A very important lesson I learned some time ago was reinforced in the past few days.
Springfield, Missouri has suffered from one of the all-time worst ice storms in history. The ice started falling from the sky on Friday, January 12. Today is Monday, January 22, and over 13,000 customers (more than just 13,000 people) of Springfield's City Utilities are still without power. Lots of cold weather here, just not nearly enough heat.
Those people still without power are understandably losing patience with our public utility. But it's not necessarily because they don't have power. It's more likely to be because they don't know when to expect to get the power back. The communications from City Utilities (CU) has been limited mostly to a daily tally report of how many customers have had their power restored, and how many remain without power. There has been no communication to those customers remaining without power as to the overall battle plan, schedules, and etc. It is this lack of communication, resulting in the perception of those customers that CU doesn't care, that is starting to percolate to the top of their emotional boilers.
This reinforces the notion that one of the very worst things that we humans can encounter is the lack of information and communication from a source we deem valid, and upon which we rely for making our decisions. Without the information on which we base our decisions, we immediately feel alone (very bad for social animals like humans) and perceive we are without any control in our lives (very very bad for humans living in the twenty-first century).
A lineman told me today that people are really getting frustrated because they don't understand the fact about what the utility company and the workers do, so they don't know how long it will take to fix things or when to expect the next round of repairs. BINGO.
As real estate professionals, we confront this truth all the time. Consumers who don't know what we do or how we do it don't know what to expect next, so naturally, when we don't communicate with them and educate them about the process enough that they know what to expect next, they feel those very bad feelings of loneliness and lack of control. What do they do then? They launch. Their frustration boils over and right through your cell phone. You just went to the happy person that helped them find their dream home to a slimy, snaky, real estate "*&^%$%*&%"!
The first time a buyer has that bad experience with a home inspection and you haven't educated them as to the contract process and what can be found during the inspection, I guarantee they'll wig out on you just like those ice storm victims. Except, unlike CU, you can't lock yourself away behind that busy switchboard and only come out when the TV cameras return to the studio.
BOTTOM LINE: COMMUNICATE. When you've told people more than they wanted to know, they'll tell you. Until then, keep giving them the facts. Let them make decisions, and at least feel like they're in control of their lives. Everyone will feel better.
P.S. Lest you sense hypocrisy with the past blog below, I did watch news coverage of the ice storm and outage. Rest assured, though, that I turned it off after they were finished with that coverage.
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