Strategic Storytelling: How to Position Yourself as the Only Option for Your Ideal Client

Stories create connections. In a “people business” like real estate, stories can create clients and earn you referrals. But you need to be strategic about it.

On this week’s Walkthrough, storytelling coach Andy Henriquez shares how any real estate agent can find the right story to tell and how to be strategic about telling it. Because when you tell the right story at the right time, people will remember you, like you, and want to do business with you.

Enjoying this episode? Be sure to follow The Walkthrough to get future episodes delivered automatically: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | YouTube

Enjoying this episode? Be sure to follow The Walkthrough to get future episodes delivered automatically: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | YouTube

Join our Walkthrough Listener Community

We’ve launched a private Facebook community just for listeners of The Walkthrough. If you’re not a listener, please listen to a couple episodes and then join. (You won’t get much value out of the group if you’re not a podcast listener.) If you are already a listener, come join us to connect with other listeners, connect with the guests that you hear on the show, learn from other agents and share your knowledge, get exclusive content, influence future episodes, and more. You can find the group here: HomeLight Agent Community – The Walkthrough.

Links and Show Notes

• Master Storyteller Academy – Andy’s quarterly 3-day workshop, mentioned in this episode
• StorytellerQuiz.com – learn what kind of storyteller you are, mentioned in this episode
• AndyHenriquez.com – learn more about Andy
• Join our Facebook community for The Walkthrough listeners
• HomeLight’s Agent Resource Center
• Subscribe and listen to The Walkthrough: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube

Full Transcript

(SPEAKER: Matt McGee, Host)

Who is the most powerful person in the world? You might instantly think, “Oh, that’s got to be the President of the United States.”

[Voice of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “Mr. Vice President, Mister Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.”]

Matt: Or if you think about powerful in the literal sense of physical strength, you might answer with the heavyweight boxing champ or the UFC’s number one fighter.

[Sound: boxers hitting a punching bag]

Steve Jobs had a different answer to that question. Back in 1994 while he was still at his company called NeXT, Jobs said this to his team over lunch: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.”

Okay. You’re probably not trying to set the agenda for an entire generation, but you are trying to set a vision and an agenda for your business. You’re trying to reach new clients and turn them into your biggest fans. You’re trying to create an emotional connection because real estate is a people business. You’re trying to get people to do business with you and refer business to you.

My guest today says you can do all that with stories. He’ll show you how to become a strategic storyteller, someone who knows which story to tell and when to tell it.

This is “The Walkthrough.”

(INTRO MUSIC)

Hello there. How are you? My name is Matt McGee. I’m the editor of HomeLight’s Agent Resource Center. Welcome to “The Walkthrough.” This is a weekly podcast. We have new episodes that come out every Monday morning. This is the show where you’ll learn what’s working right now from the best real estate agents and industry experts in the country. At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re on a journey to find out how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

If you want to get involved in the show, if you want to get in touch with me, there’s a couple different ways to do it. Find me in our Facebook listener community. Go to Facebook. Search for HomeLight Walkthrough and the group will come right up. You can also leave a voicemail or send a text. The number is 415-322-3328. Or just send an email, go straight to me. The address to use is walkthrough [at] homelight.com.

In the world of content creation, sometimes you intentionally hit upon a theme, and other times, a theme just kind of comes out of nowhere and develops on its own. Well, we’re in the middle of one of those unintentional themes right now.

Last week, I spoke with you about client testimonial videos. I made the point that you should find your clients with the best stories, and tell those stories in your testimonial videos. A few weeks earlier, Jessica Swesey from 1000watt was my guest. You may remember, she helped you figure out how to tell your story on your real estate website.

Stories are a key element of business and marketing. You’ve heard the phrase, “Facts tell, but stories sell.” And to continue the rhyming theme, my guest today knows that all too well.

Andy Henriquez is a master storyteller, but this is chapter two of his professional story. Back in chapter one, Andy got his Master’s in accounting. He had a great job at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but he walked away from that because he thought there had to be something more out there. He wanted to be an entrepreneur. He wanted to be his own boss. He wanted to inspire people like you and me.

Well, today, Andy is a business storytelling coach. He’s worked with the likes of NASA, Bacardi, Office Depot, and Google, among others. He trains them on how to use storytelling to elevate their brands, to build stronger connections, and ultimately, to make more money. He’s an author, he’s a keynote speaker. You should go to YouTube and watch some of his videos if you get a chance. But first, of course, listen to this conversation today.

