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The faster you respond to inquires results in higher commissions

How many of you return your voice mail messages quickly?

How may of you do the same with email inquiries? It used to be acceptable to return emails the day after or once a day. Now you have to respond nearly instantly to meet the needs of the consumer.

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) did a survey and they found that 23% of consumers expect an instant response and another 21% of the consumers expected a return email within thirty (30) minutes!

It has been demonstrated that returning emails instantly will result in the perception of great customer service and that is what the buyer and seller expect. They want good service and the discussion of reduced commissions doesn't even come into play. Responding hours or days later to the message to you will result in having those commission discussions.

The email addresses you have exposed to the consumers on listings or your web site should be sent to your smart phone device so you can get to it quickly. Whether it be your blackberry, treo, iPhone or just forwarding those emails to your phone so you can respond 24/7 will lead to increased success. There are a lot of tools out there you can get set up with to get better connected.

The XY Generation would rather get a text or emaiil message back rather than the Baby Boomer Generation calling them. Speed is of the escence --

Make it a profitable day

Posted by Scott Hoen, ePro, MBA on 07/30/2008 04:01 PM

Comments (8)

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8 Comments on The faster you respond to inquires results in higher commissions

Time is a ctrical element. If ya snooze, ya lose

07/30/2008 04:07 PM

by Mott Kornicki • Real Estate In Miami (SIB REALTY, LLC)

Scott.. Thanks for this reminder. I know this is true, but with all of the other things going on I sometimes wait till the end of the day or until it's convenient to respond to my calls and messages.

I really think the only excuse for not responding to a possible new client is if it interfears with the service you are giving an old or current one.

07/30/2008 04:08 PM

by Corie Seymour Salt Lake Real Estate (Group1 Real Estate)

Thanks for writing. Tough to always be there evn with these new devices. Veronica

07/30/2008 04:19 PM

by Veronica DeCarolis (Weidel Realtors)

This is great information. 23% expect instant gratification? That's amazing. Did CAR also do a study of phone call response time expectations?

07/30/2008 04:24 PM

by Not Yet Licensed

it's true this works but also hard to do in a busy day unless you have some kind of assistant. It sure it something to keep in mind. thanks

07/30/2008 05:19 PM

by Jacinta Lujan (Georgia Elite Realty)

Amen!!!

You said a mouthful with this one Scott. It is imperative to respond as soon as possible to all queries, regardless of type or manner of transmission.

And the ones who let the whole profession down the most are the part timers. I know they need other revenue streams, hoever, when your return phone calls start after 5 pm ... .

Dominick

07/30/2008 07:11 PM

by Dominick Dina, MA, REALTOR®, e-PRO (Christian Realty San Antonio)

How absolutely true, we do live in a I want it now world. If we don't they will call someone else.

Have A Great Day

07/30/2008 07:16 PM

by DORIS FREEMAN Realtor Hendersonville-Nashville (RELIANT REALTY LLC)

This is very true, I've found that even when you dont have time to respond to an email right then, if you take the 15 seconds or so to reply and say something like "Thanks for the e-mail, I'm heading into a meeting right now, but I'll get back with you in a couple of hours", that goes along way to satisfying the customer, Just the other day I recieved a response to an e-mail I sent a company requesting more information on their advertising product, the problem was I sent the email in January and they responded in late July!

07/30/2008 07:25 PM

by Charles & Noeleen Duffy (Team Duffy, Marketing Florida to the World!)

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