I admit, I’m always tempted to reply right away whenever I receive an end user inquiry and I’m sure a lot of you guys feel the same way. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with having that urge because our brain basically identifies a potential revenue source and urges us to take action right away.
It is important to understand, however, that the signals your brain gives you shouldn’t *always* be followed blindly. In some cases, doing the exact opposite is actually the best approach. Why? I’ll try to explain.
If you just received an end user inquiry, you have an edge.
That person wants your domain.
That person contacts you.
The ball is in your court and this puts you in a great position. Why should you reply right away and thereby make it clear that you’re eager or even desperate to sell? Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait a day or two? Perhaps even a few days?
I know the urge to reply right away is strong.
But please think about it, why should you?
The choice of strategy can literally make the difference between a mediocre sale and a good one. You see, if you receive an inquiry and reply within 10 minutes, you no longer have the edge I mentioned previously. You just threw it away by proving that you’re desperate (hey, maybe you’re not but the end user will probably interpret your very fast reply that way and this could affect the negotiation process in a dramatic manner).
I’m sure you’ll agree that what I’m saying isn’t exactly rocket science.
It’s rather psychology 101, if you will.
Now of course, it’s your domain and you can choose whichever strategy you deem appropriate. I’m just here to provide some advice, how you interpret this advice and whether or not you put it to good use is entirely up to you.
Through today’s post, I simply tried to explain that the “end user inquiry response times” topic deserves your attention despite the fact that it might not seem all that important. Anything that can affect the outcome of a sale counts and as I hope I managed to make clear today, end user inquiry response times definitely fall into that category.
March 25th, 2014 at 5:36 pm
Except if the buyer buys a different domain until you reply and you lose $20k.
Just reply when you get the email.
March 25th, 2014 at 5:49 pm
@Konstantinos: it’s not like I said people should reply after at least a year 🙂
Could you lose a sale by replying after a day or two rather than right away? Sure, everything’s possible but in my opinion, the long-term advantages of implementing an “I’m not desperate to sell” strategy outweigh the disadvantages.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:00 pm
3 days later and the sale was gone.
Anyway if you appear to be from a company then replying right away doesn’t make you feel desperate.
Serious sales companies reply ASAP.
If it appears that you a kid from a basement with a reply like “hell yes I want sell domain now!” then you are out of luck whenever you reply.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:03 pm
I agree with Konstantinos on this one… Real businesses don’t purposely ignore potential customers for several days or longer.
Reminds me of one of our recent Tweets:
Follow up domain leads in a timely manner. This isn’t a #SwingersMovie
“Well how long you guys gonna wait to call your babies?”
“Six days”
March 25th, 2014 at 6:16 pm
alternatively a quick response could be regarded as polite rather than desperate
March 25th, 2014 at 6:25 pm
If you’re running a business (anything from offline businesses to online ones) then the exact opposite applies (fast replies are polite/professional, as Ian and anton pointed out) but in my opinion, domain inquiries represent a different category.
Now of course, as Konstantinos mentioned, you can also lose sales this way. The same way though, you might end up losing more in the long run by continuously leaving money on the table. Domaining isn’t an exact science and it’s hard to quantify a lot of things (how much money you’ve left on the table, how much money you would have made if you said x instead of y and so on), so there’s no way for me to guarantee that one approach or another represents the best solution.
I for one avoid replying right away these days but of course, there’s no way for me to be 100% certain that my approach is ideal, just like there’s no way for you to be 100% certain that yours is.
March 25th, 2014 at 7:57 pm
Andrei @
I would agree with you if you have a killer domain name.
AHD.COM
FURNITURE.COM
LAPTOPS.COM etc. because is very likely that that person would not buy something else,but when you have a name in the $1,000-$5,000 i would answer same day.
March 25th, 2014 at 8:25 pm
@Andrei,
What’s the longest you waited? What’s the shortest? What are the domain names, and the results?
Thanks
March 25th, 2014 at 10:08 pm
I think being slow to reply is risky unless you know for sure the buyer only has one domain on their shopping list. Lots of buyers do have short lists. So if its a one word .com and you know who the buyer is it could be a good strategy. If it is a dime a dozen name or you have a good sense of who the buyer is I wouldn’t go down that path.
March 25th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
“The same way though, you might end up losing more in the long run by continuously leaving money on the table.”
