RESEARCH
Analyse this! talks to an independent agent about how a new local market information tool is giving him a tactical advantage. D
igital Property Group (DPG) has launched the Pro version of its
ground-breaking market intelligence software MarketView, which aims to help its subscribers win more instructions on a daily basis. Aggregated information is taken from daily market changes from the 12,600 agents listing close to one million properties on
FindaProperty.com and
PrimeLocation.com and used in MarketView Pro to provide a single picture of movements within an agent’s local market, helping them take advantage of opportunities ahead of their competition. Pro subscribers receive updates every 24 hours on instruction winning information such as sales or lettings fallen through, price drops, slow moving and withdrawn properties – all specific to their local market. Andrews, Marsh & Parsons and Bushells form part of the 11 per
cent of DPG branches who already have signed-up for MarketView Pro since July. But MarketView Pro isn’t just for the larger organisations. Roger Sleight has been in the estate agency business since 1997 and is the owner of Acton-based Churchill Independent Estate Agents. Churchill has used the Digital Property Group’s Market View Pro product since July 2011, subscribing across all the branches, so PROPERTYdrum asked Roger how it benefits his business. “Like many estate and letting agents, we operate across several
diverse postcodes and there’s a challenge in holding stock which ranges from £160,000 to £1.2 million. There’s a lot of competition from corporates and successful independents.”
So what can you do to compete? “I’m not alone in wanting more information about my local market. We wanted access to the same level of information that many of our corporate competitors hold; how we perform across our markets, where the opportunities are, which instructions we’re losing to our competitors and whether we can win them back.
I also wanted to streamline processes. I want my customer-focused staff to question, challenge convention and look for better ways of doing their work. I’m particularly interested in ways we can help staff spend more time with their customers.”
How has Market View Pro helped? “On the map view I can see exactly where my closest competitors are winning instructions, my market share and where the opportunities to grow are. “I can refine my market to
I can see exactly where my competitors are winning instructions’ roger SleigHt CHurCHill, aCton
just my closest competitors and compare our performance. Without this we’re working on gut feeling. In my opinion, Market View Pro is our industry’s best kept secret. There’s little delay between my branches finding out about an instruction-winning opportunity and them
pitching for it. We recently lost a vendor’s instruction to a competitor who, we felt, overvalued the property. Eight weeks into their contract, the property was still on the market and unsold – it gives us a second hit on any lost instructions .” “I want to know how my branches perform versus the
competition. We’re currently in the top 10 within our market and I’m keen to keep this status. Now I can trend our performance daily. It’s the daily analysis that makes the difference.”
Has it helped you to win more instructions? “It has, it’s helped us market our branches to potential vendors and landlords. Being able to prove how you compare to other agents in your market, and to demonstrate that you’re the best agent in the area for their particular type and price of property, is invaluable. We’re better prepared than we’ve ever been.” “We used to send staff out on board counts or monitor property
portals to see new instructions. We no longer do either of those things! Market View Pro sends the very same information direct to my inbox. When I was first introduced to the product it was like a
bomb went off in my head – it’s what I’ve been crying out for.”
www.tdpg.com/marketview
PROPERTYdrum JANUARY 2012 33
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