Best time to follow up a property lead? Three stats you should know
Estate agents occasionally ask us about lead follow-up. They want to know when the best time to follow up a lead is, fearing they might come across as desperate or trying hard sell tactics if they respond too fast. There are three statistics which real estate professionals should know…
All the research we’ve seen suggests one thing: the faster you contact them the more likely you are of making a sale.
Why Focus On Speed To Call?
STATISTIC 1:
The odds of reaching a lead increase 100 times if called within 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes, according to an InsideSales.com study.
STATISTIC 2:
The odds of qualifying and converting a lead increase 21 times if called within 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes, the InsideSales.com study found.
STATISTIC 3:
Three in four (74%) of all buyers and sellers (76%) will work with the first agent they talk to, according to research from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Real estate lead management software company Follow Up Boss asks: “Do you want to be the agent sending them email alerts, hoping that the lead will convert itself? OR the agent that is on the phone with them, building a PERSONAL relationship and helping them with their home search?
Follow Up Boss stresses that “this doesn’t say they work with the agent from the first website they visit or the first agent to email them. It’s the first agent that they TALK to.”
So the answer to the question is simple: contact them by telephone, and do it fast.
FAST FACTS:
• Buyers spend 12 weeks in total house hunting, contacting the first agent by week 3*
• 51% buyers say the hardest task was finding the right home*
• More than 50% start home search process online
• 90% of buyers use the internet at some point in home search
• 89% of house hunters bought from an estate agent or broker
• Consumers on average use six different websites in their home search.
• Only 27% of leads ever get contacted (Forbes)
The above research invariable involved US households, and one must allow for variations in buyer behavior between nationalities, as how Scandinavian house-hunters respond to sales calls will differ from British and Russians, and so forth.
If you are fast and first you have a huge competitive advantage.
*Source: NAR survey of 8,501 households published November 2012
