Response rate and response time both measure how quickly you respond to new booking inquiries and direct messages, but they serve different purposes.
Your response rate is the percentage of new booking inquiries and direct messages that you reply to within 24 hours. It’s only visible to you in your landlord dashboard and can affect your listing's search placement.
Your response time shows potential tenants how quickly you typically reply to new booking inquiries and direct messages. It appears on your listing to help tenants know when they can expect a reply.
Can I Have a 100% Response Rate and Still Have a Longer Response Time?
Yes, because response rate and response time measure two different things.
- Response rate measures whether you respond to new booking inquiries and direct messages within 24 hours.
- Response time measures how quickly you typically respond to new booking inquiries and direct messages.
For example, if you respond to every new message within 8 hours, you can have a 100% response rate and a response time of “Typically within 8 hours.”
A 100% response rate does not mean you respond immediately or within a specific number of hours. It means you responded to all qualifying new messages within 24 hours.
Example:
- Landlord A typically responds within 1 hour and has a 100% response rate.
- Landlord B typically responds within 8 hours and also has a 100% response rate.
Both landlords have a 100% response rate because they responded within 24 hours, but their response times are different because one typically responds faster.