My wife and I have been looking at apartments in London.
We’ve noticed there are two types of estate agents.
The first type will explain the size of the rooms, the facilities in the building, the distance to the nearest metro station, council tax bands, appliances, and highlight the key features of the property.
They stress how the features of this property are better than others.
The second type will wait and see what catches our eye. Then they tell stories based upon our passion. If we express interest in the modern kitchen, they will explain the quality of the furnishings, the rare design used, and how it will be different to other kitchens.
If we’re passionate about the view, they will talk about how far you can see on a (rare) sunny day, how it feels to have a coffee in the morning and they explain the history of the area below – pointing out where landmarks used to be.
Which do you think is most persuasive?
We don’t make decisions by facts, we make decisions by emotions. Find out what interests your audience and tell stories to move them to action.
Another example. Many times we’ve been helping clients find platforms for their clients. Some platforms (the ones we don’t pick) repeat the generic fact-driven presentation they give to every potential client.
Other platforms (the ones we pick) ask what they need and then tell stories about how their platform has helped similar organisations do something similar.
If you want to be better at persuading your audience to do what you need them to do, find out what most interests them and tell evocative stories about that specific object.
We got a great apartment, it overlooks the port from where English colonists set sail for America…