Last week, we discussed the profound impact storytelling can have as a real estate professional, aiding in establishing emotional connections with your clients and ultimately executing real estate transactions with finesse. In this follow-up blog, we delve into how crucial it is to center your storytelling skills around your client in your messaging, and the potential for emotional bonding that these techniques can facilitate.
As business owners and professionals, we often direct our messaging towards clients by highlighting our expertise, milestones, accomplishments, credentials, and professionalism. This tendency is evident across various platforms such as websites, emails, drip campaigns, videos, and audio commercials—we are continually showcasing OURSELVES. While it's natural to aim for differentiation and convey that we are the best choice, we frequently overlook the fact that, subconsciously, our clients aren't necessarily interested! They are inundated daily with numerous other professionals making similar claims. Ultimately, what they truly desire is our expertise and professionalism to provide them peace of mind in their transactions, but their PRIMARY concern is their own needs, desires, dreams, and aspirations. Therefore, our messaging should revolve around them, positioning our clients as the HEROES—centering on THEIR needs, desires, dreams, and aspirations. While our expertise, accomplishments, and credentials remain vital, they should play a secondary role.
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we all have fundamental needs to fulfill—ranging from basic necessities like water, food, and rest to higher-order needs such as safety, security, a sense of belongingness, and love. Our brains instinctively seek to satisfy these needs, often manifesting them into objects or desires that can fulfill them subconsciously. In essence, we are perpetually striving to satisfy our most basic needs within our subconscious minds, whether it involves enjoying ice cream with friends, planning a trip to Indonesia, getting married, or purchasing a property.
By positioning our clients as the HEROES in our narratives—prioritizing their needs, dreams, and aspirations—we appeal to the emotional aspects of the human brain, which significantly influence decision-making compared to rational considerations. Therefore, engaging prospects in envisioning their lives within a property—such as enjoying a barbecue with loved ones by the swimming pool on a Sunday afternoon while their children play on the lush green grass—proves more effective than simply extolling our real estate prowess. Establishing this emotional connection is paramount. Subsequently, once prospects emotionally invest in the idea of realizing their dreams within a property, it's then appropriate to showcase how we can serve as their GUIDES in making those dreams a reality, leveraging our expertise, professionalism, and credentials subtly.
Further insights into honing storytelling and tapping into the human subconscious mind can be found in books such as "Building a Storybrand" by Donald Miller and "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss.
In conclusion, storytelling transcends mere transactions—it's about crafting narratives of transformation, empowerment, and triumph. As realtors, let us embrace our role as guides, empowering our clients to become the heroes of their own stories.