This one is a blast from the past - a blog post I wrote in 2016 that seems just as valid today.
See what you think:
This tip is related to a real estate sales tactic from way back – one I tried in person, but never in writing. It was part of an article I'd read entitled "7 scientifically backed copywriting tips."
Darned if I know what the other 6 were.
This tactic involves shining a light on objections about a house or parcel of land even before showing the property.
For instance: In our area we have an abundance of gravel roads – and many of them aren’t very well maintained. So we might prepare the potential buyer ahead of time by going overboard about the terrible condition of the road to the house or land we were about to visit.
The idea was to make it sound so bad that when the person saw the real thing they’d say “Oh, this isn’t bad at all. I was expecting something much worse.”
The “7 Tips” author suggests creating strong copy that addresses customer objections head-on. He says that playing “devil’s advocate” with regard to a subject, we set the other person up to defend.
He cited some history that I didn’t know – and I still don’t know where he got his facts, but I thought this was interesting. He says that “the Catholic church used to use a person called the “devil’s advocate” when they canonized someone into sainthood. Their job was to find flaws with the person so that the debate around them was impartial.”
It turns out that using this “devil’s advocate” actually made the candidate for sainthood seem more attractive, so they stopped the practice.
So how could you use this in marketing your real estate services?
By coming right out and addressing something that probably concerns the potential client. By answering the “what ifs” that they aren’t saying out loud.
For instance, listing clients are rightfully concerned about choosing the wrong agent. What if they choose someone who lists the house and disappears? What if they choose someone who is so uncooperative with other agents that no one will show the house?
Probably not many potential clients are going to come right out and voice those
concerns.
So go ahead and acknowledge that they may have run into that kind of an agent before. Depending upon what you’re writing, you can even tell a story about a house that sat on the market for months with no lookers – just because the agent was doing a poor job.
Then, after you address the unvoiced concerns, wrap up the message with your guarantee of “If I’m not doing the job, you can fire me.”
You can use the same method in writing to buyers. How many have you met who think they lost out on the house of their dreams because “their agent” didn’t let them know it was for sale? I used to meet plenty of people who told that story.
You can soothe their fears by showing how you’ll set them up to get automatic updates from the MLS. (It’s amazing how many agents don’t do this for potential buyers.)
Since lack of communication is consumers #1 complaint about real estate agents, go ahead and talk about it.
Don't offer to be available 24/7. Instead, tell them the hours you are available and let them know that if they call too late in the evening, you'll be calling back first thing in the morning. Assure them that if they call while you're with another client, you'll call back the minute you're free. Do remind them that they wouldn't appreciate you taking other calls while you're with them.
Image courtesy of bandrat | freedigitalphotos.net
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