee to get on the MLS doesn’t get your home sold, because there’s no one representing you using that tool effectively to get your home sold quickly and for the most money. Does that make sense?”
I teach students and coaching members how to connect a story, metaphor or analogy to just about anything they want to communicate. They help paint a picture that connects with people on an emotional level, which helps them better connect not just as a salesperson, but as a person they can trust to help them get the results they want and need. I invite you to do the same.
Darryl Davis has spoken to, trained and coached more than 100,000 real estate professionals around the globe. He is a best-selling author for McGraw-Hill Publishing, and his book, “How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate” tops Amazon’s charts for most sold book to real estate agents. He is the founder of the Next Level™ real estate training system The Power Program®, which has proven to help agents double their production over their previous year. Davis has earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, held by less than 2 percent of all speakers worldwide. For more information, please visit www.ThePowerProgram.com.