You’re going to hear Andy make the case for why storytelling should be an integral part of your real estate business. He’s also going to share the three Rs of a great story, how to figure out your story if you think you don’t have one to tell, and the three questions that you have to answer to be strategic about telling stories that will help grow your bottom line. Andy’s also going to share a few examples of companies that are great at storytelling, companies that we can watch and learn from.

Grab a notepad for this one, you guys. I really struggled to boil this down to four or five takeaways at the end. There’s literally that much good stuff coming your way.

The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. So, let’s get started. Let’s learn about strategic storytelling. Here’s my conversation with Andy Henriquez.

(BEGIN CONVERSATION)

Matt: Okay. Andy, let’s start this way. I know you are a big believer in the power of storytelling. Why is storytelling so effective?

Andy: We need something that is going to allow us to come first of mind. We need something that is going to allow us to create some level of separation between ourselves and other people. And we need something that is going to allow us to really be more memorable. And so, the thing that I love about stories, and why I think stories are so important, especially for the real estate industry, is because stories have this sort of stickability factor, and they have the ability to really be able to separate you from other people.

And what I mean by that is that, you know, a lot of people may have passed out their business card and said, “Hey. I’m a Realtor. I work for such and such real estate company,” or perhaps, “I’m a broker myself.” But here’s the thing. How many of those individuals would come first of mind? And what’s really going to allow us to become first of mind is if we at least create some level of connection and rapport with the person who could potentially be our client or maybe even refer us to somebody else.

And so, how do we get them to remember us? We don’t get them to remember us by just spitting out a bunch of facts, talking about how long we’ve been a Realtor, how many deals we’ve done. I mean those are all great things. But the reality is if you were to ask them six months later, “How long did I sell as a Realtor? How many deals did I say I had done? How much volume does my brokerage do?” and so forth. They wouldn’t be able to tell you because those are the type of things that it’s hard to remember.

But if you shared your story around how you even became a Realtor, if you shared your story about a wonderful family that you helped get into their first home, if you shared a story about somebody that you were really able to help that was in a difficult, challenging situation to get into that home with their family, that, they’re way more likely to remember.

Matt: What makes a story great?

Andy: So, the reason why we share stories is because those stories allow us to be able to connect. Those stories allow us to be able to build rapport. And those stories allow us to become memorable. I have a buddy of mine, his name is John Watkiss. And he was talking about the three Rs in storytelling. And the beautiful thing is, number one, that when we share these stories, number one, it’s one of these things that people can remember. Right? And just think about this. As a real estate professional, you want people to remember you.

But he said that the other thing about when we share and tell these stories is that people are liable to actually repeat it. So, we want people to repeat. Like, “Oh. Well, let me tell you. I was just on the phone with Deborah. I was on the phone with Dan. And let me tell you the story that they just told me.” And when you tell a great story, even if it’s about a client, somebody you’ve helped or how you even decided to get into real estate yourself, people are likely to actually repeat the story to somebody else. Now, why is that great? Because that’s free advertising. Your name is being brought up, and they’re repeating the story.

And then the other thing is that it requires a response. And so, when there are these stories, people are most likely going to respond. And so, what does that mean, respond? Like, “Hey. You know what? Now that I think about it, you mentioned you need a Realtor? I was just sitting down with a friend of mine a couple months ago. They told me this amazing story. Actually, I just remembered them. Hey. You know, you may want to give this person a call.” So, it actually creates a response out of people where they’re actually likely to refer you, remember, repeat what you have to say. And that’s why it’s so applicable specifically to this market.

And yes, I get it. Right, Matt? I mean, yes, we’re going to make sure that we’re doing advertisement, we’re doing outreach, we’re making phone calls, we’re sending out mailers to folks. I mean, yes, that goes without saying. And if you’re really big time, yes, get your picture on the bus stop and get your picture on the billboard and the whole nine. But at the end of the day, we are looking to enroll human beings, and we are wired and programmed for stories. And that’s why we’ve got to take the time to share and tell our stories because people will remember us. They’re likely to actually repeat what we share with them. And they’re likely to respond to the message which ultimately means more customers and more clients for us.

Matt: What makes a great storyteller? What skills, what do I need? As the real estate agent, what do I need to be or do to be able to tell a great story?

Andy: Here’s what’s really important. One of the things we always got to remember is that when we are sharing a story, that the first person that should be on our mind is the person that we’re the sharing the story with. And so, one of my mentors is a gentleman by the name of Les Brown. Many of the people who are listening may be familiar. He’s one of the top five motivational speakers on the planet. And over 14 years ago, I was training under him and there was something that he said over and over again. And it was the notion that you never want to make a point without telling a story. And you never want to tell a story without making a point.

