Location, Location, Telecommunication

The property sector is changing. Online estate agents such as Purplebricks are giving more power to individual customers to decide when and what property to buy, sell or rent. Viewber, another online platform, allows part-time agents to facilitate viewings on weekends and evenings, when most established businesses just don’t have time. Estate and letting agents across the country are ogling at the figures. Purplebricks secured a sale every 9 minutes in the year ending April and grew by 132%. Online agents are closing in on the market and are expected to occupy nearly 50% of the UK industry within the decade.

You might think the very existence of traditional property agents is now under threat in the internet age. With political grenades threatening to go off at any moment, now more than ever customers want stability and transparency in a volatile market. The old world needs to keep up if it is to match customer expectations in the coming generations.

Bricks-and-mortar institutions could bite their nails and tremble at the thought of an Uber-style blitzkreig of their trade (taxi drivers will sympathise). But traditional agents have a card up their sleeve when it comes to property. In Britain, a man’s home is his castle, and customers don’t flog property like it were a pair of old jeans on E-Bay. The personal touch, when searching, viewing, and getting local advice, will always persist for serious house-buyers. Students renting their first flat want a strong handshake and knowledge that they’re in safe hands. Tenants want local agents with trusted connections. Sellers need a fair valuation from an agent who knows whether the regional bubble is about to pop or not. Either way they’ll be calling your local phone number expecting a quick response.

If you’re a joint letting- and estate-agent, or operate in multiple regions, communication and coordination between your telephony infrastructures is vital to meet customer demands efficiently. Last-minute viewing reschedules, customer enquiries and tenant support all require constant communication with the client to ensure transparency and confidence. Great customer service is your forté, and it starts with VoIP technology.

How can VoIP help?

VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol) telephone systems use the internet to make and receive calls, and offer a host of features designed to make communication with clients and colleagues as efficient and convenient as possible.

With internet telephony someone can be on-call 24/7. Calls can be redirected from the office phone to an agent’s mobile or home phone with an internet connection, allowing greater mobility when meeting customers standing outside a semi-detached with your brand on it. You never have to miss a sales opportunity or emergency call from a tenant in the early hours either. For joint agents, calls on internet phone systems can be divided via a ‘virtual receptionist’, allowing enquiries for sales, letting, and tenancy to be streamlined from the same number.

Maintaining a regional presence is so important in providing a bespoke service. Local numbers can be directed to a central system for general enquiries, without having to separately manage regional phone systems. By using cloud-based internet technology, coordination is simple - customers from London to Edinburgh can dial your regional branch number wherever you’re based. You’ll know where the call is coming from so you always know what to expect.

In a market as fragmented as property, with thousands of small-scale competitors, providing a great customer service starts with the personal touch. While websites seem to have taken the world by storm, the company that recognises those subtleties in client requirements will always come out on top. The meeting, the viewing, the handshake - it all starts with your phone.