Realtor Lead Follow Up Response Time – Does it Really Matter?

How Quickly Do You Follow Up on Your Leads?

This week I had to share some great content from a top producing agent in Canada, Cliff Stevenson.

These amazing statistics show real estate agents the conversion rates as it relates to agent response time with follow up as it applies to not just online leads but sign calls, ad calls and listing calls or emails. Take a look:

When do you think is the ideal time for a follow-up?

Is "immediate" better or is this too “big-brother”?

Well I recalled some data on this and turned to my Google+ Email commentators circle who soon pointed me at the data I was thinking of from back in 2008. Thanks Brian Eisenberg and Riaz Kanani!

Here are the results... It’s from a post on 5 tactics on lead follow-up based on a study from InsideSales.com which showed that the odds of contacting a lead by phone drops by 100x in the first 30 minutes... Compelling!

REALTOR® Web Response Time Statistics Summary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The report also has useful data on response by time of day which as we might expect shows earlier and later in the day are best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checking out the latest 2011 data on web response follow-up by phone and email from an InsideSales report showed there are still difficulties in getting web response processes to work:

Of companies that responded:

• 40.4 hour average to initial response time.
• 2.6 average response attempts.

Of companies that responded by phone:

• 49.3% of companies responded to inquiries by phone.
• 65.4 hour average initial phone response time.
• 31.0% responded by phone within 24 hours.
• 1.4% responded by phone within 5 minutes.

To complete the picture, of companies that responded by email:

• 74.6% of companies responded to inquiries on a web form by email.
• 40.1% responded by email within 24 hours.
• 2.8% responded by email within 5 minutes.

 

How do you compare to these?

Although these numbers are far from stellar they are considerably better than previous surveys I’ve quoted in where the majority didn’t respond at all.

So, to wrap up, what are the implications? Clearly, the longer it takes to respond the more significantly your lead conversion rate plummets.

The actions to maximize your conversion rates and realize the full potential of your generated leads are:

1. Review current web response times by phone and email and impact on lead maturation, i.e. conversion quality.
2. Set targets for follow up at the minimum time or faster.
3. Put in place the people, process and technology to hit your targets – always the most difficult.

I’d be interested in how you have tackled the measures+people+process+technology issues if you’ve grappled with this problem.

What works best for you?

Strength and courage,

Wade

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