Response tracking

How to track responses to estate agent letters

By ProspectOS Editorial Team|Published 14 August 2026|Last reviewed 14 August 2026

A letter campaign is only useful if the branch can see what happened after it landed. Tracking does not mean counting every scan as a win. It means recording the property, the campaign and the type of response, then giving the right person a next action.

This article explains the difference between engagement and a genuine enquiry. It does not invent typical response rates. For the cost and return calculations, use how to measure return from estate agent prospecting.

Key points
Record the campaign, the property and the date of each response, including replies that never scan a code.
A tracked QR scan is engagement. It is not automatically an enquiry, a prospect, a booked valuation or an instruction.
Calls, typed web addresses and walk ins still count if you log them against the same campaign.
Attribution can show contribution. It does not prove the letter acted alone.
Review scans, conversations, booked valuations and instructions as separate steps.

What a tracked QR scan tells you

A QR code on a letter can record that someone opened a linked page from that campaign piece. In ProspectOS, a tracked QR scan can create or update a Pipeline record for the linked property and campaign. The team can then see which letter produced engagement and decide what to do next.

A scan does not identify the person unless they later give their details. A scan does not mean they want a valuation. A repeated scan is still engagement, not a new instruction.

If the person fills in a configured valuation form, that is a stronger inbound response. Treat it as an enquiry or a valuation request according to what they actually submitted, not according to the scan itself.

Responses that never scan

Many useful replies never touch the code.

  • A phone call to the branch or the named negotiator.
  • A typed web address or search for the agency name.
  • A walk in after the letter arrived.
  • An email or social message that mentions the letter.

Those responses only enter reporting if someone logs them against the property and campaign. If the team records only scans, the campaign will look weaker than it was, and follow up will miss people who preferred the phone.

Give the letter a clear reply route, then agree one place to log every useful response. ProspectOS Pipeline is designed for that working record: campaign engagement, a configured valuation form or a manually logged enquiry can enter with the source still in view. Calls and other offline activity must be logged by the team unless a verified integration is available.

Keep the journey stages distinct

Use the same words the branch already uses for commercial reporting.

  • Engagement: a scan, a click or another recorded interaction with the letter.
  • Prospect: a property or owner the branch has identified and intends to work, even if that person has not yet asked for help.
  • Enquiry: a genuine inbound request, such as a completed form, a phone request or a walk in asking for advice.
  • Booked valuation: a confirmed appointment, not a scan that might lead to one.
  • Instruction: a signed agreement to market or manage the property.

Moving a record from one stage to the next should require a real event. Do not promote every scan to an enquiry, and do not mark a valuation request as an instruction.

A practical branch workflow

  1. 1Name the campaign before anything is printed.
  2. 2Decide what the letter asks the reader to do.
  3. 3Make sure the QR, phone number and any form share the same campaign identity.
  4. 4When a scan arrives, open the property record and decide the next action.
  5. 5Log phone calls and walk ins against the same campaign.
  6. 6Convert the record to a prospect or enquiry only when the facts support it.
  7. 7Review booked valuations and instructions separately from scan counts.

Common mistakes

  • Reporting scans as enquiries or instructions.
  • Forgetting replies that arrived by phone.
  • Losing the campaign source when the record is updated.
  • Creating a duplicate instead of updating the existing property.
  • Judging the campaign after a few days, before slower replies have arrived.
  • Using property value as if it were fee revenue.

Questions agents ask

Will a QR code tell us who scanned the letter? Not by itself. The scan shows that the code was used and can link the event to a property and campaign. Identity comes later, if the person contacts you or completes a form.

What if someone scans but does not fill in a form? Record the engagement and decide whether a follow up is appropriate. The scan can still be useful context. It is not a request for a valuation.

How should we count a second scan of the same letter? Treat it as further engagement on the same opportunity unless new contact details or a new request appear.

How do we know the letter caused the instruction? You can record that the campaign contributed. You cannot usually prove it was the only cause. Keep that distinction when you review prospecting ROI.

ProspectOS Pipeline is where letter engagement and logged replies become owned follow up. Insights compares recorded campaign cost with attributed valuations and instructions. Studio is where the letter itself is designed.

Related articles:

See letter responses on your own patch

Bring one branch, one priority postcode and one live or planned letter campaign. We will show how a tracked response could appear in Pipeline during a tailored Patch Walkthrough.

Book your Patch Walkthrough