To twitter or not to twitter, that is the question

My grandmother was born at the turn of the last century. She lived to be nearly 100.

During her lifetime she saw the most amazing changes in the world. With five daughters, an invention like the telephone was made for her. She embraced it.

Like us, she needed to make space in her life to adjust to new technology. We’ve come a long way from the first phone my nan used but at other levels things haven’t changed at all.

We learnt to talk on the phone so we visited less. Now we can twitter, Facebook and MySpace with “friends” all over the world. But do we really “talk” to people any more? Do we really connect or do we in fact just waffle inanely?

Networking technology is about creating a fan base, not a data base. The latter only serves to make people feel like a number and we’re well beyond that when it comes to customer satisfaction. Like the old Bob Seger song, clients no longer want to feel like a number. They want to be individuals.

If you believe any social or business networking site, I live in a world where I have the potential for billions of clients. But I really only need enough of them to keep my business growing at the rate which is comfortable. What I want to do with my portion of those billions is connect.

The severe disconnect between business and client is nowhere more obvious than in real estate.

For years the industry has used communication methods which build rapport and false friendships.

With these allegedly more personal ways to network, as businesses we need to be ahead of the curve and right on the edge. Otherwise we will always be playing catch-up.

Mailing lists which bombard people don’t offer true communication. People who engage with their clients, not who want to be false friends to make a sale, are the ones who give hope.

In this world, the key word is indeed hope. You want someone to give you genuine hope that they can do what you are seeking; that they can sell your home, find you the right car, lose weight or help you find love.

Consumers are looking for clarity and confidence. Genuinely connecting with them will give them that and it should put you in the strongest position possible.