Okay, someone in your office has told you that you need to role play Scripts and Dialogues, and you say to yourself, “Oh yeah, I don’t need to do that!”. But in fact, you DO! ONLY YOU DON’T KNOW IT. Why?
You’re thinking reading something once or twice will stick in your head. Really? How often in your life did that happen? Be honest. Now consider how you actually learn something.
From the earliest age, the way you learned was to listen to others and mimic what they said. As you got older, you encountered people, watched how they acted, then you began to act that way too. It’s called modeling, and we all do it. It’s a process of growing up, a part of being human, and it is essential for us as we learn to fit well within our family, community, culture and world.
Where you’re mistaken is in thinking a reliable and effective method is to just read a script and repeat it at a moment’s notice. You may have good memorization skills, but we’re not talking about memorization here. No, this is about projecting yourself as authentic, where what you say sounds natural – not scripted. Not forced, but genuine, and from the heart.
With that understanding, you may now realize why it is important to role play and internalize the scripts so that it becomes your own.
There are different ways to role play : From recording your voice on the phone, looking at that person in the mirror (you), recording yourself on video, and role playing with other people either on the phone or in person.
Ultimately, the best and most effective role play scenario is with another person while not looking at them. Role playing on the phone forces you to listen to what the other person is saying, hearing what is being said, understanding what isn’t being said, understanding whether they’re present in your conversation or not, and engaged with you as much as you are with them.
It’s important to remember to show your commitment to the conversation to be even more than that of the prospect or client. When someone hears you and your commitment, then it is easy for them to be enrolled in their own success because you are leading the way.
The setup for a power and easy role-play session is to keep it low stress, positive and fun, and free from interruption. Remember to mirror the other person in tone and pacing to help them become inspired, by repeating their words back to them and confirming you’ve listened and heard them.
Furthermore, schedule 30 minutes a day during the work week to have your role-play sessions generally at the same time of day. Keep it simple: One of you play the client, and rotate back and forth as the agent. Make your role-play calls simple and positive.
The secret to success role-playing is repetition and practice. The more often you practice, the better you will be internalizing the words, so that when speaking to clients you sound confident, natural and genuinely curious in order to help them achieve their Real Estate ownership goal of owning or selling their home.
Now, go find a role play partner and schedule the next 5 role play times in the week. Success comes from repetition!
Ron Alpert
Coach and Business Consultant