SOFTWARE REVIEW
Going the whole hog with a fully
integrated single system may scare the life out of some agents, who see sales and lettings as totally different worlds, but it makes sense as more clients have multiple dealings with their agents – buying, selling, letting properties across the world. Al Chetwode says CML’s Radar will save
time, money and resources, “I worked closely with the development team to bring Radar to market. We felt there was a gap in the market for a fully integrated front and back office software available for agents offering sales and lettings. Radar can also be used in a sales only or lettings only environment. “Whilst developing Radar, we spoke with many agents to find out what features they would like to see in the software and it was clear that agents were concerned with the duplication of client and property records and their inability to view their entire business in one place. “Radar will save agents valuable time,
money and resource and it will improve efficiencies across the sales and lettings departments of any multiple branch agency, aiming to maximise its potential.”
AutomAtion Estate agents have continued to automate their businesses, in a search for cost reductions and to create a better experience for their clients. Stewart Anderson of Aspasia sees automation and internet applications as bringing customers and suppliers into a seamless process, “a whole new automated fabric of interactions” that expands the boundaries of the system to embrace everyone involved in the transaction. Nick Hubbard says Estates IT’s system,
PCHomes, deals with the daily admin tasks, “For example once the details of an EPC have been entered in the system they will automatically be added to property information wherever it may be displayed. When details of a Tenancy have been input the Tenancy Agreement is produced automatically and so on.
the right connections The software solution has expanded its scope from a back office system installed in the estate agency branch, to a broader ecosystem that links into third party suppliers such as marketers and conveyancers. DezRez has set up its own conveyancing practice, so that this aspect of the transaction can be handled within the software, sharing all the relevant data and reducing the need for telephone
18 JUNE 2011 PROPERTYdrum
Philip Evans, too, believes that software glynn trott
Agents are having to think outside the box, there’s much more competition to contend with.’
chasing or paper files. Some ‘extras’ appear be quite simple, but
are satisfyingly wonderful. “Our email- reader has proved very popular – and is apparently unique (at the time of writing), says Nick Hubbard. “It allows our clients to read online
enquiries (such as portal leads) directly in to the software with the click of a button! “Our next version will have the QR Code generation features and we expect that these will be extremely popular.” Vebra Live now also gives agents the
chance to automate links to Facebook, as well as offering a relationship with Brief Your Market for e-newsletters, and working with Etech, Clear Conveyancing, and Reality Finance. So far, all these services are delivered through arms’ length relationships, but this could change. Mark Goddard says “We have stayed away from whitelabelling these services, but I wouldn’t rule it out in future.” Vebra’s 7,000 clients would driving a good bargain. The move into portals that Vebra made
with ThinkProperty, Goddard says, set a precedent, “We’ve shown that we’re happy to think outside the box of just being a software house”.
needs to break out of the agency branch in order to automate the whole business process. But besides building in links to third parties and clients, he says, software providers need to be radical in thinking through the complete transaction process chain and working out how to support it. “There are lots and lots of different service providers and outsourcers, photographers, inventory takers, conveyancers,” he says. “These processes have been taken apart piece by piece to see how they should work. The third party element is very interesting.” He thinks the revolution has only just
started, and he intends PEX Software to play a big part in it. The benefits of automation are not
limited to cost-cutting and third party integration. Automation can also help ensure quality in some of the more tiresome areas of the business, for instance, ensuring that every rental contract is legally watertight, and every property has its EPC done correctly. “Let’s focus on automating those processes which are about compliance,” he says, “it generates real benefits to the agent.”
Al chetwode
Radar saves time, resources and money, improving efficiency in any multiple branch agency.’
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