How fast should you respond to an online lead? Answer is 5 Minutes!
Competition for Buyer and Seller Leads is greater than it’s ever been. With so many websites catering to the Real Estate Industry buyers and sellers are now expecting an immediate call, email or text when they send out an inquiry. So how can you set yourself up to respond in record time? That’s a tough question to answer. Especially since in a previous post I told you to segment your day so you’d have greater control of your time. But follow along for my thoughts on this topic.
Phone Call Leads
You hold typical business hours for a full time active Realtor. That means you’re working from 8am to 9pm handling leads. Sometimes you might even get that 11pm call. So obviously if you can, take the call but what if you can’t? Today most smart phones allow you to send a text message to a person that is calling you. This is a great feature that you can set up either for your iPhone or Android device. Simply create a standard message stating “Thank you for your call, I am currently in a meeting but will be finished shortly. If you need immediate assistance please email me at example@website.com with all the details and I will be sure to get you the info you need”.
This is a generic message but should do well for most phone calls that you can’t currently pick up.
Email Leads
This normally happens when a person visits your website and fills out the contact form. This one is easier to respond to. You can set up push notifications on your smart phone or tablet so every time an email comes in you will be immediately notified. Just remember that this will drain your battery fast so have a back up charger. You can also set up a Auto Responder email thanking them for reaching out and that you will follow up shortly.
Social Media Leads
With people communicating via social media in larger numbers it is possible that you will generate online leads from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ or any of the million social media sites out there. You can set up push notifications on your phone to alert you when someone sends you a message.
Text Message Lead
This is easy, text back.
Conclusion:
5 minutes is the best response time to get back to leads as they come from various sources. You want to be the first Realtor the buyer or seller chats with. Especially since the vast majority of leads work with the first Realtor they speak with. Sometimes a response is just a thank you for reaching out and I will be right with you in a few moments.
Being the first to respond will increase your conversion rate and increase your earnings as a Real Estate Agent or Broker.
I hope you enjoyed this post and share freely.