And so, one of the things that makes a great storyteller is that when they’re telling a story, they actually have a point. There’s a reason why they’re telling a story. So, we’ve all been there before where we have seen someone share and tell the story. And by the time they’re done telling the story, we’re like scratching our heads. We’re like, “What was the point here of them sharing and telling me that story?” So, number one, to be a great storyteller, we’ve got to be making specific points with our story. So, hopefully, there’s something that’s coming out of that story.

The other thing that’s really important is that when we are sharing the story, we don’t want to just be reporting the story. We want to bring people into the story. So, a great storyteller does not just report the story, but rather they bring the audience, they bring their prospect, they bring the person that they’re talking to into the story. And it’s the way that they’re sharing the story. So, as opposed to just listing off sequences of events, they tell the story as if it is happening in that moment. And they allow the audience and the person listening to come into the story that they’re sharing.

And then the other thing that’s really important is this really critical point that a lot of people tend to miss out on. And it’s the notion that every great storyteller understands that the story needs to have some type of conflict. And if you’re listening to this right now and you happen to be a note taker, you know, one of my mentors told me a long time ago, “Note takers are money makers.” You have to understand this, that if there’s no conflict, there is no story. So, every great story has some moment of conflict. Like, something needs to happen. Something needs to happen. Right?

Matt: We just did an episode of “The Walkthrough” about video testimonials. Right? You use video testimonials in your business. Realtors love to use video testimonials. And the point that I made in that episode about video testimonials is, don’t just interview your client and get them to talk about how great you are. But get them to tell the emotion and the drama, the tension, the conflict that you’re talking about. Get them to tell that part of the story of the real estate transaction because it can be a very tense and emotional thing for a buyer or seller to go through. So, that’s exactly what you’re saying. That right there is what makes a great story.

Andy: Yeah. Absolutely. It’s so awesome that you even know to point that out. So, all great stories have basically a three-part framework. There’s got to be context, there’s got to be conflict, and then there’s got to be some kind of conclusion. When we can get people to tell their stories like that when we’re asking for testimonials as you shared, like, where were you at before, what was the conflict, and then how did I as your Realtor help you to solve that conflict? What it does is that now for the person who’s sitting and looking at the testimonial, who is having this similar challenge, what they do is they begin to see themselves through the eyes of the person who’s giving the testimonial. And also, in addition to that, they get to see you as the solution. And there’s where the power lies.

Matt: I think listeners might be saying to themselves, “Okay. This sounds great, Andy. But what if I don’t have a story to tell? I’m a great real estate agent, I’m successful, I’m a great salesperson, but I have no idea what my story is.” What do you say to a person in that situation?

Andy: Yeah. Absolutely. So, here’s the thing. I would say to you that, hey, I’ve been there before. And I totally get it. First of all, let me first of all tell you that you do have stories. You have multiple stories to tell. And worst case scenario, if you’re the person that you still didn’t believe you have any stories to tell, the beautiful thing is, you have plenty of stories to tell especially if you’ve done real estate transactions. Because every single one of those transactions and people that you’ve helped, there’s a story there.

So, one of the things we have to be intentional about is, number one, we want to leverage the stories of our clients. So, those people that we’ve assisted to purchase their vacation home, the person that we helped to relocate, the person that we helped to get into that house that they always wanted, the backyard that they always desired and so forth, all of those are stories and stories that could be leveraged. But if you’re also a person you’re trying to figure out, “Where’s my story?” there are basically three places that you want to look when you’re trying to find your story.

Number one is you want to consider, where are the places that you’ve experienced significant challenges? Now, why is that important? Because if you look at all the places that you’ve experienced significant challenges, you’re also going to find some great stories. The second place that we want to take a look at is what I like to refer to as any major transitions.

So, if you think about any place that you’ve experienced a transition in your life, there’s going to be a story there. So, you think about… a transition is like the moment before you became a Realtor and when you became a Realtor. That was a transition. There’s a story there. Right? So, another transition would be the moment that you went from struggling as a Realtor to maybe actually starting to have success. That was a new transition. There’s probably also a story there.

