Most estate agencies get enquiries from two main places: property portals and their own website. They often land in the same inbox and get the same reply. But the people sending them are usually in different situations, and treating them identically misses an opportunity.
Understanding the difference between portal leads and website leads helps you reply to each in a way that fits.
Who sends portal enquiries
Portal buyers are browsing across all agents in an area. They often enquire about several properties from different agencies in one session. Some are serious buyers. Many are early in their search, comparing areas, prices and property types.
For a portal lead, the first reply is competing with other agents' replies to the same person. Speed matters enormously, because the buyer may view with whichever agent responds first.
Who sends website enquiries
A buyer who enquires through your own website has done something more deliberate. They found your agency, visited your site and chose to contact you. Some came from a portal listing and clicked through; others know your agency locally.
These buyers have already shown some preference for you. They are often further along, and a fuller, more personal first reply is worth giving.
Website visitors also include people who are not buyers at all. Sellers, landlords and people wanting valuations often start on your website, and these are valuable, as covered in valuation requests are your best seller leads.
How the replies should differ
Portal leads: fast and focused. Answer the question, capture viewing times, and qualify lightly. The priority is getting a viewing before another agent does.
Website leads: fast and fuller. Answer the question, and take the chance to show what your agency offers. Ask about their search more broadly, mention similar properties and, if they have a property to sell, offer a valuation.
Both should be quick. Neither should wait until Monday morning.
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Where most agencies lose website leads
Portal enquiries usually arrive with a clear process, since the portal notifies the agency. Website enquiries often come through a contact form that lands in a general inbox, where they wait alongside supplier emails and admin.
That is backwards. The more deliberate enquiry gets the slower reply. As we showed in what a missed property enquiry costs an agency, slow replies have a real cost, and website leads are often the more valuable ones.
Instant replies on your own website
SpideyChat for real estate sits on your website and answers visitors instantly, at any hour. It answers from your listings, qualifies buyers, recognises sellers and landlords, and captures leads with the conversation attached. Because website leads come to you directly, this is where an assistant makes the biggest difference.
Portal enquiries follow their own route, but the same principles of speed and qualification apply. The free reply generator can help your team draft consistent first replies to portal leads.
Mobile matters for both
Most buyers browse on their phones, whether on a portal or your website. Replies and enquiry flows should work well on a small screen. More on this in how mobile visitors send enquiries.
Following up portal leads that go quiet
Portal buyers who enquire and then fall silent are common. Many were early in their search. A short follow-up a few days later, offering similar properties or new listings that match what they asked about, often restarts the conversation. Keep it specific to their enquiry rather than a generic newsletter, and stop after one or two attempts.
Labelling leads by source
Whatever system you use, label every lead with its source. Over a few months you will see which source produces viewings, offers and instructions. That tells you where to focus effort and budget.
Different customers need different answers in every business. Online stores find that gift buyers need quite different replies from everyday shoppers, a pattern explored in gift buyers need different answers than everyday shoppers.
Your next step
Look at your last month of leads and split them by source. Check how quickly each group got a first reply. If website enquiries waited longer, that is the first thing to fix. You can see how the demo assistants handle property questions, and check the plans to compare the cost with the leads involved.