Estate agents slow to respond promptly to enquiries from potential clients

We all know that responding promptly to enquiries from potential clients is important when looking to generate new business, but new mystery shopper research by lead generation specialists, Homeflow, has shown that 39% of estate agents are missing out on potential clients by not responding in a timely manner.

The study revealed that the average response time was 229 ‘business’ minutes, which is almost four hours, with the slowest response time being 2,260 ‘business’ minutes, or almost five working days!

Only half of the agents who responded to the sales enquiry did so within an hour, and just two agents were fast enough to acknowledge the opportunity within a four-minute window.

Response times to portal leads on rental properties were better than to sales enquiries. Some 70% of rental enquiries generated a reply from agents, with 40% of all responses within an hour. However, the average response time was only marginally shorter at 218 ‘business’ minutes.

“Home sellers now place a higher value on response time than ever before”, said Nik Chotai, Homeflow’s MD. “It’s the key to winning instructions in a competitive market, and it’s essential for building trust and loyalty in a digital age where time is of the essence.”

 

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4 Comments

  1. Mycroft58

    That’s no news to buyers!

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  2. Bless You

    30 rightmove valuation enquiries and still haven’t book a valuation from one of them.

    Change the button, rightmove, its obviously misleading people.

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  3. jeremy1960

    “Home sellers now place a higher value on response time than ever before”
    Do they really? or, is it just that people have become accustomed to going online, ordering a product and the product arrives sometimes same day?
    Bless you’s comment about valuations is a prime example, has anyone ever gotten a genuine enquiry that turns into business or is this just another RM bell and whistle to add a cost to teh agent?

    Report
    1. jan-byers

      Agree totally

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