Million Dollar Principle #39
Talk Time Is More Important Than Call Volume
Are you scared to listen to your agent’s recorded calls?
Here’s a truth no one wants to admit:
- Your agents can fake their call logs.
- Your agents can fudge the appointment logs.
- But they can’t fake a conversation.
If you’re leading a real estate team and your only phone metrics are:
- “Calls Made”
- “2 Minute Conversations”
- “Appointments Set”
…you’re flying blind.
You’re likely rewarding the wrong behavior, speed-dialing through contacts with no substance, and burning through lists.
Top-performing sales organizations,especially call centers,figured this out long ago.
According to research published in Harvard Business Review,
one of the strongest indicators of lead conversion is talk time, not call quantity.
In high-performing sales teams, reps with longer average call durations consistently produced more revenue.
Why?
Because real conversations:
- Create trust
- Uncover needs
- Drive decisions
That’s why every inbound phone lead your team receives should be recorded, reviewed, and scored.
The First and Most Telling Metric: Call Length
At our company, all inbound leads come through dedicated, recorded phone lines.
These calls are:
- Logged
- Monitored
- Evaluated
The first thing we look at?
Call duration.
- Over 7 minutes?
Strong indicator that the conversation had depth.
These are the calls we inspect for rapport-building, needs analysis, and appointment setting. - Under 2 minutes?
Red flag.
Usually means the agent failed to ask questions, lacked control, or didn’t create value,so the lead went cold.
These are the calls we reassign and coach around. - Between 2–7 minutes?
Could still be productive. May have landed an appointment. Check the scorecard below.
The Quality Assurance Process: “Scoring System”
When a call falls short, we don’t ignore it.
We assign a QA (Quality Assurance) officer to:
- Call the agent
- Review the recording
- Offer feedback
This isn’t to punish,it’s to coach.
Agents improve when they understand where they dropped the ball and receive tools to get better.
The Buyer Lead Call Scorecard
To keep it consistent and objective, we use a simple 5-point system:
- Was the call over 2 minutes? (1 point)
- Did the agent follow the LPMAMA framework?
(Location, Price, Motivation, Agent, Mortgage, Appointment) (1 point) - Did the agent ask for the appointment? (1 point)
- Did the agent ask if the buyer rents or owns? (1 point)
- Was an appointment set or clear next step confirmed? (1 point)
It’s a simple but powerful way to ensure quality isn’t slipping through the cracks,especially when your team is fielding dozens or hundreds of leads each month.
Stop Measuring Effort.
Start Measuring Impact.
Call volume is the metric of amateurs.
Talk time and appointment conversion is the metric of professionals.
Nick McLean
The Reside Platform – Where leaders go to make more sales.
