Trust = Character x Competency

Brian Buffini is a real estate trainer many of you may know. He teaches that a referral business is the only business to have in the industry. He did thousands of transactions based on his success with the concept. Some of his concepts play out very well in real estate agent web design. One of the first things he talks about in his trainings is the trust factor.

He stresses that clients will use you if they trust you. Trust consists of multiple factors. The primary two factors are character and competency. It could be said that:

TRUST = CHARACTER X COMPETENCY

People will trust someone over someone else based on how they value the two main factors. The more of both you display the more people in general can trust you.

How does this apply to web design? Your web site design is your online character and your content is your competency. It is that simple. Agents want people to contact them. People will contact them if they can find them and if they trust the site.

Personalize your web site. You have an image in your profession. Let that image carry over into your site. Get help if you need it. Ask others to give you feedback. Ask them what image you are portraying. Make sure your users can TRUST your site so they will give you a chance.

If you have a fun character and those are the types of people you want to work with then your site should be fun. It should be professional but lively and colorful. If your character is a country rancher then the site should portray that. If you are high tech and contemporary then let that character shine through your site. People you want to work with will see that character and decide to contact you for that. Be careful not to give off that you are disorganized or plain. Many sites try to smash every icon they can find and every topic they can think of on their home page. It is distracting. People get the impression that they will get smothered by the agent as well. Be clear, concise, and have a direction, like you would with a client.

If you are very competent at what you do then let it shine through. Make your content great. Show people they can get great answers by contacting you. Talk about the area. Talk about the market. Talk about housing. People will listen if you write well. In the end, you will be their choice.

Help people trust you from the first impression. Let them get a sense of who you are and help them gain that trust.