Dean Jackson:
Hello, everybody and welcome to the MarketingMonday.com podcasts.  My name is Dean Jackson and we are coming to you this evening from beautiful Cardiff by the Sea, California, just north of San Diego and I’m here with my good friend, Joe Stumpf.

Joe Stumpf:
Hi, Dean.

Dean Jackson:
Hey, Joe.  Now a lot of you have heard me mention Joe Stumpf before.  Joe was the founder of a company called By Referral Only and, if you remember last week, I mentioned that we were up in Sacramento at the Hyatt Downtown doing a wonderful three day training for realtors and mortgage brokers called The Main Event and we do a Main Event somewhere across North America one time every month and one of the things that I’ve asked Joe to come and talk about today is some language skills that he has developed that he calls magic words that get referrals and the interesting thing about what Joe has really dedicated his life to mastering are language skills and the interesting difference is that the things we talk about in marketing, things that we talk about on Marketing Monday podcasts about lead generation, about finding buyers, about getting listings and converting leads, those things we measure in terms of a return on investment.  We talk about things like getting a 15 to 1 return on every dollar that you spend.  Well, the wonderful thing about the magic words technology is that if you know the right words to say, you know when to say them and how to say them, the return on that knowledge is infinite because it doesn’t cost you anything to use that technology.  It doesn’t cost you anything to use the right words, words that you already know and use every day and when you do apply them and you get referrals from people who have friends and family and relatives that they’d like to refer to you, the return on that is infinite.

So I’ve asked Joe to come and shed some light here on really kind of taking things to the next step because what we talk about is getting you to a point where you get an appointment where you’re sitting down with somebody, but just because you get in front of somebody that doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed the business.  So the way that you can articulate what makes you different from all the other competitors that you have and why people should choose you, lies in your language skills and Joe is the very best in the world at language for realtors and lenders.  So, Joe, I’m really pleased that you’re able to be with us today.

Joe Stumpf:
Well, Dean, thank you for stopping by our studio here in Cardiff and I love what you said right at the beginning is that you are really the best in the world at helping real estate agents get appointments.  The tools that you provide, your listing programs, your website, technology, there’s nobody better in the world at that and I’d like to think that, on my end, what my skills set lies is really helping and assisting agents, so when they sit down with a client what do they say, what is their languaging skills.  Indeed, I just want you to think how it would feel to have the exact language that causes people to choose you as their realtor because when they listen to what you say they know by your language skills that you have so much more value to offer them than any other option.  So I’m sure you’d like to know how to do that.

Dean Jackson:
I would love to know how to do that and I’m sure all of our listeners would love to know.

Joe Stumpf:
Well, again imagine what it would be like to have people five times more interested in what you have to say and, because I’m obsessed with teaching you and your listeners how to get people five times more interested in what you’re saying, I want to help your listeners to really choose to be really masterful at communicating what they actually do for people because when you sit down with someone and they want to know what’s the value, what do you do for me and it’s not locked boxes, it’s not signs, it’s not websites, it’s not 800 services.  Those are all commodities.  There are roles that you play.  So imagine how good it would feel when you explain to people what your roles are and what they see and what they hear and what they experience is this incredible value in your languaging.  So there are three roles that you play and would you like me to go through those three roles?

Dean Jackson:
Yeah, love to hear all three.

Joe Stumpf:
Well, role number 1 is you are their consultant and role number 2 is you are their negotiator and role 3 you are the person who oversees all the transactional details.  So what I thought we might do is we’ll role play as if I’m your consultant and I’m sitting across from you and I’m now explaining to you, as my client, what my roles are and I’ll go through these dialogues and we’ll take each dialogue and then we’ll kind of dissect each one of them a little and give your listeners some instructions on how they can assimilate this and make it their own.

Dean Jackson:
Okay.

Joe Stumpf:
So that first one, Dean, is I am your consultant.  Now, Dean, as your consultant, I will ask you very profound and very insightful questions and, Dean, maybe you’ll notice these are the type of questions that the typical real estate agent might not ever take the risk in asking you and, Dean, experience shows that a skilled consultant, like me, will ask probing, intelligent questions because discovering what’s really important to you is really important to me and it’s important, as your consultant, that I lead you through a process of clarifying your values because, Dean, when your values are clear your decisions are so easy and you want to make good decisions, easy decisions, do you not?

Dean Jackson:
Yeah.

Joe Stumpf:
Well, Dean, you might also notice that consulting is listening vigilantly to your answers and, Dean, what you may not know is that only when you have confirmed that I have heard you and only then will I craft a very specific strategic plan to make sure that you get your dream to come true, to get your home sold or find the home of your dreams.  So, Dean, also as your consultant, one of these things that I will do is I will appropriately define all the problems that you will encounter during this transaction and, because you need to differentiate all the essential objectives and the less relevant concerns, I’ll be guiding you each step of the way and, Dean, my experience also shows me how to articulate all the likely obstacles to achieving your objectives and then really identifying sensible means to circumvent them and, Dean, imagine how good you will feel knowing your consultant is recognising and balancing all the different needs of all the relevant people impacted by the decisions you’ll be making.  So, Dean, listen carefully.  As your consultant, when serious flaws in my own ideas require swift public acknowledgement.  I make mistakes and I’m willing to make dramatic and new directions when it’s required and I would expect you to do the same thing.  So, Dean, what you can count on is I will consistently demonstrate an ability to recognise my own personal biases and I will use this so we’re in this to constantly be improving my thinking because it’s important to you that you realise your dreams.  Well, that’s, Dean, a definition of what a true consultant is.
Dean Jackson:
Yeah.  Now that’s maybe a little different than the kind of initial conversation that people might have with their realtor.

