Ask any sales agent how fast they get back to a buyer enquiry and you'll hear "within the hour", maybe even "within minutes". There's a commission riding on it, so nobody lets a buyer go cold.
Now ask how fast a renter gets an answer.
I've always known renters don't get the same treatment as buyers. I've been in property management for more than 25 years, so I'm not naive about it. But I didn't think it was this bad.
Over the past few weeks we've been mystery shopping agencies right across Australia. The test is simple. We send an enquiry on a rental listing with two easy questions: is there air conditioning in the master bedroom, and is the cooking gas or electric? Then we wait. No follow-ups, no chasing.
The early results have been eye-opening. Some agencies don't respond at all. Many send an automated text, and then nothing. And even when there is a reply, the actual questions often don't get answered. An auto-text and then silence – that's a huge gap compared with what happens in sales.
Think about what that says to the renter. If an agency can't answer a simple question about a property, why would they trust that agency to look after them once they're living there? First impressions count, and right now we're making a poor one.
And it's not just renters you're letting down. That enquiry sitting unanswered could just as easily be an owner quietly testing your service before handing over their investment property. Put yourself in a landlord's shoes. Prospective tenants want to inspect your property, they've got questions before they turn up, and they want to live in your home. But nobody's answering them at the other end. As a landlord, would you be happy with that? I know I wouldn't.
Here's the uncomfortable part. Most principals have no idea this is happening. They've put a system in place, the auto-responder fires off, and from where they sit, service is being delivered. Nobody's really looking at the email enquiries coming in. The team answers the phone when it rings and treats it as part of the daily grind. The gap is invisible.
So if you're a principal reading this and thinking "that's probably us", I'll be blunt. It's not probably you. It is you. It's nearly everybody. The only exceptions are the agencies that actually sit down, look at every enquiry and personally answer it.
And I get why that doesn't happen. Property managers already have more than enough on their plate. If they had to manually answer every question on every enquiry, they'd never get any other work done.
That's exactly why we built Crayons Leasing. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, Crayons proactively answers renters' questions straight away – accurately and on the spot. Renters get the information they need to book an inspection or apply with confidence, knowing the property suits them. Your PMs get their time back. And your agency finally gives renters the kind of service buyers have always taken for granted.
Renters aren't second-class customers. They're future owners, future vendors, and the people who keep your landlords' properties earning. It's time we closed the gap.
