Is Your Agency Putting Technology to Good Use? Is it a Trick or Treat for Your Business?

New competitors emerge, an agency similar to yours opens up and before you know it, the heat is on. It is important to stay ahead of your competitors, provide a special and unique service. The way in which we run our businesses has changed beyond all recognition.

It wasn't so long ago that the Smart Phone was considered innovative, now it is very normal to be able to run your business using a tablet from anywhere in the world.

We rely heavily on technology in ways many of us could never have imagined, from the technology used to advertise properties (portals), to the methods we use to communicate with colleagues & clients (email); but that's all "old school" now. There is an App for everything you can think of - we can book cinema tickets, hail a cab, shop, measure our blood pressure, count our footsteps and make payments without using cash. Clients use WhatsApp to communicate with, update & motivate their employees; iZettle is being used to take payments instead of using the traditional PDQ machine;

DocuSign, EchoSign, EasySign, HelloSign to manage the online process of managing the audit trail of paperwork; FixFlo as the property management solution for overseeing maintenance & repairs. Has this shift impacted your agency?

The days of big budgets for print marketing are long gone. E-Commerce & technology form a crucial part of a Letting Agent's spend and it is not enough to throw cash at the most recent innovation, there needs to be a strategy in place to understand how technology can improve efficiency and give you a return on your investment. Making the right decision for your agency needs to be very well-thought out - think carefully before you invest.

1. Are you just following the crowd or does the latest tech invention have a place in your organisation? Fads are costly.
2. What is the cost versus the return? Repeat - ROI ROI ROI
3. What do you hope to achieve by implementing these changes? Raising the agency's profile, increasing market share, streamlining systems, reducing risk - so much to think about. Don't just go for the the shiniest product.
4. How easy is the solution of choice to use? Will your team be trained, have support and is there a back-up in place if the techie stuff fails? You need a stress free experience.
5. What terms will your company be bound by? Will you be tied in ad infinitum? Is the technology owned by a company based overseas, in which case the terms (data protection) may differ from ours?

The world of lettings has evolved and the world of technology has realised just how big an impact it can make on the lettings process.

Susie Crolla - CEO