///////////////
Doesn’t matter if you are slow to reply or fast to reply, there will always be money left on the table.
March 25th, 2014 at 10:34 pm
This is one of the dumbest things ive ever heard. In the real world if you take longer than a day to respond to my email it shows you are sketchy and have no etticate. Last domain we bought an idiot domainer like you lost out on 40k by taking a week to respond. We bought a domain for our project from the domainer that responded
THis is one of the dumbest things ive read in a long time
March 26th, 2014 at 2:43 am
You are right that it is not wise to reply in 10 minutes because this gives the vibe to the buyer that you are desperate to sell and complicates making a good deal.
However dillydallying around is just stupid and domainer 1.0 thinking impacted by the success stories you hear about in conferences where somebody got 50k+ for an average name by playing hard to get and the buyer was fixated on the domain.
Best policy is to answer the next business day like clockwork for every inquiry because the buyer might be on a project schedule where they have been given a task of acquiring a domain for their new project and the clock is running out so they need the domain this week and they have 5k-10k budget burning a hole in their pocket and are already going through buydomains lists and hugedomains lists and domainmarket lists.
I have been on both sides of this and I think the amount of 2-10k sales wasted by domain investors is much more significant than the amount of sales domain investors make successfully in the 20k-50k range.
March 26th, 2014 at 3:15 am
@a real company:
You wrote:
“…In the real world if you take longer than a day to respond to my email it shows you are sketchy and have no etticate….Last domain we bought an idiot domainer like you lost out on 40k by taking a week to respond.”
Longer than a DAY?!?…And, you toss away the opportunity to buy the right domain for your business…??!!
Sheesh…!!…That is a seriously dumb way to make important decisions about a business opportunity!
If you understand the true value of a domain – its potential to position your business, or product/service, or project, its market power, its memorability for your endeavour, the job it will do for you – and other things too numerous to mention here – even its potential as an appreciating asset…then, only a special breed of pure idiot decides the target domain is suddenly of NO value because the owner isn’t available to discuss it with you within 24 HOURS! Hahahaha…
Good luck with your business, oh dimmest of the dim…
…Oh wait…You’re going to tell us you’re a mega-millionaire business superstar?…And, your skills are s-u-p-e-r…And, your time is super-valuable?…And, that you never did a decent deal that took more than 10 minutes from start to finish…!?
…Well, superstar…gotta get the basics right first…’etiquette’ is spelt ‘E-T-I-Q-U-E-T-T-E…
A domain negotiation is what it is….Sometimes a deal can be done in minutes. Sometimes days. Often, the right deal takes months….The issue isn’t about fast, or slow, imo – its about finding a mutual point where both parties want to do the deal.
Imo, waiting a day, days – or, not waiting at all – probably doesn’t change the dynamics too much. Price, & the opportunity, does.
March 26th, 2014 at 3:24 am
I quite don’t agree with this of replying a bit late like 2-3 days. I mostly respond in couple of hours time but that doesn’t shows I am eager to sell. If the buyer thinks that way than he is wrong. I will not sell my domain at his price no matter what happens.
March 26th, 2014 at 3:36 am
Just reply during normal business hours. It’s not uncommon to get a reply overnight from an overseas inquiry, and if you happen to check your email while waking in the middle of the night, it’s probably better to wait and reply after regular businesses open. Be professional, conduct business during business hours. (I just start early)
March 26th, 2014 at 4:13 am
@Domenclature.com: I don’t delay the reply *too* much (because while I don’t agree that end users will choose another domain just because you didn’t reply right away, I do agree that the chance of them walking away increases a lot of you reply after let’s say 3 weeks) but as a general rule, I avoid replying on the same day. I think this is a reasonable enough approach but of course, I can’t make any guarantees when it comes to results.
March 26th, 2014 at 6:27 pm
No matter what type of email it is whether it be from a friend or a potential buyer you should always reply within 24 hours. If you wait more than 24 hours it isn’t professional in my opinion. I do agree you look desperate replying instantly but definitely reply within 24 hours. Once the first reply is sent and they send you a reply don’t wait another 24 hours but stay on top of the emails and consistently reply as quick as possible. When I send my first reply to them my next reply is typically about the same amount of time as what it took for them to reply to me. I use their time clock as a gauge as to what mentally is acceptable to them.