Agency Essentials that every busy letting agent needs…

If you’re a letting agency business owner, you have limited time to spend on many tasks. You have to ensure that the business is gaining new ground and winning business, and this can only be achieved when you streamline your operations.

Technology is playing an ever more critical role in helping property professionals stay competitive in their field. Companies that embrace technology are using it in a variety of ways to provide efficiencies within their business, and to help support excellent customer service.

Want to know more?  If you’re based in the North West and would like to find out more about how software and technology can help your business, then come along to the “Agency Essentials” Property Technology Roadshow. “Agency Essentials” is the result of a group of property industry suppliers coming together to give their expert insights into how the industry is changing and how you can stay ahead.  The line up includes speakers from Veco, FixFlo, TouchRight, Estate Apps and Docusign, who will be explaining how technology is helping even the most traditional of agents achieve better results for themselves and their clients.  Don’t worry it won’t be death by PowerPoint, as each supplier is limited to a 10 minute slot, leaving plenty of time for demonstrations and asking questions!

Here’s a snippet of what you can expect…

Organise It

All letting agents need the correct tools in place to run a modern estate agency, and at the heart of any agency business is the all-important back-office system to help manage properties, landlords, tenants, maintenance and accounts.  Getting the right system in place is crucial to ensure the smooth running of the day-to-day business tasks.

Eurolink is just one option available in the back-office letting agency software market.  Eurolink produce Veco™, a property software solution for estate agents, property managers and property professionals.  Veco™ delivers flexibility and scalability to support franchisors and franchisees alike, by simplifying and streamlining workloads in line with industry legislation, to help agents operate a compliant and profitable franchise business network.  Richard Murray from Veco commented “Veco is perfectly designed to support franchisors and franchisees with its vast capabilities. The application is unique in its ability to simplify and streamline franchisees’ workloads in line with industry legislation, giving franchisors peace of mind that their offices are helping to operate a compliant and, importantly, profitable business network.”

Richard will be discussing 6 easy steps for the process of procuring new software at the event.

Fix It

Letting agents are adopting new ways to manage their repair reporting process, which has always been a real painpoint within a busy agency. Using online repair reporting systems allows tenants to fix simple issues themselves, and gives the agent all the information needed when a repair is requested.  

FixFlo is one such solution which saves time and money whilst reporting to help boost agent service levels.  Rajeev Nayyar from FixFlo commented “Agents find they receive fewer issues as tenants are alerted to issues they are responsible for fixing, so agents can focus their time on urgent needs that require attention.”

Jon Chapman from FixFlo will be discussing how introducing a repair reporting system for managed rental properties can help agents and property managers deal with repairs more effectively.

Report It

Looking more closely at staff efficiencies, there’s tech that exists to help agents manage staff productivity and help speed up some of the more mundane processes like property reports.   

TouchRight Software is one option, it’s a simple, easy to use cloud-based software, designed for property managers and letting agents, to help compile property reports like mid-terms, inventories and check outs.  It’s a cost-effective Android and iOS app-based solution which lets you get more from your smartphones and tablets. You can create a host of bespoke property reports including inventories, mid terms, check ins, check outs and even Legionella reports in a fraction of the time and add more value to your management fees.  Terry Lightfoot from TouchRight commented “It’s always great to get feedback from property managers that they love the time savings, even more so when the landlord feeds back to them about how professional their reports now look.”

Terry will be discussing how agents can work smarter not harder to produce property reports.

Design It

What’s the state of your online presence and website?  Will it attract potential landlords and tenants?  Do you have a mobile-optimised website and regularly interact on social media? One cost-effective option to consider is employing a digital marketing agency.  A digital marketing agency can help with everything from keyword lists and search engine optimisation (SEO) to the timing of blog posts and social media updates.

Estate Apps is one such company, offering specialized digital creative agency services to the UK property industry.  Estate Apps were one of the first companies in the UK to offer a dedicated app platform to the Estate Agent industry and over the years, have continually evolved their templates and platforms to a standard unrivalled in the industry. Alex Evans from Estate Apps commented  “We’re committed to making sure your business can keep up in an ever evolving market. As new trends emerge and consumer behaviour changes, Estate Apps will be there to help you make the most of any digital opportunity.”

Sam from Estate Apps will be discussing how digital marketing is playing a bigger role for any successful agency, and giving advice on how agents can better market themselves to a digital audience.

Sign It

Around the globe, people are using electronic signatures for both personal and business documents.  Contracts, agreements, loans, and leases are being signed legally and securely, and they offer distinct advantages over handwritten signatures:

  • They’re paper-free – no printing, filing, faxing, or mailing.
  • Online delivery means no mailing costs.
  • Sign on any device anywhere, anytime, for instant transmission – no missed forms or waiting for the postal mail.
  • Documents are tamper-proof due to digital encryption and audit trails.
  • Storage is electronic – no forgery.

Many countries, like the U.S., Canada and the EU—including the U.K.—have now passed legislation permitting the legal use of electronic signatures, so they are legal and enforceable.

DocuSign is one such company, which is changing how letting agency business gets done.  Jacqueline de Gernier from DocuSign commented “More than 50,000 lettings professionals are using DocuSign to sign and send millions of documents — from landlord contracts to tenancy agreements, and the signing process is easy, fast and secure.  You can easily track signing and get an audit trail, in the event of a tenancy dispute.”

Jacqueline will be discussing how Docusign’s Digital Transaction Management platform and eSignature solution are helping busy letting agents get their contracts and documents signed securely and easily.

“Agency Essentials” is taking place on the afternoon of Tuesday 24th November in a great central Manchester location, where there will be regular tea and coffee to keep you refreshed!

  • Location: Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS
  • Start Time: 2pm

So if you want to see how software and technology can help you Organise it, Fix it, Report it, Design it and Sign it then this event is not to be missed…

More details can be found on the event website and booking is limited so get signed up to day using this link.  

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