Chiamaka Obi runs Pristine Properties with a team of four agents covering Victoria Island, Ikoyi, and Banana Island. In the Lagos high-end property market, the phone rings at any hour. A diaspora buyer in the UK calls at 6am Lagos time — 7am UK — before they leave for work. An executive relocating from Abuja calls on a Wednesday afternoon when every Pristine agent is on a site visit.
"In real estate, the first agent who speaks to a buyer usually gets the deal," Chiamaka said. "If you miss that call at 6am and they speak to another agency at 7am, you are out. These are not leads you can recover."
Pristine Properties connected to Maraba in November 2025. By April 2026, the agency had a clear view of what changed.
The lead capture problem before Maraba
Before Maraba, Pristine Properties' call handling worked like this:
- Three personal mobile numbers on the agency's property listings — agents took direct calls
- When agents were unavailable: voicemail (callers rarely left messages on real estate calls)
- Weekend calls: answered by whoever was available, which was inconsistent
- After-hours calls: missed entirely — agents would see missed calls in the morning and try to call back, but serious buyers had often already moved on
Chiamaka estimated that 25–30% of inbound enquiries were going unanswered. In a market where a single high-end property sale generates ₦3–10 million in commission, each missed lead is a significant cost.
Maraba configuration for real estate lead capture
- Single inbound number: All listings point to one Maraba number. Maraba answers every call
- Property knowledge base: Active listings with location, bedroom count, price range, key features, and which agent handles each listing. Updated by the team weekly
- Buyer qualification flow: Maraba asks three questions — what type of property, what location, and what budget range — and routes to the matching agent or takes a detailed message
- Escalation routing: High-value buyers (budget ₦200m+) route to Chiamaka's personal mobile. Mid-range buyers route to the agent for the relevant area
- After-hours: Maraba takes full details and sends WhatsApp to the relevant agent immediately — "Urgent lead: buyer looking for 4-bed Ikoyi, budget ₦180–250m, viewing request for this weekend"
How a property enquiry call flows
Maraba: "Good afternoon. Happy to help — we have several 3-bedroom apartments across Victoria Island, Ikoyi, and Lekki Phase 1. Did you have a specific area in mind?"
Caller: "Victoria Island, preferably. My budget is around ₦80–100 million."
Maraba: "We have two available in that range right now. One is a serviced apartment in The Wings — 3 beds, 3 baths, with a gym and rooftop pool in the building, listed at ₦92 million. The other is a standalone apartment on Adeola Odeku — 3 beds, older building but fully renovated, at ₦78 million. Would you like to arrange a viewing for either of those?"
Caller: "Yes, both of them — this weekend if possible."
Maraba: "Of course. Let me get your name and number, and I will have our Victoria Island agent reach you to schedule. What is a good time to call you?"
The WhatsApp message Chiamaka's VI agent receives within 60 seconds: "Lead: 3-bed VI apartments. Wants viewing this weekend for The Wings (₦92m) and Adeola Odeku (₦78m). Buyer name: [name], contact: [number]. Best time to call: afternoons. HIGH PRIORITY."
Results over five months
- Missed enquiry rate: reduced from ~28% to under 4%
- After-hours leads captured: 31% of all enquiries now come in outside 9am–6pm
- Lead-to-viewing conversion: up 18% — attributed to faster response time and complete caller information sent to agents
- Agent satisfaction: agents report spending less time on initial qualifying calls, as Maraba has already captured the essentials before the callback
- Two significant sales directly attributed to after-hours lead capture: one diaspora buyer who called at 5:45am, one client relocating from Abuja who called at 10:30pm
The diaspora buyer advantage
One pattern Chiamaka noticed after reviewing six months of call data: a disproportionate share of high-value buyers are calling from international time zones — UK, US, Canada. These callers call in the early morning or late at night in Lagos time, because that is when it is a reasonable hour in their location. Before Maraba, Pristine Properties had essentially no presence during these hours. Now, they have Maraba — and the first agent a diaspora buyer speaks to is Maraba, who captures their details accurately and alerts the team by the time the Lagos morning starts.
"Two of our biggest deals this year came from diaspora buyers who called at unusual hours," Chiamaka said. "Maraba picked up, got everything, and our agent called back within the hour. That is how you compete in this market."
Maraba captures every lead, qualifies buyers with your property knowledge base, and alerts the right agent immediately — even at 5am. Starter plan from ₦20,000/month.
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