Top 9 Things Customers Don't Care About- From A Gen Y-er's Point Of View

Today RIS Media ran an article entitled The Top 9 Things Customers Don't Care About.  The list was pretty on target.  But I thought what would make it more helpful is comments about each statement from a real, live Gen Yer, who this year went through the process of hiring a Listing Agent- ME!  RIS Media's list is below.  Followed by my comments. 

The Top 9 Things Customers Don't Care About:

9. How good you are at what you do. They only care about how good you are at who you are and how you can help them get what they want.   [SB] I DO care about how good you are.  Obviously I want to hire a GOOD agent.  However, I will not decide how good you by you telling me.  I will decide based on how I feel about you when I meet you and what other people say about you.  The 'other' people's opinions on you will not come from a testimonial sheet you bring in.  I will read what people are saying about you, unsolicited, on message boards or any 2.0 site that I can find. 

8. Your education, your certifications or your designations. They only care about how what you know can help make their lives more enjoyable, simple and prosperous. [SB] I have been seeing these designations for 10 years now and still have absolutely no idea what they mean.  If you can show me how your designation now affords you some skill that others without it may not have, then mention it.  The only designation that means something to be when I see it is EPro.  From this my guess would be that you are somehow more Internet savvy than others, which means you will be more likely to communicate with me via email, my communication method of choice. 

7. Your brand. They only care that the experience of doing business with you is sensational. [SB] I go 50/50 on this one.  Initially I lean towards a national brand because I think a larger corporation is going to have more Internet partnerships in place and more resources.  But I could be sold by someone under an independent label, if their marketing plan was stellar.

6. You saying you have great service. They only care about getting great service. [SB]  You don't have to tell me about your great service.  I will already know what type of service you provide the minute I send a request for more information.  After I do that, you have about an hour to show me your 'great service'.  If you call me the next day, no service statement in the world is going to convince me otherwise.

5. How much you charge. They care about getting value for their money. [SB] This is true, to a certain degree.  You will have an opportunity to present to me, tell me your plan and tell me your rates.  If I think you are the best and will get my home sold the fastest, commission is irrelevant.  If I like two people equally as good, I will probably go with the lower commission.  So two points here, 1) Be the best and 2) At least be in the ball park of commissions your market is baring.

4. How you feel today. They care about feeling good themselves and having a positive day. [SB] Not saying you don't earn your commission, but at the end of the day, that is still a large chunk of change out of my pocket.  If I am paying someone that much money, it is going to be about me, me, me! 

3. Why you can't do something. They only care about fast, easy solutions. [SB] However you deal with me, is how I assume you are dealing with other agents.  If you tell me you can't do something, I am going to assume that you are telling other agents you can't make things work for them, which doesn't get my house sold.

2. How long you've been in business. They only care about how you can solve their problems under today's conditions. [SB] This is very true, especially because how homes are marketed has evolved so much over the last few years. 

1. How cool or slick your marketing looks. They care about how your product or service can save them time, relieve them of pain, help their family or put money in their bank account. [SB] 100% true.  Show me all the cool and unique ways you are going to market my home.  Show me the back-end systems that are in place where I can get information about what is going on with my home at all times.  Regularly show me Internet statistics as to how my home is performing online and how you are adjusting the plan based on these facts.  I need to hear from you regularly, even if you have nothing to tell me.  Once a week minimum. 

Picture courtesy of www.brandchannel.com