And then the other thing that I like to refer to is what I call a defining moment. And so, you say, “Andy, what’s a defining moment?” A defining moment is the moment in your life that you can say, “I can put a pin in that moment, in my timeline. And there’s the before that moment and after that moment.” So, for a lot of people who’ve been in real estate for quite some time, around that 2007, 2008 mark, that time was the defining moment for them. Because, you know, for many people, their deals dried up, the real estate market tanked, the housing market bust and so forth. And for a lot of people, that was a really, really challenging time. For people who persevered and pushed past that time, that was a defining moment. Because the only reason why they’re still here and successful Realtor was because they made it through that moment. And so, there’s a phenomenal story to be told there.

(Woman: For more great “Walkthrough” content, join our listener community on Facebook. It’s the place to connect with other agents, including the guests you hear on our show. You can influence upcoming episodes by suggesting guests and questions. And you’ll get exclusive content that we don’t share anywhere else. Just go to Facebook and search HomeLight Walkthrough, then click to join. It’s that easy. As a “Walkthrough” listener, you should be in this group. So, join us today.)

Matt: We’ve covered a lot of ground already. We still have a lot more to learn about storytelling with Andy Henriquez. So far, you’ve heard him talk about why stories matter. They make us memorable. They help us stand out from the crowd. We just talked about what happens if you don’t think you have a story to tell.

The flipside of that coin is that you might have a ton of stories to tell. That’s a great problem to have. In that case, Andy’s first piece of advice is that you make a story library. Use, like, a notepad, a Google Doc, something like that. Just have a place where you can write your stories down so that you don’t forget them.

But then you might be wondering, “All right. What do I do with all these stories?” That’s where strategic storytelling comes in. As we get back to the conversation, Andy is sharing a three-part framework for knowing which story to tell and when.

Andy: The three questions I want you to think about is going to help you to pick the right story. Number one, what do I want this prospect to know? What do I want them to know? Do I want them to know that the last five people who had me as their listing agent not only sold their property in 45 days or less, but they got more than their asking price? Is that what I want them to know? Do I want them to know, when we do this business, we don’t just look at it as transactions, but we are fully committed to our people, and every one of our clients is like family to us? What is it exactly that I want them to know?

Now, why is that important? Because once you are clear on what you want them to know, then you can try to figure out what’s the best story that you can tell to help you to get them to know that thing. So, it’s the notion that when we share these stories, we’re being strategic. So, we always want to think about in advance, what is it that we want people to know? And when we know what it is that we want them to know, now we can tell a story that helps us to drive that particular point. So, that’s the first thing. Super, super important.

Matt: Love that.

Andy: The next thing is, what do I want them to feel? This is something that people tend to overlook. What do I want them to feel? And you say, “Well, what do you mean by that, Andy?” Well, guess what. Most of the time, when people make decisions, it’s going to be based off of emotion. What it means is that, for the most part, we tend to make decisions based off of the way that we feel. And then afterwards, we go back and we rationalize it.

Same thing happens with your prospects. They’re going to meet up with five different Realtors, and when they finally do make the decisions, oh, they’re going to come up with something rationally as to why they picked that person. “Oh. Well, you know, they’ve been practicing real estate for this long. And they’re with a reputable company and so forth.” But that’s not the real reason why they picked that Realtor.

The reason why they picked that Realtor was the way that that Realtor made them feel. Because what we will do is we make our decisions based off of the way that we feel. And then after the fact, we go back and we find a way to rationalize it. So, you got to be thinking about, when you’re telling these stories, we want to create a certain feeling. Right? We want to create a certain feeling, connection, trust, rapport, all these things. Because that feeling is what’s going to drive people to take action.

So, first of all, what do I want them to know? What do I want them to feel? And then the final thing is, what do I want them to do? What do I want them to do? Now, I know we’ve got a lot of all-stars here listening in to this particular session. But we know at the end of the day, we’re not talking about telling stories for the sake of telling stories. We’re telling stories because we want to get more business. We are trying to sell more properties, we’re trying to get more listings.

And so, when we do that, we want to be telling stories that move people towards a specific action. Whether it’s getting them to sign a listing agreement, whether it’s getting them to choose you, whether it’s getting them to understand why they should buy in that neighborhood, whether getting them to understand why this is a great time for them to sell, it doesn’t matter. But when we are telling the story, there needs to be something specifically that we want people to do as a result of us telling the story. And we want to tie the story to the action that we want people to take.

So, once again, you’re about to go meet up with somebody, and you got a bunch of stories. Think about this. What do I want them to know? What do I want them to feel? And what do I want them to do? And if you can think about those things, you’ll choose the perfect story so that you can move them to action.

