Yesterday, I posted Part 2 of “How to Connect with Prospects Like Never Before.” If you missed it, you can read it here. But first, if you missed Part 1, click here.
At the end of Part 2, I promised to show you why it’s a mistake to choose the typical “short and sweet” testimonial over longer copy that tells the story behind the testimonial.
Let's do what all great marketers recommend and think about it from your prospect’s point of view:
You’re about to go through one of life’s major traumas (selling/buying your home and moving), and now you must pick the person who’s going to guide you through it. Right now, the only two things you know for sure are:
- You want to come out on the other side with both your finances and your sanity intact.
- You’re HUNGRY for information that will help you find a real estate professional you like and can trust.
You go to a real estate Web site and read the “short and sweet” testimonial shown in Part 2, but the words do nothing to engage your imagination. For the life of you, you cannot conjure up scenes of that homebuyer or of the real estate professional “saving the day.” So you continue your search.
At the next Web site, you read a story about someone who, like you, faced the ordeal of moving across country. The story paints pictures in your imagination of the homebuyer being helped through specific challenges by a terrific real estate professional.
While reading the story, you do what all human beings do: you project yourself into the story and identify with the character facing circumstances similar to your own. When the client in the story is helped, you see yourself being helped too. And now, that real estate professional has become familiar to you. And because the story’s client trusts her, through your identification with the client YOU trust her. YOUR RESISTANCE IS GONE. And it feels natural and easy to pick up the phone and call.
Now ... after taking this little trip inside your prospect’s head ... if you had $2,500 to invest in your business to win more clients ... where would you spend it?
Here are some typical choices:
Not one of the above options—not even the most expensive—is able to MOTIVATE your prospects to act. Plus, none do anything to boost your credibility or build trust...
NOT A SINGLE ONE!
As a real estate professional, you come to the aid of others every day in big ways. You ARE the superhero of every successful home sale or purchase you conduct. Isn’t it time to let your happy, satisfied customers tell the stories of how you helped them? Isn’t it time to present the truth of what you do in a way that will help you grow your business?
If you’re a talented writer skilled at storytelling and have the time, you’ll have no trouble writing your own Real Estate Selling Stories. However, if you need help, give me a call. I’d love to work with you so you can have marketing copy so powerful it seems almost magical. And it’s yours to use on your Web site and in your brochures, newsletters, advertorials, direct mail and real estate booklets.
“Okay, Kay, so what will this cost me if I don't have time to write the stories myself?”
I can’t speak for other copywriters, but if I were writing for you, for the same $2,500 investment discussed above, you'd get 5 Real Estate Selling Stories … plenty to demonstrate the variety of obstacles you can help clients to overcome. Or you can build your collection one story at a time.
Alan Weiss, the Million Dollar Consultant, recommends putting testimonials in a booklet you can print yourself and giving the booklet to prospective clients. Such a booklet or "mini-magazine" of Real Estate Selling Stories is a powerful tool to include in your listing presentations. And Real Estate Selling Stories make compelling content for your Web site where prospects hungry for information about you will be attracted like ants to honey.
And if you're tired of your same old advertising bringing you the same old results, use a Real Estate Selling Story as an advertorial in your local newspaper or your area's real estate magazine. Statistics prove more readers read ads that look like editorial content. Change what you do and you'll change your results.
DARE TO STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION ... and when they start to follow you, they'll just look like copycats.
When you have Real Estate Selling Stories to use in your marketing copy, you’ll connect with prospects like never before, while you boost credibility AND build trust.
I hope you've found this series of posts on Real Estate Selling Story useful. Please comment, because I love hearing what you think. And call or email me if I can help you.
Writing for your success,
Kay Steele Faulk
The Real Estate Copywriter
©2007 Kay Steele Faulk. All rights reserved.
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