Joe Stumpf:
Don’t you think?  I mean what do you think a typical conversation is?

Dean Jackson:
Yeah, right.  Well, I’m part of the biggest office in town.  We’ve sold more homes than anybody.  Our website gets more visitors than anybody, all the things where you’re just kind of trying to convince people, but that, what you’ve just articulated there is going beyond all of that.  It’s a different level.

Joe Stumpf:
There’s probably different levels at everything, but this is really at a master’s level.  So a couple of things in when you start out, you describe yourself as you are already their consultant.  You’re not asking for the job.  You’re saying “as your consultant I will…”.

Dean Jackson:
Right, assuming the position, right.

Joe Stumpf:
Yeah, I’m going to ask you profound and very insightful questions and then you’ll see in the scripts that you’ll be provided here is you’ll see words that are kind of embedded commands when you say things like “maybe you’ll notice.”  That actually puts people into a trance, “Notice what.  What are you talking about” and experience shows.  It’s a very powerful thing.  Experience shows, Dean.  Now it’s actually calling on a resource that you’re not even giving credit to, but it’s just experience and experience is very important and it wears what it shows and then we use the word “because” throughout our languaging, because when you give a reason people listen differently than if you don’t give a reason and so when you say “because” the listening actually of the volume knob of the ear starts to turn up and goes “Why.  Tell me why” and then you’ll hear in our scripts we’ll use words that say, “Dean, imagine” and again that puts you into that trance where you have to start to go inside and get a picture of what it’s going to look like when it’s all done.  So that’s what our consulting script is and then I have one for negotiating…

Dean Jackson:
Perfect.

Joe Stumpf:
…for overseeing the transactional details.

Dean Jackson:
Okay, let’s talk about the negotiator.

Joe Stumpf:
Okay, well, negotiating you’d say, Dean, my second role is I’m your negotiator because I treat your money like it’s mine.  When it’s time to save you or make you money I will be a pit bull.  You, like me, know that money is a very emotional issue and to represent yourself is like performing surgery on yourself.  You’d never do that, would you?

Dean Jackson:
No.

Joe Stumpf:
No.  If being healthy is important to you, then you delegate it to a person that you trust and you respect, like me.  You probably believe it’s in your best interest to have a very skilled, experienced and focused negotiator on your team.  So, Dean, imagine what it would be like to have a person who deals with your money and all the critical issues and examines the accuracy of all the underlying assumptions in the negotiations that are being relied upon.  Now, Dean, while I’m negotiating for you I will skilfully articulate the strengths and the weaknesses of the suggestions that everyone proposes to us and, Dean, sooner or later you will become aware that my negotiating skills alone are worth every penny you pay me.  So, Dean, as your negotiator, it’s important that you know that I recognise the likely underlying agendas and all the motivations of the individuals that are involved in your transaction and you’re going to notice how quickly I can anticipate the likely emotional reactions of individuals to actions and communications that you make.  So, Dean, as your negotiator, I will appropriately articulate all the essential flaws in the arguments that others present to us and then reiterate our strength in our position to them.  So, Dean, I will recognise when it is appropriate to resist the objections of others and, Dean, I will remain committed to our sound course of action.  So that’s our dialogue for negotiating.

Dean Jackson:
You know it’s interesting because, as you’re saying that, I’m just listening to it and now all of a sudden I feel like now I’ve got somebody.  You’re taking on a role protector really, it sounds like, where you’re taking my best interests.  You’re being the bad guy or the guy who’s going to stand up for maybe something that I wouldn’t be able to on my own.  Very interesting.

Joe Stumpf:
I imagine you feel safer.

Dean Jackson:
Yeah, that’s exactly it that you feel safer and I like the way in that dialogue how you’re taking on the role of our position, where you’re almost putting us in partnership already.

Joe Stumpf:
As for your listeners, it’s important to notice that.  As the dialogue gets deeper into it, the language becomes more sophisticated.  So we start out with a basic metaphor and a simple metaphor that I’m going to treat your money like it’s mine and as to when it’s time to save you or make you money, Dean, I’m a pit bull and so, just tell me, what image comes to mind when you hear “pit bull”?
Dean Jackson:
Yeah, fierce protector.

Joe Stumpf:
And so you start there and then I’m ending on this note way down here.  I’m going to recognise the appropriate objections and I’m going to resist what others have to say and I’m going to remain committed to our course of action and I’m already talking through the transaction.  I’m not talking to the decision are you going to work with me.  We’re already talking, we’re way past you’ve made a decision.  We’re now in the midst of the heavy negotiation.