Matt: Let me ask you about timing. Stories take time to tell. Right? So, Realtors, real estate agents are often in very different situations with clients. So, sometimes, we might be on a listing appointment where we’re in the person’s house and we have 15, 20, 30 minutes, whatever it might be. Other times, we might be just door-knocking… when all this gets back to normal and we’re knocking on the door, and we’ve only got 30 seconds, Andy, maybe a minute to make a connection with this person. Can you use a story in such a short time frame? Is there, like, a right length of story? What are your thoughts on timing?

Andy: Yeah. So, here’s what’s interesting. One of the things we don’t want to do is we don’t want to be trying to tell a 15, 30-minute story. So, that’s sort of, like, a misconception from a lot of people. The average person is not going to sit and listen to you share a 30-minute story.

So, one of the things we’re intentional about, and a lot of times when I’m working with my clients and I’m coaching them through my Master Storyteller Academy is that we’re actually helping them be able to tell a story in three minutes or less. Now, at first, people are like, “Three minutes or less? How can I tell a story in three minutes or less?” But what they end up finding, what we find is that when we’re helping people is that a lot of times, they’re adding so many things that are completely unnecessary to the story. And there’s a thing that I love to say: If it’s not necessary to the story, then it’s necessary that you take it out of the story.

So, one of the things we have to be intentional about is we got to be thinking about, “Okay. I’m going to tell this story. What’s the point I want to make from the story? What are the parts of the story that’s adding value? What are the parts of the story that do not add value? And how do I say this in a powerful, succinct way?” And the goal is that the story is going to be compelling in a short amount of time so that you’re willing to give me more time. So, the way I look at it is the story is the ticket to buying you more time.

Matt: You mentioned your Master Storytelling Academy, which is coming up real soon. You do this… Tell me about that. You do this quarterly?

Andy: Yeah. So, we’ve got a Master Storyteller Academy. And just so I could share what that is, basically, I’ve got a powerful three-day training that’s specifically for entrepreneurs, influencers, and people who are already having some level of success in what they’re doing, but they want to up-level their game. And they know that part of up-leveling their game is that they need to strengthen their message. And they know that one of the easiest ways for them to share their message is through their story.

So, we work with people who are Realtors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, nonprofit owners and so forth, to help them to be able to share and tell stories that’s going to ultimately help them to be able to track more customers and clients. The type of stories specifically that we help them develop is what we refer to as a signature story. It’s the story that they share that ties who they are to what it is that they currently do. And it’s the story that they lead with.

So, they’re going to be meeting with a prospect, and this is a story that they share first so that they could build connection or rapport before they get into all of the other details and talk about, you know, a listing agreement and how they work with a client and so forth. This is a story that you’ll be repeating over and over again. It’s the main story that you leverage so that you can really be able to build true connection with people. And that’s one of those things that’s really, really critical. And so, that’s what we do at the Master Storyteller Academy.

Matt: Andy, we are running short on time. Let me ask just two quick questions as we wrap up. Listeners may be wondering, are there examples of business owners or companies that are already doing this that are really good at using story to build their business? When you’re working with clients or speaking, what are the examples of this that you like to cite?

Andy: I mean these examples are around us all the time. We’re just not always fully clear of it. So, let’s take one company for example. One company is a company by the name of TOMS Shoes. The CEO of TOMS Shoes is called Blake Mycoskie. They’re the ones who originated the concept of you purchase a shoe, and then they actually give a shoe away. So, when Blake was first kicking off TOMS Shoes, he was trying to get in a really competitive market. I mean think about another shoe company. And when he started off, they were getting absolutely no traction. I mean things were really, really difficult for him.

And then what ended up happening was he was heading out to New York to try to get some new buyers to try to place his shoes in the stores, and he had no success. But when he got back to the airport, there was a lady who saw him at the airport. And she noticed the kind of shoes that he had on. And she says, “Oh my gosh. Are those TOMS Shoes?” And he just played dumb. He didn’t even let the lady know that he was the founder and CEO. He was like, “Yeah,” and thought nothing of it.

And she says, “Oh my gosh. Yeah. The founder, his name is Blake Mycoskie. He was on the show ‘The Amazing Race.’ Yeah. You know, he went to Argentina to learn how to play polo. And while he was there, he ended up participating in something called a shoe drop, and they were giving away shoes at a village.” And she says, “Yeah. Do you know every time you buy a pair of shoes, they give a pair of shoes away?” And Blake is, like, blown away because he’s like, “Holy cow. This lady knows our entire story.” So, he thinks to himself like, “Oh my gosh. We haven’t been leading with the story.”

