27% of All Real Estate Leads Are Never Called

According the Harvard Business review a whopping 27% of all real estate leads are never followed up with. This is a staggering figure as real estate agents and loan officers are constantly searching for new and improved methods of generating more business. It is strange that in an industry that is only services. Real estate agents don’t build houses, we don’t provide heating and cooling equipment. We sell homes and selling homes is all service and no product.

Why is this the case? Why is follow up so slow? According to Harvard it is due to the fact that there is little oversight on follow up and follow through. Even with the number of CRM’s increasing each year most agents don’t have a follow up system in place to track the leads they have and when they last called. To add another layer to this situation most real estate agents don’t report to anyone directly about their follow up. This is a recipe for confusion and wasted time not calling the right people at the right time.

The research from Harvard also indicated that the average lead is first followed up with 47 hours after it was generated by whatever means. Forty seven hours is one hour shy of two full days and that is not at all the best way to create a long lasting and trusting relationship with a home buyer. In the world we live in today we have all become used to the best customer service or at least expecting it. If a person who is expecting great customer service is called 47 hours after making a call or filling in an online form they are going to be a tough client to swing back into our good side. They are far more likely to become disillusioned and feel that they are not being taken seriously during a time when they are their most serious.

As real estate professionals we deal with million dollar decisions every day but the average home buyer comes to the table with a far different life experience. If we put our minds into the head of a patient waiting for surgery and the doctor doesn’t come to our room for several days before we are to be cut open, we are going to become agitated and doubt the experience of the surgeon who would willingly leave us waiting for 47 hours.