Valuation and viewing calls: what your phones must capture

Valuation calls, because each one is a possible instruction. Viewing calls come next, because each viewing is a step towards an offer and a fee.

Our guide to what missed calls cost an estate agent works through the sums with your own fee and conversion figures.

Enough to turn up prepared and to know how hard you'll need to compete.

1. 1The seller's name, phone number and email.
2. 2The property address and type, with the number of bedrooms.
3. 3Whether they're selling, letting or not sure yet.
4. 4Why they're moving and when they'd like to be on the market.
5. 5Whether they've found somewhere to buy, and whether they need to sell first.
6. 6Whether other agents are valuing the property, and whether it's on the market now with someone else.
7. 7How they heard about you.
8. 8A valuation booked, or a call-back time your team will keep.

Sellers often ask for a figure on the phone. Don't give one. The TPO Code says any asking or selling price you advise must reflect the property and current market conditions and be supported by comparable evidence (TPO Code, 4b). A ballpark figure given before anyone has seen the property can come back to haunt the valuer. The honest answer is that a valuer will look at the home and the recent sales nearby first.

Who the buyer is, which property they want and whether they're in a position to proceed.

1. 1The buyer's name, phone number and email.
2. 2Which property, and how they found it.
3. 3Their position: first-time buyer, selling a property, already sold, or cash buyer.
4. 4Whether they need a mortgage and have an agreement in principle.
5. 5When they're free to view.
6. 6Whether they've been told the property is under offer, if it is.
7. 7A viewing booked, or a call back to arrange one.

Their position matters later as well as now. The TPO Code says you must find out the source of the buyer's funds when an offer is being considered, such as whether they need to sell, need a mortgage or are a cash buyer (TPO Code, 10a). Asking at the first call means you already know when the offer comes.

The same ones that apply to your negotiators. The Code doesn't stop applying because the call was taken by a temp, an answering service or an automated receptionist.

The references are to the TPO Code for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which is mandatory for agencies that belong to The Property Ombudsman (TPO). If you belong to a different redress scheme, check its code. In practice it means whoever answers needs your current list of properties under offer and a way to get offers to a negotiator quickly.

They assume that's how you'll treat them once they're a tenant or a buyer. Someone who sees a property on Rightmove or Zoopla, rings the number on the listing and gets no answer, or no call back, usually moves on to the next listing. Many also decide that an agency that's hard to reach before a deal will be harder to reach after it, when they have a problem.

That makes the first call part of your service, not just a lead. Answering it, knowing the property and giving a clear next step tells an applicant more about your agency than anything in the listing.

The same day for valuations and offers, and within the hour if you can. A seller who has rung three agents will often book whoever calls back first.

In a 2026 survey of 2,000 UK adults, 75% said they'd give a business three call attempts before giving up on it, and 58% said they'd tell friends and family to avoid a business that didn't pick up (BT Business, 2026). BT sells its own AI receptionist, and the survey covers all kinds of business rather than estate agents. Three attempts sounds generous until you remember that a seller will usually try three different agents in the same time.

Watch two numbers each week: how many valuation calls went unanswered, and how long it took to ring back the ones that left details. Our guide to out-of-hours calls for estate and letting agents covers the evenings and weekends, when most of those calls are missed.

They should know your listings. A call put straight through to a negotiator who's out on a viewing usually ends in voicemail, and the caller has learned nothing. Whoever answers should know which properties are available, which are under offer, when viewings can be booked and who handles what, so most callers can be helped on the first call.

Automated cover fits the calls nobody in the office can take: when every negotiator is out, at lunch, after closing and at weekends. It's good at asking the same questions every time and writing the answers down, from the information you give it about your stock. It shouldn't give prices, comment on whether an offer is likely to be accepted or say anything about a property that isn't in your listing. Our guide to what an AI receptionist is explains how it works, and our estate agent answering service guide compares it with the other options.