BROKERS NEED A MYSTERY SHOPPER

A mystery shopper is someone hired by a company to pose as a regular customer and evaluate the actual customer experience.

How quickly did the staff respond? Were they courteous and knowledgeable? Did they follow the proper process? Was the overall experience good enough to make you buy?

I think real estate brokerages should be doing the same thing.

Try sending an inquiry to your own brokerage using a name and number your team doesn’t recognize.

Ask about one of your listings. Then see what happens.

How long before someone replies? Is the response helpful or just “Still available”? Does the broker ask the right questions? Do they follow up the next day? Does anyone follow up at all?

You might be surprised.

Some brokerages spend heavily on Facebook ads, boosted listings, portals, content, and lead generation, only for an interested buyer to wait days for a proper response.

At that point, is the problem really marketing?

Before spending another P50,000 generating more inquiries, it might be worth finding out what happens to the inquiries you already have.

Sometimes the better investment is more people, better systems, faster response times, and stronger follow-up.

There’s little point in opening the faucet wider if the bucket has holes.