Peak My Interest Quickly or I'm Gone
This is a great post by Hank Miller. It's important to track the "Bounce Rate" on our websites and work to improve it. 7 seconds and they are gone unless we capture their interest.
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. I'm going to to the same to you. Instead of seizing that moment, many agents fumble it away.
According to the National Association of Realtors, as many as 97% 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?
You meet a business acquaintance for the first time – a potential new client that you want to sign up. The moment that stranger sees you, his or her brain makes a thousand computations: Are you someone to approach or to avoid? Are you friend or foe? Do you have status and authority? Are you 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 feel that the site is current, valuable and that agent 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.
It is common for us to receive a call or email beginning with “….I’ve been reading your posts for several months and….” In a sense, we’ve had much more than seven seconds to make an impression. In fact, there have been numerous instances times where we have met a buyer in the morning and written an offer in the afternoon. The seven second rule initially applied and kept them interested, the diligent follow up and professionalism ensured that they successfully completed their transaction.
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.
Hank Miller
Associate Broker & Certified Appraiser
Atlanta Communities Real Estate
678-428-8276 direct
hank@hmtatlanta.com
www.hankmillerteam.com
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