September 9, 2006
Jane Gadd - Globe and Mail

Real estate agents are missing out on a lot of new clients because they fail to respond promptly to Web inquiries, says a Canadian e-business company that has devised a solution to the problem.

Consumer research has showed that 75 per cent of would-be home buyers will do business with the first agent who calls or e-mails them back after they make an inquiry through a website, says Roger Noujeim, spokesman for Point2 Technologies Inc. of Saskatoon and Vancouver.

Almost half of consumers want to be contacted within half an hour of making an inquiry, and 65 per cent expect a response within four hours. Yet 45 per cent of on-line inquiries are never answered at all, according to the company.

"Agents are often on the road and can't access their e-mail as often as they should," Mr. Noujeim says. Point2 Technologies has launched a wireless alert system that sends a text message to an agent's cell phone whenever his or her website receives an inquiry.

The agent also can set parameters that distinguish "hot" leads from "passive" leads, the company says.

The feature will be available free to all North American agents already subscribing to Point 2 Technologies' website assistance.