Tag Archives: viewers

Dale Carnegie’s acclaimed self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People published in 1936 still holds true today. I particular like his Six ways to make people like you. These are:

Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile.
Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

They’re just common-sense really, and if you think about it, every estate agent in the land should learn and practice these six techniques when they’re showing viewers your home. Let’s look at their relevance for making the most of every viewing, and if you don’t have any confidence in your agent showing a high degree of skill in this regard, then you need to make sure you do these instead:

Become genuinely interested in other people – talk to your viewers, and find out all about them. Where have they come from, what are they looking for, what other properties they’ve seen. The more you discover about them, the more successful you will be at matching their needs to your home’s offering.
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Smile – be friendly! Viewers will usually be nervous or apprehensive about the viewing; they are, after all, a guest in your home, and whilst they want to like the house, they are worried that they won’t. A big, friendly smile when you greet them will immediately help them to relax and feel welcome.
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Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language – if you don’t know their names in advance, make sure you shake hands and introduce yourself by your first name straight away. Hopefully they will reciprocate, but if not, don’t be afraid to ask. First names are best, and will encourage your visitors to adopt a more friendly and less formal approach that may help you to foster a good relationship with them from the start.
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Be a good listener – make sure you ask lots of questions and really listen to their answers. It’s no good extolling the virtues of your vegetable patch if they tell you they work long hours, or telling them all about your paddock if they show no interest in using it; if you actively listen, you will be in a much better position to tell them about the features of your home that really matter to them.
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Talk in terms of the other person’s interests – use the word “you” as much as possible. They don’t want to hear all about you and your time as the occupier: encourage them to think in terms of their future in the house. Saying things like “You could park at least four cars in this driveway” or “you’d love this house at Christmas” will help them to engage with your home and see it as their next chapter.
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Make the other person feel important – if you don’t connect with your buyers, chances are they won’t connect with you. Make the effort to understand them, their hopes and dreams, and find something to like about them. Finding some commonality really helps; perhaps you’re both dog lovers, or share an interest in a hobby or travel; whatever it is, once you find it and can have an engaging chat as you show them round, you’ll find they will become more open and friendly themselves.

Although Dale Carnegie I’m sure didn’t intend his Six ways to make people like you to be applied to selling homes, by following these guidelines you’ll make sure you give yourself the best chance to make a great first impression, and very importantly, to forge a good solid relationship with your viewer that might just tip them over the edge to becoming a buyer.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

My final blog post on the Henley Regatta, and some final thoughts for you. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time and will bring away some fabulous images and experiences with me I’ll probably never forget. My final takeaways and how to relate them to your house sale are:

The details matter – sprinkle clues around your home to appeal to your distinct type of buyer. Identify what they’ll love, and give it to them.
Stimulate the senses: serve homemade cookies or cake, have lots of soft and textured fabrics and interesting materials, use scented candles and keep linen freshly laundered, play soft music, and make sure your home is staged beautifully for each and every viewing.
Treat your viewers like special guests, because they are! Be an exemplary host or hostess, and really help them to enjoy their viewing experience.

Follow these three Henley Regatta lessons, and with a little bit of luck your viewers will realise that yours is their perfect home.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

People watching – what a terrific pastime it is! I’m a very visual person, with a background as a professional photographer, so I really enjoyed all the outfits, hairstyles, personalities and characters that Henley Regatta had to offer. Boaters, blazers and wedding-type hats were the order of the day, and some attendees were more creative than others!

What’s today’s lesson then? I suppose it is to be observant! When your viewers arrive, notice what they are wearing, how they carry themselves, and their gestures and try to deduce from their appearance what kind of buyer they are. Are they down-to-earth, jeans and trainers types? Focus on the garden, the garage and the practical elements of your home. If the lady turns up wearing high heels and perfectly groomed, then she will appreciate any touches of luxury and sophistication your home has to offer. Make sure you give her the best chair, and offer her a cup of tea made in a teapot and served in a cup and saucer. These are all little touches, but little touches all add up to become a buying motivation. Make the effort and see what happens!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

My second blog post on the Henley Regatta is on the subject of ‘vignettes’. What exactly are these and how do they relate to selling houses? Well the dictionary describes a vignette as “A short story that presents a scene or paints a picture.” The key word here is ‘story’. What’s your home’s story? Where has it come from, and where is it now? What is your home’s personality? Kindly, warm and cosy, or else sophisticated, elegant and poised?

