Reviewing the way you work and looking at where you can streamline processes, speed up workflows, and generally work smarter will leave you with more time to spend on delivering an unforgettable consumer experience and driving more business.

At Street.co.uk, we’re all about empowering agents - so we put our heads together and thought of the 5 best things you can do to make sure your agency is operating at its most efficient.

1. Automatic applicant self-qualification

Listing a new property and responding to applicant enquiries is easily one of the most time-consuming parts of estate agency. Filtering through applicants, answering their questions, scheduling viewings, confirming every applicant’s buying/renting and financial position - the list goes on and on. Now imagine if you didn’t have to ask any of those nitty gritty questions and your CRM automatically told you all those important details...

Setting up a self-qualification system that allows applicants to share with you this information automatically, saves you the job of asking these questions yourself. Once you have this information, you can also choose which applicants you want to reach out to first based on the information they have provided.

Applicant self-qualification is a simple solution for a lengthy process that’ll free up your agents’ time and allow them to spend longer on tasks of higher value that can’t be completed easily online.

2. Allow customers to self-serve online

Online self-service tools are totally transforming the way consumers buy, sell, rent, and let properties; it’s one of the best technological advancements in the market that actively matches their demand for greater control, accessibility and transparency over such an important financial transaction.

According to research by Google, more than two thirds of consumers are likely to buy from a company that offers convenient communications.

But the benefits extend far beyond delivering a better consumer experience… allowing your customers to book a valuation, manage their viewing requests, and approve any listings all on their own terms, not only saves your agents tons of admin but also frees up their time to spend on tasks of higher value like handling negotiations or conducting valuations.  

3. Add photos and property measurements on the go

Why make life harder for yourself by completing the same job twice? Instead of jotting down room measurements on a scrap of paper and then having to input them on the computer when you’re back in the office, you could complete the job instantly on site if your CRM was connected to your phone.

Not to mention, you might note the measurements down wrong and have to go back to the property to check another time. By inputting every detail directly into your CRM while you’re at the property, your agents can eliminate mistakes and ensure they create accurate and comprehensive listings.

The same goes for photos. Rather than taking images of the property and downloading large files onto your computer then re-uploading them onto your database, you could streamline the process by adding them directly onto a CRM while you’re out and about. Save time, reduce human error and accelerate productivity, all with the help of clever tech.

4. Generate brochures and window cards automatically

Estate agency is as much about visuals as it is about numbers. Just like how a property’s photos can impact the interest a listing generates, agency brochures and window cards are essential in boosting sales and generating new leads.

However, we know that they can also be the most time-consuming assets to create if done manually. But why waste time when you can save your agents hours of work by using a CRM that generates these resources automatically?

That’s instant and fully branded marketing materials, at just the click of a button.  ‍

5. Establish efficient workflows

The easiest way to establish an efficient workflow is by cutting it down - removing any unnecessary steps will mean jobs are quicker to complete and will leave you with more time for all the important tasks. Simple changes like streamlining your processes so you can find information and complete tasks from one place means you will not only maximise your invaluable data, but empower your agents to achieve more and have a complete record of your transactions - from start to finish.

Tick off jobs in just a few clicks of a button - quickly and easily - instead of a long manual process.

A new age for estate agency

The expectations of modern consumers in the real estate market are growing rapidly, and agents who welcome new developments in property technology are quickly gaining a competitive advantage over those that don’t. Using digital CRMs like Street.co.uk to make the process of selling and letting houses quicker, easier and more profitable for businesses of any size.