One of the best ways to build trust and rapport with clients is through the use of metaphors and analogies. Toss the scripts and read more to learn why. 

If you have been a POWER AGENT® for a little while, you will have heard us talk about using metaphors and analogies while talking to buyers and sellers, but learning to do this well doesn’t always come so easily!  

Why Metaphors and Analogies Will Put You Ahead of Your Competition 

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who was reading from a script? It’s not much of a conversation, is it? In fact, it’s a little insulting to think that someone can’t just have a conversation with you without someone else’s piece of paper telling them what to say!  

Most real estate agents use scripts because that’s what they are taught to do. In fact, when you look at other coaching programs, every single one says, “Use these scripts!” The problem with scripts, though, is that the script doesn’t sound like you, your potential client knows you are using a script, it feels like an awkward conversation when the potential client doesn’t respond the “right” way, and lastly, it comes across as impersonal.  

It’s Just A Conversation 

We are very “Anti-script” here at POWER Headquarters. We love to talk from the heart because it transforms that call from a “sales call” into a conversation with another human being. This is how people connect to one another, and how we can build rapport and trust is by using metaphors and analogies.  

Metaphors and analogies pack a punch when it comes to building trust because they carry power that scripts never could. Like any other thing, creating metaphors and analogies on the spot is a learned skill and takes practice, but each conversation you have where you can use these are helping you get better at them. It’s about training your brain to see connections and opportunities; before you know it, you will have no trouble coming up with them on the spot.   

Related reading: The F.O.R.M. Acronym: How to Create Analogies On The Spot 

A Prime Example of Thinking on Your Feet 

If you have ever gone to a stand-up comedy show and the comedian is up on stage doing their bit, sometimes they get heckled, or someone in the crowd says something, and out of the blue, the comedian responds with some witty retort and turn it into part of their act. How do they learn to do that? Through experience called “Stage Time”. Every time they get challenged on stage, they have to think on their feet; every time they do this, they get better at it.   

As real estate professionals, to get stage time with metaphors and analogies is to try and use them in your everyday life. This can mean practicing with family and friends, and it can be an especially useful tool with kids or grandkids! Using an analogy based on their interests and experiences can help you explain a more difficult concept or some piece of wisdom. 

For example, there was a time when my son Michael was really into football, and as often happens during the tumultuous teen years, he was being really disrespectful to me. I finally sat him down for a talking-to. It wasn’t anything complicated, but I said, “Michael, I’m your father, and this is not how I raised you. I created you, and you wouldn’t exist without me. Now, let me ask you a question. You always talk about your football coach, John. You talk about how great he is. Do you like him as a coach? Why do you like him? Now, what would your coach do if you talked to him the way you just talked to me? What would he say? All I ask is that you talk to me at least the same way that you would talk to your non-blood-relative coach, just because it’s the right way to behave.” Using that parallel, he understood why it was unacceptable and never spoke so disrespectfully to me again.  

See? Nothing crazy or hard to relate to! As you go through your day, look for opportunities to make your point with people using metaphors and analogies.   

POWER AGENTS®, check out the POWER Program® Classroom for a plethora of metaphors and analogies that you can use to handle objections. 

Why Metaphors and Analogies Are The Best Objection Handlers  

Unfortunately, a vast number of real estate professionals try to handle objections by trying to change a buyer or seller’s belief system by saying, “You shouldn’t think that way, and here’s why.” This creates an “I’m right, you’re wrong” conversation. All this does is put your buyer or seller on the defensive and fails to win them over to your way of thinking. In fact, sometimes they might dig their heels in a little, even when they realize they are wrong, just because they don’t want to give in. When trying to get clients to hire you, you don’t want the conversation to become adversarial! 

However, using metaphors and analogies creates a conversation where you aren’t saying, “You’re wrong,” but rather, coming alongside their current beliefs to guide them to understand your point. 

Related reading: ThoughtCo. – The Value of Analogies in Writing and Speech  

Here’s how metaphors and analogies work: You are using a belief that they already have about life and their experiences as an example of what you are communicating. You aren’t trying to change their belief system; you are using their belief system to make your point.  

Think about the people in your life that you connect to the best. Do they easily use analogies and metaphors to make their point? Do you connect more easily with them because of this? It’s a technique that a lot of people don’t even realize they are using, though some people – let’s use the example of motivational speakers – use this often as a means to help you drive change in your life. They take something in life that people can relate to and use that as the example of what they are communicating. By drawing this parallel, they are using something that you already know to be true to show you how their point is also true. 

Related reading: Psychology Today – Why Metaphors Are Important 

Learn more about the POWER AGENT® PROGRAM 

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