Selling with Emotions
From the moment we are born until the moment we die, everything we say and do is for the purpose of satisfying some want or need. A basic rule of selling is that a person will buy what they want, whether or not they need it.
One of the most common mistakes salespeople make is in assuming that a client will make the purchase because you have convinced them that your property is a great buy. Now, I don’t claim to be a psychologist, but in my selling experience, I have found that there are two basic appeals. We react from logic and emotion, and when there is conflict between the two, emotion will always win.
You see, people do not buy logically. They buy emotionally, then theyjustify their purchases logically. The challenge with many real estate salespeople is that they try to sell logically. That’s why they aren’t breaking any sales records. The future client must first get involved in the property emotionally. Then, if you can give them good, logical reasons for them to own this property, they’ll use them to defend the purchase.
Consider for a moment that everything you have ever purchased hasbeen purchased emotionally. Your clothes. You must wear clothes, that’slogical. However, the clothes you have chosen to wear, you chose with emotion. Why do you buy certain brands of food? You do it because your mother used that brand, or you saw a clever ad. It may even cost more than the other brands of equal quality, but you always buy that particular brand. Now, is that logical?
The same applies in real estate because people must make typical buying decisions. Each client is looking for some kind of shelter, right? That’s logical, but the type of shelter they choose will be based on an emotional decision. They may be looking for a home like the one they grew up in, or they may be looking for a home in a certain neighborhood for status reasons. Both of these buying decisions will be based on emotions. By knowing that we make decisions that are more emotional than logical, the professional salesperson can better prepare an effective presentation based on the emotional appeal of the property.
According to AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHICS MAGAZINE, when asked what they were looking for in a home, people used words such as: spacious, bright, airy, traditional, modern, luxurious, and old-fashioned. Knowing this, it certainly makes sense to utilize these terms in your presentation, doesn’t it? The key is, learn to build desire by painting an emotional picture into the client’s mind. Paint an emotional picture of the future and put your client into that picture mentally. If they can mentally see themselves enjoying the home — if they can see the children playing in the yard, if they can picture how great their furniture will look in this home — emotionally, they have already bought.
Remember that most of us are motivated by wants, so you must appeal to the emotions when building desire in your client.
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This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).
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Tags: client fears, closing sales, real estate selling, sales closing, selling real estate, selling skills, talking with clients
March 16th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
This is exactly what I did, when I was a broker. I qualified my clients, well, before we ever looked at homes. By the time we did so, my clients and I had such an excellent rapport, that we could talk, laugh, joke about their lives, families, jobs, etc. I would even prepare my clients for that emotional moment, when they KNEW they were standing in the home of their dreams, by telling them before we even looked at homes, that they would eventually experience such a moment. I could watch without speaking and see them picturing their furniture in the living room, their piano, their children, or themselves in that hot tub sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them, etc., and at that point, I would stand next to my clients and face the same direction as they, not necessarily looking them in the eye but gazing in front of us and suggest my “presumptive close” which would sound like, “I can just see your baby grand piano in here, facing this way…” or make a funny quip that related specifically to their own lives, that we all knew about. If we all stood still, smiling, nodding, and they agreed with me, I knew they were already emotionally living in their new home. If they disagreed, I never tried to overcome that objection. It was real. I’d steer clear of that suggestion until I sensed a stronger emotional surge, at a later time or in a different home, all-together. Soon, they’d start asking the “how” and “when” questions of owning their new home. Knowing when to drop my presumptive close was paramount. For me, those were the moments in real estate that were the most rewarding and when we all had the most fun.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
btw… Once, I had a brilliant moment, when the three of us – my clients and I – were sitting in the living room of a model home that we ALL adored. My emotions were was genuine so my next comment worked. I really did “want one of those.” Arms outstretched on the couches, facing one another, and after a long pause, I said, “GEEZ, guys! You weren’t supposed to sell ME a house!” We all had a great laugh and they very happily, still own their home.
March 18th, 2010 at 5:47 am
Nice article. Selling is less about Logics & it is more about Emotions.
September 16th, 2010 at 4:49 am
Great article, you got it right with the emotions.