Sell More Homes Through The Power Of Storytelling

It has been said that good storytelling beats good selling every time, and it’s true. Why? Because stories capture your attention and engage your emotions in ways that facts and figures never will. Engaging the emotions of a potential buyer is important because buying is almost always an emotional decision. In fact, a Harvard professor has said that 95% of purchasing decisions are influenced by subconscious urges, the biggest of which is emotion. Numbers and features inform and educate, but stories move people to take action.

As a Real Estate agent you still want to focus on the attributes and features of the home you’re trying to sell, but focusing only on these things will result in fewer sales. Whether you’re writing out the description of your listing or showing a home in person, dig a little deeper. All Real Estate agents know to talk about how many bedrooms and baths a house has, but few will weave those facts into a good story. Doing so will make you stand out in the crowd (there are over a million Real Estate agents) and help you sell more properties.

You don’t have to overthink it, and it doesn’t have to be a complicated story. It does have to be real and honest. For example, rather than pointing out the half acre backyard that has a fire pit and a pool you could say something like:

“A spacious backyard with amenities you can enjoy all year. There’s a pool where your family can play and cool off during the hot summer months, and there’s even a fire pit where you can gather around the fire and roast marshmallows or make s’mores when the weather turns cold.”

That’s just a brief example, but you get the idea. Instead of simply informing your potential buyer of the facts, you’re engaging their emotions by creating visuals in their mind. They will picture themselves enjoying the property with their family. You still educated them with the facts, but you created a story and inserted them into it.

Remember that you can use the power of storytelling to make yourself stand out and position yourself as a problem-solving expert. You can draw from past experiences and create stories that illustrate to potential buyers that, out of all the agents out there, you’re their best choice. Perhaps you have a client who is concerned about getting financed. It’s their first home and they’re nervous about the process. Drawing from past experience, you could tell them the story of how you once had a family in the same situation. In fact, the husband was a veteran who had recently gotten out of the military after years of being deployed. He and his young bride wanted to buy a house and start a family, but weren’t sure they could make it happen. You helped guide them by making them aware of certain programs and lenders that they could utilize, and after doing so, their dream of owning their own home became a reality.

Again, that’s just an example but it has all the elements that make up a great story. There’s an inciting event, conflict, resolution, and a happy ending.

When you use stories, instead of just facts, you bring a home to life. Homes are for living and by helping your buyers picture themselves living in the home, you engage their emotions and energize their decision making process.

It’s no accident that the most memorable and effective ad campaigns are those with a compelling story. The people who create such campaigns understand and use the power of a good story to sell their products or services.

Are you ready to use the power of storytelling to increase your sales?