Why is customer onboarding such a pain, leading industry figures ask
Poll of 100 senior players within estate agencies discovers that many are still frustrated that process is unwieldy and slow.
Most senior figures within estate agencies reckon customer onboarding is slow, prone to errors and unwieldy, according to a new survey.
A poll of 100 senior estate agency figures found that they believe onboarding needs a shake-up; 68% say the current engagement process is too time-consuming, while 58% believe it is prone to human error and 56% think it is cumbersome.
The findings, in Landmark Estate Agency Services’ Estate Agents of the Future report, look at lessons learned during the pandemic, the appetite for technology adoption and how the estate agent of the future might look.
More than half of those interviewed (56%) have had a difficult financial year, staffing issues were a challenge for 61% and 49% say there has been a lack of prop tech investment at their firm during the pandemic.
Difficult year
But more than three quarters (78%) of estate agencies report that working from home has made them appreciate the importance of software in their role and the wider industry; 85% of estate agents believe it’s likely that administrative tasks will be automated within the next four years, freeing them up to concentrate on more revenue-generating activities.
Ben Robinson, Landmark Estate Agency Services MD (pictured), says three key areas of management concern really came through in the survey: people, proptech and processes.
He believes challenging conditions during the last 18 months have sharpened agents’ focus on where real improvements can now be made, namely an increased use of automation to replace many manual tasks within the onboarding process, such as ownership and AML checks.
He adds: “What is apparent throughout our research survey is a desire to improve the way we buy and sell houses and we believe we’ll see real change over the next two years, with the pandemic actually being a catalyst for change.”
