Hello there!
As you know, your feedback and insights, shared both here and elsewhere, are incredibly valuable to us. They guide us in improving the platform to better suit your needs. Based on what we’ve heard from you, our Product team is hard at work on enhancing the relevance and reliability of the response rate.
The Current Response Rate Issue
Many of you have pointed out that the current response rate isn’t always meaningful. For example, some members respond to all their messages weeks or even months later, solely to boost their response rate to 100%. The result? A perfect response rate that doesn’t reflect reality.
This approach is unfair to members who respond promptly, and it undermines the relevance and reliability of the response rate displayed on listings.
The Solution in Development: Reactivity Level
To address this, @Clara and the Product team are exploring a new approach, and we’d love your input. The idea is to replace the “Response Rate” (e.g., 100%) with a “Reactivity Level” (Low, Average, Great, Excellent), as shown in the images below.
Here’s what you’ll see on profiles going forward:
- A Reactivity Level (new) replacing the current response rate
- The Response Time (existing) (e.g., “Responds in under 2 days”)
Why is This an Improvement?
This is where it gets interesting! The rule will be simple: any response made after an automatic decline (triggered after 4 days) won’t count towards the Reactivity Level calculation.
The Reactivity Level will be calculated based on the last 90 days of activity, meaning it will evolve over time to reflect recent behavior.
A Quick Note About Automatic Declines
You may recall hearing about this feature in a survey we shared on our Facebook groups back in October. In short, if an exchange request with GuestPoints remains unanswered for 4 days, it will be automatically declined. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to pick up the conversation after the deadline.
This change addresses member complaints about delayed responses and makes searching for exchanges easier. Of course, we’ll share all the details about this functionality soon.
How Will the Reactivity Level Be Calculated?
The new Reactivity Level will be based on a formula that compares the number of messages responded to versus the total received. This will only consider activity from the last 90 days, ensuring the metric stays fresh and relevant.
We’d Love Your Feedback!
The team working on this feature would love to hear your thoughts—positive or critical. Your input is invaluable in shaping this improvement.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for your contributions!
The HomeExchange Team