Is it possible that you have Information Fatigue Syndrome? Sounds scary doesn’t it? Well, in Stefan Swanepoel’s book Trends Report 2009 he accurately describes the problem:
“…in most cases we don’t have any method for comparing and processing the information to determine what is and is not valid. This overload is strongly affecting our ability to make sound and rational judgments.”
Sound right to you? It did to me, I think we experience it every day and witness the affects especially in the real estate marketplace. Buyers receive so much information that they develop analysis paralysis and can’t process the information into action.
Consider these statistics from Yahoo user groups:
*# of emails sent in 2008 – 210 Billion per day
*Projected number in 2012 – 419 Billion per day
*The average corporate user receives 156 messages per day.
*It takes approximately 2 hours (19%) of your day to file, sort,
and respond to emails.
*50% claim to have symptoms of “Information Fatigue Syndrome”,
an overwhelming feeling of being faced with an incomprehensible
amount of information.
*63% believe they may miss out on an opportunity if they log off.
The take away from these kinds of numbers and emotions is simple:
“Remember, your customers are most likely on overload and are searching for someone to make sense of it all. Your goal is to determine what they want and then give it to them.”
Swanepoel suggests several ways to accomplish this:
1) Think like a customer – who are they, what do they want, how do they get their information?
2) Think Differentiation – “You need to be different and that means the service you offer has to be different.” Websites are like fishing, “you are going to have to add a lot more to your bait than just a couple of pictures or a video. You need pertinent, valid and timely information focused on your customers’ needs…”
3) Think Service - Customers already have a plethora of information, they want new and relevant information about lifestyle. “If you accurately provide that information to them via your participation in consumer facing websites or social networks and then follow it with an ongoing dialogue, the creation of a solid in-house database will result. The most effective way to counter information overload is to become your customer’s solution…”
4) Think Communication - The websites of most REALTORS® suffer from a failure to create, maintain and communicate actively and effectively. In other words, we are not meeting the customers’ expectations. Consider the results of a survey by the California Association of REALTORS® in 2007-2008:
* 27% of first-time buyers expected an instant response.
* 52% expected it in one hour.
* 60% in within 2 hours
* 90% before the end of the day
* 48% of all online leads are NEVER RESPONDED TO AT ALL!!!
The goal is to become a trusted resource for pertinent analysis and not just information, do it right and the word will get out faster than you believed possible. This is a great market to be the “go-to” person for all their real estate questions and needs.
DF
