Released on: July 3, 2008, 6:50 am

Press Release Author: NovaLoca

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: Are you a commercial property agent? Then your customers want
to speak to you when they call. If they can't, they may go elsewhere with their
business. With meetings and site visits filling your day, how do you know when your
customers are going to contact you and therefore, when you need to be available to
answer their enquiries?

Press Release Body: 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 enquires via email is between 11am and 2pm.
. The number of enquiries via email gradually declines after4pm, 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 enquires can be maintained and therefore, further reducing the chance of the
customer looking to your competition for help.
A high number of email enquires 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.


Web Site: http://www.novaloca.com

Contact Details: Brooklands Farmhouse, Gypsy Lane,
Broom
Bedfordshire, SG18 9AT
08443575260
info@novaloca.com