Stacy Harp

I just read this fascinating article over at The Wall Street Journal. The gist is that what we read via social media may not be the full story (right of course) and yet at the same time there is this idea that if you follow someone's updates that you actually cut out small talk when you talk in person.

Click here to read the full article. It's pretty interesting.

A couple of days ago I had the honor of interviewing NY Times Best Selling author, Dr. Gary Chapman, about his newest book in The Five Love Languages Series. This particular book is The Five Love Languages for Singles and the book is basically the same as the regular book, except with a focus on dealing with single people.

So what does this have to do with trying to sell real estate? Well, you deal with people right? (Insert your comment here - right) :) And many of the people you are no doubt selling a house to are going through a divorce, are just recently married and/or simply moving up with their housing.

If you listen very closely to what your prospect is needing, or complaining about, then this will give you a clue about the type of language you can speak to your client.

For example, if you are working with a prospect who has recently gone through a divorce and you learn that the divorce was caused by emotional distance or a critical tongue, then that can be a clue to you that your potential buyer may need a word of affirmation. If you hear your client bad mouth their ex-spouse you may want to turn the conversation from that topic, to affirming them so that they feel value.

This is just one example of the 5 love languages - Words of Affirmation.

There is also a very old proverb written by King Solomon that says that life and death are in the tongue. The words we speak can breath hope into a persons heart, or they can deeply scar a person's heart. Naturally, you want to give hope, and affirmation.

You can also use this question to strike up a conversation with your buyer or seller - Is there a relationship you'd like to enhance? If so, do you think speaking words of affirmation may help?

Focusing on the positive and really listening to a person's complaints and hurts is one key I've found in doing therapy with my clients, to "change the frame" a person is looking through. As a friend of mine once said, if your life is a painting and someone decided to take a big black drop of paint and put it in your beautiful picture somewhere, what would you do?

Would you say that your whole life is ruined by that black mark, or would you make it the center of a beautiful flower? Words of affirmation regardless of the circumstance will not only help you relate better to clients, but actually may help you close deals more effectively.

In my next post I am going to talk to you about Gifts. Stay tuned.

:)

Blessings to you,

Stacy L. Harp, M.S.

Your Fabusend Representative Here on Active Rain

I thought I would show you my full Fabusend letterhead, even though it appears you might have to scroll over to see the full thing.

If you look at the top of the letterhead, you'll see 5 links - those are actually linked to those places I have on the web. So everytime I send

out an email to my friends or customers, they can click directly from my letterhead and go to my blog, website, twitter account or podcast. They can even email me from there if they want.

One other thing that I really like about the letterhead is that you can have it made to your liking. I'm pretty active politically, so I chose

the Whitehouse and then had them add my company logo and picture. This suit me perfectly.

You also get read receipts with every email you send and when a person does not open their email you get a notice after a period of time

telling you it wasn't opened so you can follow up again. I really like that because I send out a ton of email and sometimes forget who I sent

things to, so it's a nice reminder.

And so that's just a little bit more about the Fabusend Letterhead. It's pretty smart :)

Today as I was thinking about some of my friends who are trying to purchase a home for a wonderful program they have going to help homeless people, I was thinking about how even though the market is great for buyers with a lot of money, it's tough for those who don't have much money.

My friend is the founder of Grandma's House of Hope, which is a transitional living home in Garden Grove. The house has 17 beds and we take in homeless, recovering addicts and alot of women who have been victims of domestic violence. I'm a therapist and I run a group in the house and I can tell you that the need for more properties and homes like this one is run for, are needed.

But then there's also the issue of how to market ourselves during hard times. And a friend of mine recently told me about Fabusend Smart email letterhead that I am now using. Not only is it cool because it is like giving my business card every time I send email, but there's a great referral program that comes simply for using it.

Just to give you an example, the basic package is 99.00 for a year - that's half price with a coupon code. But once you use it and others buy it through you, you earn 50.00 for each sign up. So all you need to do is have 2 people sign up and the rest is gravy. I think this is why most of Fabusend's customers are real estate agents and in the industry.

I've been using this for barely over a week and already had a friend of mine who has a few internet companies sign up. So I know it works.

I would be interested in other ways you are marketing your business through these down times?

Stacy

http://www.twitter.com/fabusend

Oh, and you can use my code SH7729 and that will give ya 50% off.