LET’S PLAY A GAME! (Yes, that needed an all-caps treatment).

Aaaand we’ll give your real estate service pitch a complete 180 strategy makeover while we’re at it.

A couple days ago I shared about why great service pitches don’t start with solving problems for your clients.

This goes hand-in-hand with the game we’re going to play today, that actually is a serious STORYTELLING STRATEGY for your Realtor social media (and really, anywhere you make a pitch, on or offline).

Most Realtors go on social media to pitch their service by…talking about the service.

Like, I see it on Instagram every day: “We’re Austin’s top real estate team and our seasoned service approach is designed to get you results.”

But just as I shared in my last post, a BIG shift occurs when you can reframe your pitch around the difference your real estate service can make in people’s lives.

It’s so simple, I can break it down in one post. Here goes.

In the elementary school version of “Is It A Story Yet?”, the teacher reads the class a tale about a boy who forgets his homework. After each sentence, the teacher pauses to ask, “Is it a story yet?” Students get to vote, explaining why it is or isn’t.

We can use the familiar narrative in a “game” of our own. I can start off by saying,

“There’s a successful real estate team in Austin that helps relocation buyers.”

Is it a story yet?

We can all agree that it’s not — no characters, no context. 

So let’s add that in:

“There’s a successful real estate team called INHABIT in downtown Austin.  Its team leader, Kelly, built her entire reputation on her expertise in giving home buyers a more efficient, tech-savvy way to relocate to Central Texas. Now she and her team help out-of-state buyers save time AND money in their relocation journeys.”

Still not a story? Right, because our main character — the team — still hasn’t set out to rescue anyone. We have no common enemy, no dramatic tension.

So I’ll add to the piece:

“One out-of-state buyer, Mark, hesitated to work with a Realtor in his move to Texas…but then, costly red tape problems began to emerge with the relo company. What’s more, he felt like he was working from two cities at once, and the abnormal amount of record-keeping with the transaction was taking a toll. Things came to a head when he failed to do his due diligence with the ‘as-is’ condition of the relo property. It was then that Mark knew — time to call a professional.”

But now we need a resolution. How does this end?

“Overwhelmed by the process, and eager for a helping hand, Mark called Kelly at INHABIT. She immediately got on the phone with the relo company to talk through contingencies and a plan to move forward. Finally, Mark felt like he could relax and focus on the moving pieces that mattered most to HIM, from packing up his current home to peacefully prepping for his new job in Texas.”

I think we all can agree that, “There’s a successful real estate team in downtown Austin…” = NOT a story.

But if we look at the real estate pitches of the world, the vast majority are essentially some iteration of, “There’s a successful real estate team in Austin.”

That said, I’m truly not here to shame anyone’s pitch.

The valuable takeaway here is that “Is It A Story Yet?” IS a roadmap for emotional pitch narratives and you can apply the framework immediately.

How do you make the shift to talking about your real estate service in a more persuasive, emotionally-charged way?

By using a STRATEGIC STORYTELLING framework that describes the difference you’re making in people’s lives.

Like this:

Main Character
Who is the person whose life will be transformed by your real estate service? What is specific to/about this home buyer or seller?

Why Now?
Why is the main character compelled to act? In other words, what is causing that person to struggle? In Star Wars, for instance, it’s the Empire hitting Luke where he lives, leaving him destitute. 

In my own business here at BLUEPRINT, the main character is you (oh hello Realtor 👋🏼) and the battle is, well, everything that’s keeping YOUR brand from communicating your value in real estate, from poor real estate branding status quo (even just culturally) to your own lack of time + know-how needed to brand yourself excellently.

The Possibility Promise

What will the world look like for your main character (buyer/seller) if he/she buys what you’re selling? In Star Wars, it’s the princess rescued and Bad Guy defeated. For Airbnb, it’s that you’ll “Belong anywhere.” For BLUEPRINT, it’s that you’ll “be the obvious choice” and “stand out + sell more” in Realtorland.

Obstacles + Gifts

Ok, NOW it’s time to talk about the “successful Austin real estate team,” BUT do it in the context of the obstacles you’ll help your character overcome to reach what I call the “Possibility Promise” of your marketing pitch.

Luke has to overcome a bunch of bad guys and their weapons to defeat Darth Vader. At BLUEPRINT, our Realtor clients have to overcome their own mental blocks to becoming non-conformist with their branding/messaging…or the limiting belief that they aren’t “big or successful enough” in business to invest XYZ in their professional identity…or the bad rap that real estate marketing gets in general.

What obstacles will your buyers/sellers have to overcome, and how does your service help? You’re here to guide your prospects to the rosy happily-ever-after of your pitch — the Possibility Promise.

Evidence

Unlike the movies, in pitch stories, the ending is still unwritten. So what evidence can you bring to the table to show that you aren’t just blowing hot air? What’s your proof that they’ll achieve The Possibility Promise and the story will indeed come true?

With these story pieces in place, it’s easy to construct a compelling pitch narrative, even if you have limited time…or only one persuasive email to send or post to publish on social media.

Once you’ve established STAKES within this framework, you’ll find that people are far more attentive to your marketing when you:

• talk about what makes your service different,
• illustrate the struggles it helps them overcome,
• provides evidence that you’ll make good on your commitment to them.

Want more where this came from? Because I’m just getting started.

I recently dropped my free virtual workshop on how to nail your best service pitch as a Realtor online – it’s as downright juicy as this post just was, but on steroids. Within the training, I give you a crystal clear action plan for implementing a strategic storytelling framework like this one on social media, as part of your own 2-week “mini marketing campaign.”

The goal is helping you make your best, most human-centric, high-converting (and actually ENJOYABLE + non-salesy) real estate service pitches online.

Best part? – as part of the workshop experience, I’m gifting you a slew (45+) of free Instagram templates in Canva, so you can design + launch the whole campaign right away. 

Click HERE to get the free workshop link sent to your Inbox immediately.

The workshop is for you if you’re the Realtor who feels stuck in the social media “salesy marketing mud.” Spinning your content wheels, desperate for a strategy shift and fresh energy your audience can get behind.

It’s time powerful, ACTIONABLE content strategy tips that WORK, particularly for Realtors who tired of the same ole’, same ‘ole sales language online.

We can do better. 

Click HERE to learn how.

P.S – What’s BLUEPRINT, again? 

We’re a gaggle of designers, writers, and creatives on a mission to change the branding narrative in real estate.

We offer a signature branding service and the industry’s most elegant and high-converting digital products to help modern, stylish Realtors do three things:

➝ Communicate their worth;

➝ Become the obvious choice;

➝ Tell the right stories to stand out + SELL more.

We love new friends, so hop on our email list for more value content, take our wildly popular real estate personality quiz, or follow us on The ‘Gram to join the family.