Dean Jackson:
Right, exactly.

Joe Stumpf:
And I think that’s important that people go through it, not to it.

Dean Jackson:
That’s good.

Joe Stumpf:
Yeah, and then this third role is as the overseer of the details and I’ll share that with you.

Dean Jackson:
Absolutely.

Joe Stumpf:
So it goes like this.  So, Dean, my third role is I oversee all the transactional details because every transaction has 100 to 150 phone calls, each one of them loaded with critical details and, as you can imagine, Dean, every ‘i’ must be dotted, every ‘t’ must be crossed because there are in excess of 200 pieces of paper requiring upwards to 43 signatures and initials and making a mistake on any one of them, why, it could be very very costly to you.  So, Dean, imagining right now that borrowing and buying is like flying an aeroplane across the country.  My role is to be your pilot and you are my passenger and we may run into turbulence.  Dean, have you ever been a passenger on a plane?

Dean Jackson:
Yes.

Joe Stumpf:
Okay.  Have you ever been in turbulence?

Dean Jackson:
Yes.

Joe Stumpf:
Then you know.

Dean Jackson:
Yeah.

Joe Stumpf:
It’s good to have a pilot like me because my role is to oversee all of these details and you will notice that, as your pilot, I will always recognise what is known about an issue, but more importantly what needs to be known and how to best obtain the relevant information that’s both accurate and needed immediately.  So, Dean, as a matter of fact one of my greatest skills is really to see things from multiple perspectives so I can identify likely unintended consequences of your decisions.  So, Dean, as the person who oversees all the transactional details, I recognise the conclusions that can and cannot be drawn from all the different exchanges with all the different people involved.  So I will appropriately consider all the probable effects of the likely unintended consequences that may result from taking a particular course of action and, Dean, as your person overseeing all the details on your transaction, I will pursue and I will encourage feedback that may reveal any error in my judgment and immediately make appropriate adjustments.

So, Dean, those are my roles and I play the role of consultant, negotiator and the person who oversees all the transactional details.  Now can imagine right now people being five times more interested in what you have to say just be describing what your three roles are.

Dean Jackson:
Right.  I mean it’s a very powerful way to describe those things.  As you were talking about that overseer of the details, a few things are going on in my mind.  If I was taking on the role of somebody who’s going to be selling their house, you’ve immediately taken any notion that I had of maybe selling the house on my own.  You’ve taken that right out of the picture because there’s so many details that have to be handled and I think when you’re saying even with the unintended consequences what you’re essentially saying is that there are things that I don’t even know that I don’t know.  So even though it appears like on the surface I think I could do it on my own or that anybody could do it, the fact that you’ve acknowledged that there are all these details and the specific numbers that you’ve given of all the other people involved, all the signatures involved, all the paper work involved, is really powerful.

Joe Stumpf:
Those words like “unintended consequences”, they get embedded deep because they’re words people don’t hear very frequently.

Dean Jackson:
Right, exactly.

Joe Stumpf:
So it will come back too when you’re sitting negotiating and you have an offer on your property and they’re about to change it and for you to say, “As your consultant, I need to express what you may not know are the unintended consequences of you touching that offer right now and so let me outline for you what this means to everybody involved, all the relevant people involved right now, as soon as you counter offer” and you use those words to demonstrate your expertise.  I think it’s one thing being referred to people, but it’s another thing being – not just referred to you because they like you, know you and trust you, but they’re being referred to your expertise and I mean can you imagine how essential it is.  I mean I wouldn’t even tell you that it’s essential that you must improve your ability to get people more interested in what you are saying unless it was true and I don’t know if you already have even begun to notice that people really have more options than ever before when it comes to selling the home or buying a home and in the days and the weeks ahead you must notice if your language skills have the power to get people more interested in you being their option and that’s what this language does for people.  It gets them more interested in you being their best option.

Dean Jackson:
Right.  That’s really what I love about the magic words technology of knowing exactly what to say in situations because so much we talk about the lead generation and we talk about the tools that we deliver and we talk about Marketing Mondays, are all very scientific.  We know exactly what’s going to happen.  You run the exact ad and you get the exact result and everything we can do to get you into a situation where somebody will invite you in to talk to them about selling their house or about buying a home or about getting a mortgage and from that moment on, as soon as you get in front of somebody, that’s where it switches from being about the scientific process of getting leads and getting appoints to the art of delivering and articulating what it is that you do and make yourself appear different than the people that you’re competing against.

Joe Stumpf:
Well, this is one of 12 points that we have in the initial consultation and some of the things that we teach at the Main Event and we go through that 12 point presentation on consultation at the Main Event and this is the fifth point, explaining to people what you do and it’s the one that carries the most meat because your value is in what you do.

Dean Jackson:
Right, yeah.  So anybody listening, we’d love you to join us and come to a Main Event.  We do one every month somewhere in the country.  I’ll post up details on where all the Main Events are as we travel around the country and, hopefully, mark it in your calendar sometime next year to join us, to come out and meet us and join us at a Main Event.  Thanks, Joe, for being with me.

Joe Stumpf:
My pleasure.  Thank you, Dean.