A buyer enquires on a unit at nine in the morning. You’re in a meeting, so you reply at lunch with a brochure and a smile.
By then he’s probably spoken to someone else.
That isn’t unfair. It’s predictable. In a market where the same listing is advertised by several agents, the first thing a buyer can judge is how fast you answer.
Here’s the flow I’d run for every new buyer enquiry, from the first reply to the day seven decision.
The first reply is the first impression
Five minutes. Not five hours.
You don’t need a perfect message. You need a quick one that shows him there’s a person on the other end. Something like: “Hi [name], it’s [you] from [company]. Saw your enquiry on [property]. Quick question so I only send what fits.”
The speed does half the job. The question does the other half.
Ask one question, not three
Don’t send a brochure. Don’t send a paragraph about your company. Ask one thing.
“Are you buying to live in it, or to invest?”
That single question tells you what to send him next, and it makes the reply feel like a conversation. A buyer who answers has started working with you.
Qualify inside the hour
Once he replies, find out what you need to know. Budget. Area. Timeline. Finance. Who else is involved in the decision.
You’re not interrogating him. You’re deciding what’s worth showing. Say so: “I’ll only send you things that actually fit. No spam.”
That sentence earns you more attention than any listing blast.
Book the viewing before the conversation ends
This is where most agents drift. They send the details, say “let me know”, and wait.
Give him two slots instead. “I can show you the unit today at four, or tomorrow at ten. Which suits?”
Two slots make the next step easy. “When are you free?” makes him do the work. Book it today, or within twenty four hours. If he can’t view yet, send a short video walkthrough and book the viewing for the next day.
After the viewing, ask yes or no
Within two hours of leaving, send the real question.
“Would you put in an offer on it? Yes or no.”
Most agents send “let me know your thoughts”, which gives the buyer a polite way to say nothing. A direct question gets a direct answer.
If it’s yes, you move that day. Agree the price, the terms and the finance, and send the offer.
If it’s a no, find out why
A no isn’t the end. It’s information.
Ask one follow up. “No problem. What was missing? Price, layout, area or something else?”
Then use the answer. Send a better match, and book the second round of viewings by day three. After that viewing, ask the same question again. Yes or no.
Run that loop through days four to six, leading each message with something real: a unit, a recent sale in the area, a price shift. Never “just checking in”.
If he goes quiet between viewings, send a short voice note about a specific unit. Twenty seconds. Not a chase.
Day seven is a decision message
By day seven you’ve either got an offer or a clear picture.
Send a message that gives him a way out. “Hi [name], we’ve looked at a few options this week. Do you want to keep going and make an offer on the right one, or pause until the timing is right? Either is fine.”
If he says keep going, run another round. If he says pause, note the date he gave you and diarise it. If he says nothing, move him to a weekly useful message for three weeks, then a quarterly market update. Nobody gets deleted.
Use the channel the buyer already uses
Most enquiries in this market end up on WhatsApp sooner or later, so reply there. A short voice note of twenty seconds about a specific unit lands better than a long block of text. A quick video of the unit sells the viewing before you’ve met.
Keep every message to one job. A message that asks three questions gets an answer to none of them.
What not to do in the first week
Don’t send ten listings at once. It tells him you haven’t listened.
Don’t chase with “just checking in”. It asks for his time and gives him nothing.
Don’t skip the notes. Write down what he said about budget, area and timeline after every conversation, so the next message is specific.
Write the flow down
None of this is complicated. It’s fast, and it’s written down.
The agents who reply in five minutes aren’t working harder than everyone else. They’ve decided in advance what the first message says, what the second one asks and when the viewing gets booked. That means the enquiry never sits waiting for them to feel organised.
To see where your own numbers stand, try the free calculators at yourrealestatecoo.com/calculators. They show your viewings to offers conversion from your own figures.
Start with the numbers you already have
Time your last ten enquiries. How long between the enquiry and your first reply? If the answer is over an hour, that’s your first fix.
Start by assessing your current daily activity with our free Agent Scorecard, or book a free 30 minute strategy call and we’ll look at your follow up together.
Do less admin, close more deals.
Mind. Method. Market.
