Does your Real Estate Marketing Include These Two Drivers of Persuasion?

What persuades someone to do something?

Social scientists have been researching that question for decades and have come up with solid answers. In fact, there is no longer any mystery as to how someone becomes motivated to buy a particular model of car, choose one insurance company over another — or hire you as their real estate agent.

Persuasion is more of an exact science than you may have realized!

A giant in this field of research is Dr. Robert Cialdini, who popularized the six core drivers of persuasion and mapped out how they work.

Let’s take a look at two of these and how they can help you generate more real estate leads and attract more real estate referrals.

Persuasion driver: LIKING

Imagine a homeowner, “Jim,” who is ready to sell. Every week he’s contacted by agents who want his business. They call. They email. They knock on his door. Jim barely knows any of them.

However, there is one agent that Jim does know. In fact, you could say he “knows, likes and trusts” him — even though Jim has not worked with that agent yet.

Who’s most likely to get the listing? One of those agent “strangers” calling and emailing? Or the agent Jim has come to know well?

The answer is obvious.

According to persuasion research, we’re far more likely to do business with a professional we already know — or has been recommended by someone we know. In addition, we’re more likely to believe that professional and trust their advice.

How do you leverage this core driver of persuasion? Focus your real estate marketing on building relationships. You can do that by staying in touch with past clients (for more real estate referrals) and working a real estate geographic farm (for more high-quality leads.)

Persuasion driver: RECIPROCITY

If someone does you a favour, you probably feel a sense of obligation. Chances are, you’ll look for the opportunity to “return the favour” in the future.

That’s the power of reciprocity.

How do you use that in your real estate marketing?

The best way is to add value each time you communicate with a prospect or client. You can do that with:

• A real estate newsletter packed with helpful content (market updates, tips, how-to articles.)
• An annual checkup for past clients.
• Community and client appreciation events.
• Being helpful each time you talk to a prospect (rather than just asking for the business.)

Another way to think about reciprocity is making a goodwill deposit. The more deposits you make when you connect with prospects and clients, the more likely those contacts will be to hire or refer you.

Takeaway: Does your real estate marketing system leverage these two drivers of persuasion? If not, consider making a change this week!

(If you’re interested in Robert Cialdini’s principles of persuasion, you can find them here.)