So, he starts being intentional about now telling the story. And he tells the story now to magazines and they start featuring him in magazines. And then now celebrities are hearing the story and they like it. And then literally, after them sharing and telling the story, everything changed for them.

And we know other companies like Nike do this all day long. I mean, the Nike, it’s a sneaker. But all the time, Nike is borrowing stories from professional athletes that win a championship, that win a title and so forth. And then they feature that person’s story. If you think about what does that person’s story really have to do with Nike? No, it’s a great story. It enrolls you emotionally, and then they attach their brand to it. And so, their story’s countless. If you just start paying attention, Weight Watchers for years was having people tell their stories when they’ve actually lost the weight. Right? So, all of these things are all enrollment stories. These are all stories that are being leveraged to be able to drive the bottom line for those businesses.

Matt: Let’s wrap it up this way, Andy. What is the main thing or things, final words of wisdom, things that you would want my listeners to take away from this conversation about storytelling and strategic storytelling?

Andy: Yeah. Just think about this. You are in a service-based business. Your ideal customer and client is another human being. And so, one of the things you’ve heard before in the past is that facts tell, but stories sell. If you want to get better at bridging the connection between yourself and your prospects, if you want people to remember you, if you want people to respond to you, then you want to get better at being able to share and tell stories. You want to tell stories about the people that you’ve assisted to get in their homes, the people that you’ve helped to actually sell their properties. You want to tell the story around why you even decided to get into the business. Because it is that emotional connection that is going to allow you to stand apart and get people to remember you when it’s time to refer you, and want to come back and actually do business with you. You want to find as many opportunities as possible for you to be able to share and tell those stories.

But, of course, there’s a right way to tell stories, and there’s an inappropriate way to tell stories. So, we’re not talking about just listing facts and going in sequential order. We’re talking about strategic storytelling where we’re very clear on the point that we want to make, how we want people to feel, and then ultimately what we want them to do as a result of us sharing and telling the story. If you get intentional about developing the skillset of sharing and telling stories, I’m telling you right now, it is ultimately going to help you to become a more effective Realtor, and help you to increase your volume, help you to become more memorable, and ultimately help you to get more business.

(Speaker: Matt McGee, Host)

Not just facts and information, but strategic storytelling. That’s how you grow your business and stand out from the crowd. That’s how you become a storyteller, the most powerful person in the world. Andy Henriquez, thank you so, so much. Really, really great ideas and advice in this conversation.

You heard Andy mention his Master Storyteller Academy. For more info, you can go to masterstorytelleracademy.com. And he also has another website. It’s storytellerquiz.com. You can spend about a minute, maybe two minutes there, taking this online quiz. And that will tell you what type of storyteller you are. When you’re done, you’ll also get a training video from Andy that talks about your quiz results. I will link to both of those websites in today’s show notes.

Now, I don’t know if I can do Andy justice, but let me give it a try with this week’s takeaways segment. This is what stood out to me from this week’s show.

Takeaway number one: stories are what separate us from the crowd. Stories are what keep us top of mind. Data doesn’t do that. Stories do.

Takeaway number two: if you don’t think you have a story, look in these three areas. Number one, significant challenges. Number two, major transitions. And number three, defining moments. That is where you will find stories. They can come from your own life and career. They can also come from the home buying and selling stories that you have with your clients.

Takeaway number three: be strategic in how you tell stories. Andy said every story, number one, needs to have a point. Don’t just tell a story for the sake of telling it. Number two, you need to bring your listener into the story. And number three, emphasize the conflict. Every story needs conflict. That’s how you become a strategic storyteller.

Takeaway number four: be strategic in which stories you tell. I kind of felt like this was maybe the heart of today’s show. Andy said to ask yourself three questions. What do I want the person to know? What do I want them to feel? And what do I want them to do? Let those questions guide which stories you tell.

And then takeaway number five: keep it short, you guys. Three minutes or less is what Andy said. The idea is to tell a great story, and use that to buy yourself more time with the client.

All right. Questions or feedback, I would love to hear from you. You can leave a voicemail or send a text. The number is 415-322-3328. You can send an email to walkthrough [at] homelight.com or find me in our Facebook listener community. Just go on to Facebook. Do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough. The group should come right up.

That’s all for this week. Again, thank you to Andy Henriquez for joining me, and thank you for listening. My name is Matt McGee. And you’ve been listening to “The Walkthrough.” At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re on a journey to find out how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

Go out and safely sell some homes. I will talk to you again next week. Bye-bye.

Header Image Source: (Christina @ wocintechchat.com / Unsplash)