COMMENT


‘PANDEMIC HAS UNDERLINED THE NEED TO INNOVATE’


ADAM PLATT, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AT SYKES HOLIDAY COTTAGES, REFLECTS ON HOW A CHALLENGING PERIOD HAS SHARPENED PRIORITIES


O


ur business has been serving the UK market for nearly 30 years, and I’ve been along


for the ride for almost half that time. It’s fair to say that the past year


KDV GHfiQLWHO\ EHHQ XQOLNH DQ\ RWKHU Nobody could have predicted or prepared for the challenges faced and as an industry we were all forced to adapt quickly. 5HflHFWLQJ EDFN RQ LW DOO ,ȇG VD\


we have a lot to thank technology for. As a sector, despite the restrictions and the need to keep costs low, we all had to invest in and progress our tech developments, more so than ever before. When the pandemic took hold,


our technology and product teams had to respond immediately. The number of customers contacting us went through the roof and we quickly realised it was unsustainable to keep on top of it all manually. Equally, it was clear from the


offset that customers wanted to be in control, so we had to move at speed to develop the tools and technology to give them greater autonomy. Our team began work to develop smarter systems that allowed customers to make or request changes to their bookings via our customer portal. By last September, when things


started to get a little more complicated again, we had to develop this even further. With local lockdowns and rules varying between UK regions, we needed to


ADAM PLATT As an agent, constant


communication was the key to reassuring owners. We built similar systems to allow us to contact owners if their property or bookings had been impacted by local lockdowns. We also improved our online


owner portal to ensure a constant stream of updates and information. And we progressed tech


developments to respond to a growing demand from new owners, as second homeowners looked to OLVW WKHLU SURSHUWLHV WR EHQHfiW IURP the predicted staycation boom. To respond to this, we introduced


advance our systems to notify customers about any announcement that impacted them. Within a few weeks, we reached a point where emails and communications went out within minutes of announcements. If the lockdown was predictable, minutes became just seconds. All these changes have allowed for a


smoother customer service experience, one which will likely be taken forward and developed even further this year. Work is under way to add to our


customer service portal, with the aim being that customers can get all the answers to their questions here, or at least be pointed in the right direction. Standing by our property owners


during what was an incredibly hard time for them was also critical. With more than 19,500 properties, keeping owners updated and managing any refunds and booking amendments also relied on sophisticated technology systems.


our new digital onboarding system, allowing owners to receive more information about letting with Sykes. Speeding up the entire process of


letting their property if they chose to proceed ensured that a backlog in new owner enquiries wasn’t created by the sharp uptick in demand. Going forward, this will allow us to bring RZQHUV RQ ERDUG PRUH HIfiFLHQWO\ If anything, it seems the


pandemic has been a good chance for our industry to reprioritise what is and isn’t important. This has certainly been the case


for our business, with technology and data analytics rising to the top. It will take continuous innovation


and collaboration, but we believe technology holds the key to driving JUHDWHU HIfiFLHQF\ LQ WKH VHFWRU ,WȇV exciting to think what the future could hold if we were able to achieve all this in just one year.


18 — SEPTEMBER 2021 — TRAVOLUTION.CO.UK


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