The True Cost of Slow Response Times for Letting Agents

You Are Losing Money Every Hour You Do Not Respond

Response time is the most important metric in lettings that almost no one tracks. While agencies obsess over portal placement and photography, the factor that most determines whether an enquiry converts to a viewing is brutally simple: how quickly did you reply?

The data is damning. Leads contacted within 5 minutes are 21 times more likely to convert than those contacted after 30 minutes. After one hour, the probability of conversion drops by over 90%.

The Maths of Missed Leads

Let us make this concrete. Consider a typical letting agency:

• 50 portal enquiries per week
• Average response time: 3 hours (industry standard for manual processing)
• Enquiry-to-viewing conversion: 20%
• That is 10 viewings per week

Now consider the same agency with instant response:

• 50 portal enquiries per week
• Average response time: under 2 minutes
• Enquiry-to-viewing conversion: 45%
• That is 22-23 viewings per week

More than double the viewings from the same number of enquiries. No additional marketing spend. No extra Rightmove budget. Just faster responses.

Why Letting Agents Respond Slowly

It is rarely laziness. The reasons are structural:

1. Volume overwhelm - 30-50 enquiries per day during peak periods. Each one requires reading, diary checking, and a personalised response
2. Competing priorities - negotiators are also conducting viewings, handling offers, chasing references, and dealing with landlord queries. Inbox management gets deprioritised
3. Out-of-hours gap - the majority of portal browsing happens between 6pm and 10pm, when the office is closed
4. Manual processes - each response requires checking multiple systems: CRM, diary, property status, tenant notice requirements

The result is predictable. Morning enquiries get same-day responses. Afternoon enquiries get next-day responses. Evening and weekend enquiries sit until Monday.

The Hidden Costs Beyond Lost Viewings

Slow response times do not just cost you viewings. The knock-on effects are significant:

• Longer void periods - fewer viewings means slower lets, which means more days with zero rental income for your landlord
• Landlord dissatisfaction - landlords who see their property sitting empty while knowing other agencies respond faster start questioning your value
• Staff stress - a backlog of unanswered enquiries creates pressure and leads to rushed, low-quality responses
• Wasted marketing spend - you are paying for Rightmove, Zoopla, and OnTheMarket listings. Slow responses mean you are paying to generate leads you then fail to convert
• Reputation damage - applicants who experience slow responses leave poor reviews, which affects future landlord acquisition

What "Fast Enough" Looks Like

The benchmark is shifting. A few years ago, same-day response was considered acceptable. Now, the competitive standard is:

• Under 5 minutes - for routine enquiries like viewing requests
• Under 1 hour - for complex enquiries requiring human judgement
• 24/7 coverage - including evenings and weekends

Meeting this standard manually is impractical. Even the most dedicated team cannot sustainably respond to every enquiry within minutes, around the clock, seven days a week.

This is precisely why AI-powered response systems exist. They handle the routine enquiries instantly, freeing your team to focus on the complex ones that genuinely need human attention.

Start Measuring, Then Start Improving

Before you can improve response times, you need to know what they are. Track the time from enquiry receipt to first meaningful response (not auto-acknowledgement) for every lead. The number will probably surprise you.

Once you have the data, the path to improvement is clear: automate the routine, prioritise the complex, and eliminate the gaps where leads go cold.

Read about improving your Rightmove lead management, learn why out-of-hours coverage is essential, or see how Autoprop delivers instant responses 24/7.