Every New Year starts the same way.

The ball drops. We toast to “fresh starts.”
Someone says, “This is the year we really tighten things up.”

And somewhere, right now… an online homebuyer filled out a form on your website and is still waiting to hear back.

Which brings me to the newly released 2025 Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop Report. And fair warning: this one doesn’t whisper. It clears its throat and says, “Hey… we need to talk.”

The Good News: OSCs Are Showing Up Stronger. We’ve seen improvements across the board on speed to lead and consistent persistent follow up.

The Bad News: There Are Fewer of Them.

Let’s start with the headline nobody expected.

In 2025, only 70% of builders had an Online Sales Counselor, down from 78% in 2024. That’s an 8-point drop in a single year.

Yet, here’s the plot twist. The OSCs who are still in the seat?
They’re performing better than the prior year… but there’s still room for improvement.

• Only 3% of OSCs failed to send a personalized email in 2025 (down from 13% last year).
• Builders without OSCs? 73% still never sent a single personalized email. Same number. No improvement. And there are more of them.

Translation:
The industry didn’t forget how to follow up.
It just quietly removed the people responsible for doing it.

Speed-to-Lead Is Still… A Situation

We’ve been talking about speed to lead for over a decade, so surely we’ve nailed it by now, right?

Not exactly.

• Zero builders sent a personalized email within five minutes. Zero.
• Only 20% responded within 30 minutes.
• 22% took more than a full day, and
• 22% never responded at all.

And phone calls?

• 42% of builders never picked up the phone in 2025, up from 34% last year.
• Only 6% made a call within five minutes… better than 0% the previous year. So yes, speed matters.
• 90% of builders with OSCs made at least one phone call.
• 80% of builders without OSCs never made a single phone call.

But apparently, having someone whose job it is to respond matters more.

Marketing Is Loud. Follow-Up Is Quiet. Buyers Notice.

One of the most jaw-dropping moments in this year’s shop?

One builder sent 74 marketing emails in 30 days and never made a single phone call. Another sent 57 marketing emails. Also zero calls.

This is where things start to get uncomfortable.

Because buyers didn’t ask for a drip campaign.
They asked a question.

And in 2025:

• 62% of builders used text messaging (up 12 points).
• 34% used video email (also up 12 points).
• 100% of video emails came from OSCs.

The builders winning attention weren’t louder.
They were more human.

The Gap Is No Longer Subtle

Here’s the line that should make every leadership team pause:

OSCs accounted for 100% of video emails, all sub–five-minute phone calls, and the majority of multi-touch follow-up.

Let that sink in.

The difference between “we tried” and “we connected”
isn’t software. It’s structure. Accountability. And a real human paying attention.

What This Means Heading Into 2026

The 2025 data shows a more mature industry, but also a riskier one.

Builders are experimenting with more tools, more channels, more automation…
while simultaneously shrinking the very role that makes those tools work.

In 2026, the divide won’t be between big builders and small builders.
It will be between builders who commit to disciplined online sales programs
and builders who hope automation fills the gap.

Spoiler: it won’t.

Buyers are already telling us what they respond to:

• Faster follow-up
• Multiple touchpoints
• Real conversations
• Consistency over campaigns

The builders who win next year will be the ones who stop asking, “Do we really need an OSC?”
and start asking, “How do we support this role better?”

If you’re reading this thinking, “Oof… that sounds familiar,”
good. That means you’re paying attention.

And if you want to know exactly where your team lands in all of this?
The data doesn’t guess. It shops. Let me know and we can set up a time to talk about an online sales audit, a 45-day OSC mystery shop, or a new 90-day Reboot of your OSC program.