Research reveals how much real estate agencies lose due to unanswered phone calls
Missed phone calls are costing UK estate agents an estimated £119 million a year, research from telecommunication company YourBusinessNumber has revealed.
The research shows that missed calls are estimated to cost UK businesses, in general, £30 billion a year.
With 5.6 million businesses in the UK, this equates to an average annual loss of £5,357 per business.
There are thought to be 22,145 real estate agencies currently operating across the UK property market. With each suffering a loss in revenue to the tune of £5,357 each year due to missed calls, this equates to a total loss of £119 million across the sector on an annual basis.
Regionally, the biggest losses are being endured in London. The region is home to the largest number of estate agents at 6,445 – accounting for 29% of all UK agents.
As a result, the capital’s estate agents are losing out on £34.5 million a year due to missed calls.
Agencies in the South East are also suffering as a result of missed calls, with YourBusinessNumber estimating they lose £18.5 million a year.
In the East, this loss of income equates to £11.6 million annually, and in the North West, estate agencies are losing £10.1 million every year due to missed phone calls.
“The UK property sector has seen an overwhelming level of market activity since the start of the pandemic, and the nation’s estate agents have been on the front line working tirelessly to process this heightened demand,” George Lineker, co-founder of YourBusinessNumber, said.
“This will have stretched many of them from an operational standpoint and it’s inevitable that, at times, the phone will have gone unanswered as a result. However, these missed opportunities can be costly.”
Lineker added that this is the reason why businesses are now embracing instant messaging as a primary method of communicating with customers and receiving new business leads.
“By doing so, they can not only ensure that nothing slips through the cracks, but they can also reply at a far quicker rate, which not only prevents a loss of revenue, it also improves the level of service provided,” he said.