Let’s look at the Regatta. The vignettes below all tell a story. The man with the chirpy boater and the characterful beard; I bet he’s a really interesting person, full of wisdom and twinkly eyes. If he were a house, he’d be a thatched cottage with big chunky beams and a flagstone floor. Or the couple with the ice-creams. If they were a home, it would be a good solid village house, extended several times over the years and full of family laughter and memories.

What’s your story? What is your home’s personality? I once helped sell a house in the Cotswolds that had been on the market for over two years. Its owners had come from London, and the house ‘felt London’ with dark coloured hallway, large bold abstract prints, and ethnic ornaments and rugs. This kind of styling was completely alien for the Cotswold buyer, who was looking for a life that would include village fetes, long dog walks and longer pub lunches, and a large glass of Merlot in front of a roaring log fire. Not exactly a London life. I helped them understand their buyers, and give them the clues that they were looking for. Out went the prints, rugs and ornaments, and in came the muddy Hunters, vases of hand-picked flowers and big soft throws. The comfortable Cotswold life was snapped up immediately at the asking price for the first buyers that walked through the door.

And where had these buyers come from? London of course!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Remember Kate and Will’s Royal Wedding? If you’re anything like me, you were eagerly awaiting that first magical glimpse of Kate’s dress. For months, it was the subject of conjecture and rumours, and still managed to end up a complete surprise. No one knew who the designer was, the colour or the style. And don’t we just love it? The surprise for me, and millions around the world, added to the excitement and enchantment of that wonderful day.

Kate’s determination to keep the secret is something that every seller could learn from! When we sell our home, there is a tendency for the estate agent to try to show everything, warts and all, in the brochure and photography. The property of a client of ours, has been listed on Rightmove with 52 photographs! The problem with this, is that a buyer will make a decision about whether or not to view a home based on the photographs, and if there are images of every nook and cranny, they don’t need to come to see it! In this sense, less is definitely more. Or in marketing speak, you need to sell the sizzle, and not the sausage. Here are my top 5 tips for keeping your viewers interested and excited about your house:

1. Make sure there are no more than 6-10 photographs in your online advert. Any more than this, and you risk losing their interest before they have even seen the best features of your home;

2. Look at your description, both in your online advert and also in your brochure. Is the copy wordy and overly descriptive, complete with full measurements and every power point listed? It should be punchy, full of emotive language and enthusiasm. Create atmosphere with the wording, and make sure every word entices a buyer to view.

3. Your brochure should include up to 20 photographs, but at least half of these are better as ‘lifestyle’ shots. These could be a glimpse of the garden through the gate, a window seat with an open book and a cup and saucer, or a posy of flowers on a bedside table. If you have a country property, try a shot of muddy wellies by the back door, or a stack of logs in the sunshine. Urbanites could try a bowl of limes on a shiny kitchen surface, or a bottle of bubbly and two glasses on the coffee table, with just low lamps lit.

4. When your viewer arrives, make sure all your internal doors are closed. Invite them to go first into each room, opening the doors like opening a present. In this way, they ‘take ownership’ of the house.

5. Try to make some little secret corners, in your house and also in the garden. This might be a little reading corner, or a garden bench hidden by shrubs, and secret paths are loved by adults and children alike.

You only get one shot to make a great impression on a viewer. If they are under 40, they are most likely very used to browsing online, and with a click, you’ve lost them. Unless you can pique their interest and hold their attention long enough to create a desire to know more. Do it right, and they’ll reach for the phone, and book that viewing.

As for Kate’s dress, well it was certainly worth the wait.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

It was the great Henry Ford who said, “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”

If you ask a viewer what they think of an asking price, they will tell you it’s too expensive. Why shouldn’t they? If they don’t want the house, it will look too expensive to them, and if they are thinking about offering, their comment will help them to justify a low offer; it’s a win-win for them.

Don’t ask a viewer what they think of an asking price; their answer would be as relevant as asking a horse rider what car they want.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.