Yet another survey has been performed that proves what many of us already know: Commercial Web sites often generate leads, only to have those leads ignored by the company's salespeople.

Jupiter Communications, of New York, tested some of the top rated sites on the web and found that 42% of them either took longer than 5 days to respond to e-mail inquiries, or offered no e-mail support at all.

Sadly, past experience indicates that similar results would occur within the real estate community's web presence.

Thousands of real estate agents and companies are now marketing on the Internet with their own web sites, and through advertisements placed on marketing sites such as www.realtor.com but results for most are less than they should be.

As simple as the lead generation process is off-line (the phone rings, and someone answers) many agents just don't understand the importance of prompt follow-up to leads generated by e-mail.

Whether or not you personally rely on e-mail on a daily basis, you must realize that many of the consumers who are using the web regularly consider it indispensable. To these technologically savvy consumers, it is simply incomprehensible that their genuine interest, expressed through e-mail, would be ignored.

A few tips to keep potential commissions from slipping through your fingers:

Published: May 28, 1999

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Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Realty Times Staff only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.