Real estate agents: When someone is looking to buy a home, they’re only interested in the home, right?
Wrong!
When it comes to selling a home, you’ve got to keep the first rule of marketing in mind:
Another way to think of this is buyer empathy.
In other words, it’s not about how many bathrooms or garages you have. It’s about what the person you’re talking to, the person whose hard-earned money you’re trying to get them to fork over, what they want to buy. Or better yet, what they need to buy.
Unfortunately, most marketers rarely think about this, and therefore, most selling is unsuccessful.
So, put yourself in the shoes of someone buying a home. What are they looking for?
Well sure, they could be buying a home as a status symbol or as an investment. Or it could be something much more significant than that.
It could be that they’re buying much more than the four walls, more than the yard, even more than the memories they’ll make there.
It could be that, in a sense, when people are buying a home, they really aren’t buying a home at all.
They’re buying a community.
They’re buying a school system for their kids. They’re buying a community where they feel safe. They’re buying a neighborhood that allows them to shop for the things they need in the ways they feel most comfortable – from big malls to mom-and-pop shops. They’re buying proximity to healthcare that each family member may need. They’re buying proximity to places of worship. And they’re buying literally everything in between.
So, if that’s what a home buyer is really looking to buy, then how do you – as their listing agent or realtor – frame up a home as being one that completely meets their needs?
You need to sell it in the context of the community.
And the thing about this context is, it’s not purely rational. Are big malls better than old time downtowns? Noisy neighbors more reassuring than crickets?
Of course not. They’re totally arbitrary.
Which is why selling is still an art and not a science.
So, remember: empathy.
Figure out what they need and help them find it!