"Door-to-Door Mastery: Unveiling the Emotive Path to Property Sales & Rentals
An example of a scenario when knocking on a prospect's house that is for sale and you're looking to list that property - Note it works the same way for rentals:
Estate Agent: "Hello, I'll be upfront. I'm one of those dreaded untrustworthy estate agents everyone loves to loathe. If you'd like me to leave, just say the word. Alternatively, let me have 30 seconds of your time and then decide? Sound fair
I’m very inquisitive - Can I pry a little? How did the house/property sale go?"
Prospect: "Well, we haven't sold our house yet."
Estate Agent: "Why do you think that is?"
Prospect: "Hmm, I'm not sure. We have it listed with ABC agent for the last 2 months."
Estate Agent: "It seems like you're not in a hurry to sell."
Prospect: "No, we are."
Estate Agent: "It sounds like you're not happy about that."
Prospect: "Yes, I need to sell."
Estate Agent: "That must be frustrating."
Prospect: "Yes, it is. I’ve had the house refurbished and spent a lot of money, I found another house that I love and don't want to lose it."
Estate Agent: "So it’s been on the market for 2 months after spending a lot of money, and it sounds like you’re anxious to sell as well as frustrated. I would be too."
Prospect: May well vent some more emotion.
Estate Agent: “Now, if you found a solution with another agent that had a number of potential buyers, what would you want to do next?"
Notice how the agent drills down to the emotion. People buy or will change agents if you can hit an emotion. People then justify intellectually.
It's possible to approach the seller and propose signing an agreement with you to start after the current contract with the other agent expires. This agreement would essentially be a listing agreement, granting you the right to market and sell the property once the sole agency agreement with the other agent concludes. Alternatively, they can go multi-agency with you.
*Note-If someone says, "Why do you think it’s been sold?" and it’s got a for sale sign outside. Agree, say, "I know it’s been up there for a while. I thought it must have sold and been overlooked."
Agents generally know how long a property has been on the market. Always let the prospect tell you how long it’s been on the market. Again, you’re feeding into their emotions.
You need to drill down on a specific symptom/problem if they agree more than one is troubling them. Below is a further scenario that shows how to delve deeper into your prospect to get to their pain/emotion:
Agent: 'If you had to choose just one problem/symptom to fix, what would it be?'
Prospect: Chooses a problem.
Agent: 'Can you tell me more about that?' Follow up where necessary with 'What do you mean?' or 'Can you give me an example?' Let them tell you a story about it.
Agent: 'That sounds frustrating.'
Prospect: 'Yes.'
Agent: 'Sorry, I missed that.' Agent pretends he has not heard it.
Prospect: 'Yes,' more loud and powerful yes!
Agent: 'How long has this been going on?' Carry on with, 'What happens when you complain about it? What do they say?'
Prospect: 'They say...'
Agent: 'Ah, I see. So that fixes it?'
Prospect: 'No.'
Agent: 'Sorry, I missed that.' Agent pretends he has not heard it.
Prospect: 'No,' (louder).
You've got to get them to a point where it hurts.
Let the prospect vent and then give them your solution. Some people are aware of their pain, while others need help recognizing it.
It works because people are programmed to answer questions. And what do people like talking about? Themselves. And do people like moaning? So you're onto a winner."