← Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada
Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada
Episode 793: Why Your Listing Presentation Fails (The Arthur Method)
00:06:52
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I'm going to start off with a story for you from Seth Godin. And it's. I don't remember from what book it is, but it's made an impact in my life over the last few years because I've read it not only to our coaching clients, but I've read it to myself and I've broken it down. So listen to the story and then listen to the lessons. Okay. Arthur Riollo is a world class student storyteller. Arthur sells real estate. In my little town north of New York City. He sells a lot of real estate, more than all his competitors combined. That's because Arthur doesn't sell anything. Anyone can tell you the specs of a house or talk to you about taxes, but he doesn't. Instead, Arthur does something very different. He takes you and and your spouse for a drive. You drive up and down the hills of a neighborhood as he points out house after house, houses that aren't even for sale. You listen because he tells you who lives in that house and what they do and how they found the house and the name of their dog and what their kids are up to and how much they paid. He tells you a story about the different issues in town, the long simmering rivalries between neighborhoods, and the evolution and imminent demise of the Mother's Club. Then and only then, does Arthur show you a house. It might be because of Arthur's antique pickup truck, or the fact that everyone in town knows him, or the obvious pleasure he gets from the community, but sooner or later, you'll buy a house from Arthur. And not just because it's a good house, because it's a good story. So Seth Godin writes that out and it always gets me because I started thinking, and I want you to start thinking this too. How can I show up better like that? I want to be Arthur. I want to show up like Arthur, where I connect with people through stories. I connect with people because I'm human. I connect with people because I'm authentic and sincere. And I think sometimes we forget that it's that simple because we're watching Social, we're watching tv, we're watching all these shows on how it should be done. But people want just to connect with you through the basic human part of being human. Storytelling, right? I always find this one so interesting. And I broke this down into three simple things. Number one, I'm just going to read this to you. Sell the identity, not the commodity. Anyone can list the specs, like he says in his story. Square footage, taxes, bedroom count and trust. Me, I've done that before too. Those are commodities. They're boring and comparable. Three bedrooms over here. Oh, you need a three bedroom cell. Check this bedroom out, right? Arthur wins because he sells the identity of the buyer. That's what I had to break down. That's what I had to figure out by talking about the neighbors, the mother's club, and the town rivalries. He isn't asking, did you like this kitchen? He's asking, do you see yourself in this story? And to me, that was the key. Do you see yourself in this story? Let me tell you about this town. Let me tell you about the neighbors. Let me tell you about the hiking trails. Let me tell you about the things to do. You know, during Halloween. This happens. The lesson, don't sell the object. Sell who the customer becomes when they own it. Man, that. That is a big one for me. Number two, context beats content. Arthur spends his time driving past houses that aren't for sale. This seems counterintuitive, but it's actually brilliant marketing. Think about this. When you're driving through a neighborhood, you're looking at all of the houses for sale or not, and you're judging internally. You're like, this is nice. Oh, I like that house. Oh, look at that dog. Oh, people are walking here. That's cool. That's all happening as you're driving through. The house itself is just content. The neighborhood, the history and the people are the context. I'm not saying the house isn't important. I'm saying there's a lot more importance into the neighborhood and the people there in the story than we thought originally. So content without context has less emotional weight to it. By painting a vivid picture. Here's what I wrote down because I had to deconstruct the story. By painting a vivid picture of the ecosystem first, the house becomes a ticket to. To admission into this world. A lesson. Here's the lesson. Value is rarely found in the item itself, but rather in where that item fits into the wider world. Think of status. Think of all of these luxury items, all the purses that are bought because they come with a story, but they cost the same to make. Number three and the last one. Connection before transaction. I'm just going to read this one to you. Seth Godin notes that then and only then does Arthur show you the house. Arthur builds trust and authority by being an insider and a guide, not a salesperson. Not a salesperson. If he started with the sale, defenses go way up. And yeah, we've done that before, right? By starting with the story and the drive. He builds relationships where the sale becomes a natural conclusion, not the forced goal, which sometimes we try to do even by phone when we're getting these leads and they just want to know about the area, they just want to know about a home. They sometimes they don't even want to call and we're forcing things down by not listening and connecting with how we can connect with them better. The lesson Stop trying to close the deal immediately. Invest in the narrative first and the transaction will follow. Anyway, I. I've been wanting to share this one for maybe two years. I did one time in group coaching, but I've never shared it in a podcast. I love that story and it's in one of Seth Godin's books. I think it's All Marketers Are Liars. I think that's the name of it. Could be wrong. Anyway, I'm Tristan. Share this with somebody you think may need this. And I want you to approach sales at least start thinking about it differently. Right. Not about forcing the sale. It's about connecting with people and telling a story. That's the way you attract people. Have an awesome day, everybody.