In 7 seconds you’ll decide whether to continue reading this, if you want to open that listing, if my site is worthwhile, or if you want to work with me. If your home is listed and a buyer is reviewing it, you’ll have about that same amount of time to hook them. If that listing isn’t compelling with rich narrative and illustrative photos, buyers and agents simply move on to the next listing. How many potential sales are lost because of poor presentation? Many….just cruise though an MLS and note the poor quality of many listings.
According to the National Association of Realtors, as many as 98% of home buyers begin their search online by scanning listings. They spend an average of seven seconds previewing a real estate listing online before deciding if they’ll look deeper or move on. If your listing fails to capture their attention, opportunity is lost. Yet and still, how many thousands of listings have generic narratives, or worse, no narratives? How many have too few photos or poorly taken photos? How many lack agent contact information? How many agents actually respond to inquiries in a timely manner - or at all? If your home is listed, is it properly presented to generate an offer?
And then there's Google. If you're looking for an agent - do you Google them? Check LinkedIn? If not, why not? On line is on the market - for homes, products and people. Does the agent have status and authority? Are they trustworthy, competent, likable, and confident? And these computations are made at lightning speed. Researchers from NYU found that we make eleven major decisions about one another in the first seven seconds of meeting. The same is true for agent web sites.
It would be interesting to see how well different sites attract and hold potential clients. Does an agent dressed in a costume exude confidence to a client? Does an analytically, data driven site appear cold? Do clients care about what an agent does in their spare time or are they there to search listings? Do clients read blog posts? While those answers are left to firms specializing in marketing, we do know that the seven second rule applies – clients better recognize value on a site, understand that the agent is knowledgeable and they better be able to find what they want – in seven seconds.
We love the seven second idea, shame on us if we don’t have a user friendly site. Our clients are much more prepared and knowledgeable; we appreciate the higher level of real estate knowledge they come in with. In fact, we find that many contact us after weeks and months of following our blog or twitter account, after researching data on areas they are interested in or after searching properties on our site. And we’ve found something else – the seven second rule is morphing.
The internet has forever changed how agents and clients interact, the veil of secrecy regarding real estate data and listings has been pierced and it’s for the better. If it raises the bar on agent performance, everyone wins. Of course, it’s up to the public to ensure that bar is raised and we think the seven second and seven question rules apply. We know that the real estate industry is all about bodies, 90% of the work is done by 10% of the agents. In 7 seconds, you can eliminate that 90%.
Hank Miller, SRA
www.hmtatlanta.com
