“There are two kinds of light — the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.”
One misconception in the information age is that when people are presented with the facts, they’ll make the rational choice. While we advocate selling your clients on your services using data, it’s important to remember that the numbers can’t be the whole story.
Your listings may have a lower average days-on-market metric and a higher selling price, but there are certainly going to be times when these compelling numbers won’t seal the deal. When this happens, resist the urge to pile on more evidence.
James Thurber writes of the “glow that illuminates” versus the “glare that obscures.” When the spreadsheet isn’t providing that glow, more “hard numbers” will only crank it up to a glare. In these scenarios, there’s something essentially human missing in the equation.
What’s missing? It depends. The list might include one or more of the following:
1. You haven’t sold the dream. You’ve not colored in the emotional picture that sometimes motivates people to act.
2. You’ve tainted the presentation with hard-sell language. Have you been using those canned scripts that say things like, “Mr. Seller, I am sure you would agree that based on my numbers it only makes sense to choose me as your agent…”? Who are you to presume? Toss them!
3. There’s a personality mismatch at work. You might be the prime rib of real estate, but that’s not going to convince a vegetarian looking for a nice kale salad. Accept that and move on.
4. The promises sound good, but the process is still a mystery. Does it all sound too good to be true? Have you told them the “how” behind your results?
Numbers may be compelling, but they’re not the only source of light. Remember the glow and the glare in your next meeting.
