James Davis and Sam Mitchell from Rightmove discuss the importance of responding to tenant enquiries as quickly as possible to minimise void periods.
Upad have teamed up with Rightmove in a series of videos sharing best practice and top tips for making the most out of your online ad.
In our next video, James speaks to Sam Mitchell, Head of Lettings at Rightmove, about the importance of responding to tenant enquiries quickly.
When a tenant enquires about your property online, it’s important you reply to them as quickly as possible. When a tenant has just made an enquiry, they are still ‘in the zone’ of looking for their next rental and your property will be fresh in their mind. If you respond the following day or days after, they might be too busy to answer calls. Think about it from your own perspective as a consumer- if you contact a business, you expect a speedy reply. Sam also points out that if you want the best calibre of tenant, you need a number of enquiries to have more choice and ensure you get the right person living in your property.
Sam reveals that many tenants choose to call rather than email about a property, but the gap is narrowing. And if a tenant does send an email enquiry, it’s most likely to be from their phone. Many tenants don’t receive a response from an agent with an hour, sometimes 24 hours and in a few cases- no response at all! Sam says that at least 25% of all email enquiries go completely unanswered by high street agents.
Because many high-street agents do not respond to queries quickly, and generally not out of office hours, it gives private landlords the opportunity to develop a quick speed of reply and gain the edge. James points out that 40% of Upad enquiries are received outside of normal office hours. Even if you are unable to respond in the evening, you should consider setting up an auto response email to explain details of the property let and give details of a block viewing they can attend.
At Upad, we handle tenant enquiries 24/7 via phone, automated phone and email. When you receive an enquiry about your property, we will immediately send you the details via text and email to make sure you can get back to them as quickly as possible. Find out how Upad works.
