The number one complaint against agents by buyers who seek to do business over the Internet is lack of a reply from the agent. Keeping in mind that buyers historically work with the first agent they contact over 50% of the time, it is a good idea to monitor your e-mail at least three times a day.

One busy agent,Alice Held, always answers her e-mail, but she is careful to qualify the responses to save her time and allow her to give better service to the more serious queries.

Since launching her Internet site in 1995, Held has seen her business virtually double. She targets buyers and uses the Internet to promote her services as a relocation specialist, serving customers as far away as South Africa and Malaysia.

Held's relocation buyer's site is entertaining and comprehensive and was featured as an Agent News site of the day. It includes information on schools, health, recreational activities (especially golf in Arizona), cultural activities, fun facts, major employers, restaurants, cost of living, seniors, and more. Of course, a favorite activity is searching for homes.

Because her award-winning site generates so much traffic, Held receives an average of two to seven e-mail inquiries a day. To save herself time, she classifies the replies into "serious" or "weak" replies.

A weak reply would be classified as someone who fails to provide a price range for a home, or those who are seeking a lease. She returns a response asking for a price range or whether the lease will be short or long term, and then waits for a reply.

"This qualifies them," says Held. "Those responses go into a different database until I receive more information. I would say about 30% of weak replies turn out to be real buyers."

Serious buyers, according to Held, have more pressing issues. They are transfering, have a house to sell, or are planning a move in the future. These replies she adds to her electronic monthly newsletter list, and works harder to establish a rapport with these buyers.

She finds out if the buyer is planning a trip to Arizona soon, and if they are, she offers to help them plan a househunting expedition.

Over a three-year period, Held has closed over 100 sales that were generated from her Web site, and averages about three to five closings a month.