Are You Available When Your Customers Come Knocking?

July 7, 2008 - PRLog -- Every commercial property agent is aiming to attract customers who are looking to buy or let properties and then convert enquirers into occupiers/purchasers. With a day full of sales calls, site visits and meetings, when do you fit in responding to enquiries from potential customers before they have the time to look elsewhere. A key to getting the balance right is being aware of when your customers might call. This way you can ensure the resources are in the right place at the right times so that customers are able to speak to you when they call.

When do your customers contact you?
NovaLoca analysed property enquiry data over a three month period and found that 45% of enquiries are made by telephone which suggests people do want to speak to people when looking for property. The data was further analysed to find out what time of day customers call commercial property agents with an enquiry.

•   The number of telephone enquiries made is fairly consistent throughout the working day (9am – 5pm) although there are peaks at 10am and midday.
•   Few calls are made before 9am or after 5pm, with no calls at all between 9pm and 7am.
   
NovaLoca also found that 55% of enquiries, over the same three month period, were made by email. As evidently this is common way for customers to contact the agent, we analysed the enquiry data to find out the pattern of email enquiries throughout the day.

•   The peak time for receiving enquiries via email is between 11am and 2pm.
•   The number of enquiries via email gradually declines after 4pm, although increases again at 8pm before declining throughout late evening.
•   Email enquiries are made throughout the evening and night.

What does this mean for your agency?
Telephone enquiries can be expected throughout the working day. Customers want to speak to a real person when making their enquiry therefore they call within office hours so they can do this. In order to meet your customer’s requirements you should ensure there are a sufficient number of people available to answer calls between 9am and 5pm, especially during the lunch break period (12pm to 2pm).

Some telephone enquiries are made outside office hours. Therefore, a voicemail service is vital in order to obtain the enquirers details and return the call. All enquiries must be answered the following day to reduce the chances of the customer taking their business to your competition. (For further information about making the most of telephone enquiries read “Are Clients Going Elsewhere Because You Don’t Answer Your Phone?”.)

The number of email enquires peaks in the middle of the day. Therefore, resources should be available between 11am and 2pm in particular to ensure a rapid response to email enquiries can be maintained and therefore, further reducing the chance of the customer looking to your competition for help.

A high number of email enquiries are made during the evening and night. As email enquirers are not necessarily looking to speak to someone directly, enquiries by this means are sent 24 hours a day. Therefore, resources should be made available at the start of each working day to ensure enquiries from the previous evening and night are responded to as soon as possible. This again, will to reduce the chance of the customer looking elsewhere.

When should you be available to speak to your customers?
It would appear the first hour of the working day is very important for ensuring enquiries made overnight (by telephone and email) are responded to before the new ones of the day start to flood in. The data indicates that at this time email enquiries will form the majority of correspondences requiring your attention. Therefore, replying to emails may be where your time is most needed first thing in the morning. Overnight telephone enquiries should also be followed up during this period.

Mid morning to mid afternoon (10am to 3pm) appears to be a busy period for both telephone and email enquiries. Therefore, being available during this period to speak to your customers directly as well as responding to their emails could be very beneficial. With both telephone calls and emails coming in some additional resources may be required than at the beginning or end of the day to ensure all enquiries are dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

Although the number of telephone and email enquiries decline during late afternoon they do continue, especially emails. Therefore, your time is well spent responding to enquiries during this part of the day too. However, fewer resources may be needed at this time than during the middle of the day.

This data and analysis is a guide. Therefore, NovaLoca encourages you to record how and when enquiries come into your agency over a given period. Using the data collected which is specific to your agency you can plan your time to meet the individual needs of your agency and your customers. To find out more information about how you might go about conducting this research please contact the NovaLoca customer services team on 01767 313332  or email info@novaloca.com.

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