We all want to be liked. It’s instinctive, and even the most curmudgeonly person still feels uncomfortable being unliked, especially if it’s directly linked to your income and sales.
As an agent, it’s your business to be likeable. While hard data, stats and proof of process gets instructions for the logically minded, if a vendor is in an emotional mood, or considering who to recommend, they are going to want to pass on the details of the person they liked.
So, how do we get likeable? Obviously, not everyone is going to like you. You aren’t Nutella.
But your job depends on a certain level of frictionless, easy-breezy professionalism with a smile. In some cases, it might be hard to fake. So, what are the steps to get you from a stranger to a recommended, trusted ally in the home selling process faster?
Don’t wait for the day of the appraisal to make your impression
During an appraisal, you believe you have an hour or so to connect with this stranger who has invited you in – but is that the reality?
The fact is you may have just one blink of an eye – a tenth of a second – to make that impression.
A series of experiments by Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov discovered this number and also added that even after this point, longer exposures don’t significantly alter those impressions. The study, updated in “First Impressions,” in Psychological Science speaks to what we all know. We can be quick to judge and can take a long time to come back from our initial ‘feeling’ of someone, whether that was good or bad.
The obvious way to prep this is to get in front of the situation. Just like a date is less awkward if you’ve spoken beforehand, or have an idea about each other and aren’t going in cold, prepping the vendor with a pre-appointment presentation is an obvious way to win.
You could do it without Acaboom. You’d have to personalise each one, download it, attach it and send it. It’s much easier with us though – you’ll have to take our word for it, or read our reviews!
Get your ‘set’ down
We like to think because we invented the toastie maker that we’re pretty superior. Us and our opposable thumbs, at the top of the food chain. But really, humans are strikingly similar.
Take this:
For most people, apart from the very special chosen few – we read it in the order highlighted.
This isn’t to say that we are predictable, simply that we are wired a certain way. We like to be guided confidently to a conclusion. We like endings on stories. We say we crave ‘new’ but the reality is, we look for the comfortable and the familiar.
Agents can play into this by approaching the valuation process in a way that’s not that varied and that they are super confident with, flowing from one slide to the next. Comedians don’t hit each gig with brand new material. They hone their craft, making the same jokes, but refining them over and over until they are polished gems At the same time, a comedian in 2002 wouldn’t be doing so well in 2021 without adapting. the times change. So strike that balance on how your appraisals will play out, and refine it.
Again, you can do this without Acaboom, but why would you want to? We give you a downloadable, useable without wifi presentation that’s unique to that vendor’s home. You prep it from your phone and share it on the day. The alternative is you getting a very dry mouth, saying much the same thing and sharing paper printouts. Again, adapt, adapt, adapt.
Do nice things
People like people who do things for them. To have a friend, you have to be a friend. So how does that translate to a business meeting to discuss a home sale?
It’s being on your best ‘meet the in laws’ behaviour – from minor, normal polite stuff – taking your shoes off on entry, asking more than talking, listening more than thinking about your response, through to actually going above and beyond.
You could follow up your email to them mentioning something you discussed. If you promised to send them details of a new boxset, send them a link. Did they mention they loved coffee? Send them a digital gift card within their proposal.
If you are cringing, that’s okay – but people love stuff like that. How many people would you tell if you got an unexpected gift? Even if you didn’t use that agent, you’d remember the story and probably tell 5 – 6 people, at a total guess. If that’s too much, just look at the communications you send. You would be surprised at just how low the bar can be. Before people start using Acaboom we see all sorts of cut and paste email templates going out, letters sent in the post arriving days later, and no follow up – zilch.
So the final thing you can do is simply to act as if they already are your best friend. Check-in, keep it light, let them have space, but sign off with a smile.
Ready to use Acaboom? It’s going to make all of this FAR easier. Speak to us today.
