The 2024 Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop Report results are in. Compiled by Blue Gypsy Inc, Denim Marketing and Melinda Brody & Company the survey compares the follow-up efforts of 50 home builders across the country for 30 days.

The builders were chosen randomly, with nearly 30 coming from the 2024 Builder Top 200 List. The survey reveals a variety of statistics and interesting findings regarding follow-up methods used by home builders during the homebuyer journey.

Effective lead follow-up is critical for home builder sales. Marketing generates website traffic, but without prompt and engaging follow-up, leads and marketing investments are wasted. Online Sales Counselors (OSCs) are crucial in delivering a positive customer experience to convert leads.

Melinda Brody & Company, known for its effective video mystery shops, employed an online shopping protocol for this survey to assess online lead response. Mystery shoppers submitted inquiries via builder website contact forms during standard business hours, posing specific questions about builders or communities. Responses were tracked for 30 days and analyzed, comparing builders utilizing OSCs (78%) to those without (22%).

“Marketing dollars are still precious, even with today’s increased reach,” Denim Marketing President Carol Morgan said. “Each lead is a valuable opportunity to create a memorable interaction with a potential customer and consistent, systemized follow-up is key.”

The 2024 Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop Report compares builders with and without dedicated OSCs to provide actionable insights on customer follow-up. The report uses a diverse sample to evaluate factors such as speed, personalization and touchpoint variation, offering recommended benchmarks and best practices to improve the customer journey.

Some key findings in the 2025 Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop are:

• 38% of builders never followed up by email.
• 36% of builders never followed up by phone.
• 50% of all builders sent text messages – 76% were from OSCs.
• 22% of all builders sent video emails – 100% were from OSCs.
• 78% of builders had online sales counselors in 2024, a 15% increase from 2023.
• 13% of OSCs failed to send a single personalized email.
• 26% of OSCs neglected phone follow-ups entirely.
• 73% of builders without OSCs never followed up by email.
• 13% of builders with OSCs never followed up by email.
• 75% of builders without OSCs took over 3 days to respond by phone.

“Builders with OSCs consistently outperform their counterparts, achieving significantly higher rates of follow-up, including using a diversity of touchpoints and better frequency and responsiveness,” comments Leah Fellows, President of Blue Gypsy.

The 2024 Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop Report is available for download  at  https://denimmarketing.com/onlinemysteryshop.

Let us know if you need help with marketing your home building company. Give us a call at 770-383-3360.