How to Understand and Elevate Your Home Buyer’s Emotional Journey

People don’t want to buy a house. They want to fall in love.

Sappy? Perhaps.

True? Absolutely.

Think about the home you live in right now. Do you remember the exact moment you walked through the door for the first time? If so, your “emotional altitude” was likely sky high.

Many people remember the “love at first sight” memories they have of their home. Whether you can remember the first time you laid eyes on your home or not, we all share a profound desire to emotionally connect with the places where we live.

Buying a home is not unlike other significant emotional milestones in life: weddings, childbirth, promotions, etc. Your customer dreams of buying a home for years—sometimes he has been dreaming of it for his whole life!

Home buyers save and sacrifice. They watch countless episodes of House Hunters. They visit model homes with longing in their eyes and peruse Houzz.com when they should be working. They buy overpriced magazines and dog-ear the corners of every other page. The moment when their dreams become a reality should be an emotional highlight of their entire lives.

Introducing a prospective buyer to her ideal home can be a truly extraordinary experience: watching her fall in love during that first encounter, helping her imagine where furniture will go, discussing décor, and envisioning parties, holidays, and the normal events that make up daily life. As salespeople, we have an incredible opportunity to experience all of this dream-turned-reality wonder over and over with excited, happy customers.

Alas, all too often, this does not happen.

Far too many salespeople become – to some degree – emotionally disconnected in the sales process. When walking someone through a home, they often feel unsure of what to do or say and end up talking too much or far too little. Unaware of what their customer is thinking and feeling, they lack the confidence to play the role of “assistant buyer.”

It doesn’t have to be this way.

When we understand the home buying experience through the eyes of our customer, we can help them write the story that is unfolding in real time, before our very eyes.

It is a cooperative tale between home buyer and salesperson. The premise is the customer’s current situation; the tension increases as he considers myriad choices; the hero (that’s you the salesperson!) comes to his aid with words of assistance and direction when he most needs it; and all live happily ever after.

When we understand the buying process as this kind of a story arc, the process crescendos into a purchase decision in the exciting and enjoyable way it was meant to be. (Falling in love should always be exciting and enjoyable!)

Selling a home is not easy. It takes years of work to truly master the art.

But here’s the key to unlimited success in real estate sales:

Understanding how to sell is not the beginning.
Understanding how a customer buys is truly the first step.

For example, you may have found that walking a customer through a home becomes an exercise in awkwardness. But when you are truly and deeply in sync with your customers, when you understand what is wrong with their lives and that you have something which will improve their current situations, everything changes.

The key to success when showing a home is to stop thinking in terms of “demonstration” and, instead, create an “experience” wherein you partner with your customer to begin building her future. You help her mentally try homes on for size.

You see, a demonstration is about show-and-tell. An experience is about envisioning her new life.

And you will find greater success and enjoy your job more when you master the art of helping your customers create a picture of their entire lifestyle in the context of their past, present and future experiences.

Want to learn more about creating emotionally influential experiences with your home buyers?

Click the image below to pre-order my new book “Buying the Experience: Real Life Lessons About the Way Real People Buy Homes” and I will send you a PREVIEW CHAPTER along with five INSTANT BONUS video training lessons!