Property Pulse - Autumn 2017

PROPERTY

AUTUMN 2017

24/7 agency Time to beat or join online agents

Also featuring: Market Appraisal Analysis Direct Debits for rental payments?

The very best for the best

Reapit’s industry-leading software solution is now available in a rapidly deployed best practice configuration for smaller agents, for as little as £200 per month.* Agents in the Best Estate Agent Guide can also benefit from a winners package† of templates and prospecting tools. www.jetsoftware.co.uk | 0330 122 0884 *Based on 4 users. Setup fee also applies. †For sign ups before 30th November 2017.

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Welcome Welcome to Property Pulse - Reapit’s showcase of insights and innovations that can help drive your agency to be even more successful.

I am excited by the sheer volume of great things Reapit is working on with our clients at the moment and I hope this magazine will give you some useful takeaways.

The elephant in the room at the moment is online agency, or more specifically, Purple Bricks.

There is barely a meeting between two estate agents that does not inevitably descend into a debate, critique or threat of war against the online menace.

I don’t hate them; I absolutely love Purplebricks. Hello? Anyone still there? I’ve said it. I will forever be known as the guy who outed himself as Purplebricks-friendly.

The reason I love them is they have forced agents the globe over to truly start to understand what it is that they do so well in justifying their fees to vendors. Finally, the time to be clear in our message to the vendor has never been more necessary, because online agents have forced our hand.

Simon Whale

At a time when consumer service expectations are at an all-time high and agency competition is stronger than ever, traditional models are coming under scrutiny.

To successfully acquire and retain customers, agents must recognise these new dynamics, adapt and evolve to become more flexible and responsive.

Some will beat online agents.

Some will become online agents.

All will inevitably have to face that our sector is being disrupted and we believe the technology will be a key component in deciding those who win and those who lose.

For our part, we are developing things to offer you choice in how you adapt, so that anything you do to adapt is out of choice rather than restriction.

If there is anything in this publication that you’d like to discuss with me, then feel free to drop me a note to simon@reapit.com.

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Digital customer service

What do you mean by online agency?

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6

Data Protection

It is time to prepare for GDPR

26

Market Appraisal Analysis

Real-time appraisal data

34

Penny Perfect

RPS Client Accounts is five years old

Internet Registrations Research An in-depth look at when and how the portals are delivering leads to agents

48 9

Best of Both Worlds Lawrence Rand is one of the first clients to offer a fully integrated online service

20

Introducing JET Software The experiences of the first agents to make the jump to JET Software – Reapit’s exclusive reseller

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Branch Management Mastery How Reapit is helping those in charge at the sharp end of things

30

Rental Payments by Direct Debit?

We look at one way to mitigate the potential impact of a tenant fees ban

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What do you mean by online agency?

There are two very distinct aspects to the proposition from online agents. Both are attracting consumers, but are traditional agents focused on tackling the right one?

In June 2017, we ran a series of customer roadshows during which I asked those who joined us what proportion of property transactions would be handled by online agents within the next three years?

The answers varied greatly from 5% to 100%, but there should probably have been another qualifying question‌ What do we mean by online agents?

When you look at most of the operators in this fast-evolving space, there are two key aspects to their propositions which resonate with consumers:

1. CHEAP FEES

by Dan

Hare

Head of CRM dhare@reapit.com 6

The cheap fees proposition isn’t new in estate agency and any given high street has had a half a percent operator for a considerable number of years. Some of the biggest brands in agency still use the low or no commission proposition to divide and conquer a new office area until such time as they establish

market share. There is undoubtedly a market for low-cost operators, but how big is that market?

vendors pay a fee to simply list their property on the MLS – the American equivalent of the property portal and akin to the service offered by many UK ‘online’ agents. Collectively, they still represent around a 20% of property transactions in the US.

Perhaps the US offers us a glimpse of what the future may hold with a mature market in which undercutting traditional agents or

Proportion of FSBO Sales 1997–2016 20 18% 16

15% 12%

12

13% 11% 9%

10%

9%

9%

9%

2012

2013

2014

8

8%

8%

2015

2016

4

0

1997

2002

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Source: National Association of Realtors

Realtors has been an option for decades. FSBO (For Sale By Owner) sales accounted for just 8% of transactions in 2016 according to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

This has steadily declined from FSBO’s peak share of 21% in 1997, but much of that decline has shifted to ‘agent-assisted’ sales where

20% market share in any given high street would be decent by most agents’ standards. 20% in every given high street equates to a multimillion-pound opportunity and the battle for this will undoubtedly continue for some time. This race to the bottom will be fuelled by big marketing budgets derived from ambitious market capitalisation.

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2. ONLINE SERVICE

Using digital tools to provide a great, customer-centric experience is the more challenging, but ultimately The other online agent battle more rewarding, battleground for is around the service point or, online agency. The devil is in the to be more specific, around detail and the simplicity of the removing the pain in the process consumer experience of booking of delivering a service. online is masked by a complex set Reapit has of configurations provided a set to ensure the Pain points can quickly of online selfreal-world service tools become barriers to requirements of to traditional the right branch consumers when others agents for organising the offer a better and a couple of right appointment more convenient years and we at the right time experience have recently is considerable. upgraded Our dedicated this suite digital development team have a comprehensively to include live busy roadmap for the RPS Digital booking functionality for valuations suite and there are plenty of other and viewings. This addresses the pain points to address yet. traditional pain point of telephone tennis to organise something as simple as a valuation, which seems CHOOSE YOUR BATTLE archaic to consumers who are now used to arranging holidays, So, are you going to compete with taxis, restaurants and all manner online agents over fees or over of other services in a few clicks. service delivery? On the fees battle, it may simply be a matter of time for Pain points can quickly become the public to realise that choosing an barriers to consumers when others estate agent is yet another decision offer a better and more convenient where you get what you pay for. experience and those who insist on telephone contact in normal working The online service battle is hours are probably in for a wakeprobably more a case of beating up email sooner rather than later. them than joining them.

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Internet Registrations Research This customer journey often starts with an initial enquiry to view a property and Reapit processes millions of these enquiries each year. As enquiries are received, they are interpreted and categorised automatically by Reapit, to enable agents to respond efficiently and accurately. Most of them come from the major property portals, but there are also a variety of other sources including agents own websites.

first half of 2017. We also look at what the agents then did, or indeed did not do, with the enquiries.

We then examine what happened subsequent to the registration.

In the following research, we explore the trends and differences in how, when and from which source, the enquiries were generated in the

The following pages are a summary of the full research report. This can be downloaded from showcase.reapit.com/irr/

This is part of the great value of Reapit’s end-to-end solution whereby we can calculate a meaningful ROI against the leads created by different sources by tracking them through to actual sales and tenancies.

Volume of internet registrations by month – January to June 2017 40000 40,000 35000 35,000 30000 30,000

Sales registrations: 211,453

25000 25,000 20000 20,000 15000 15,000

Lettings registrations: 129,712

10000 10,000 5000 5,000

0 January

0 JANUARY

February

FEBRUARY

Sales

March

MARCH

April

APRIL

May

MAY

June

JUNE

Lettings 9

Internet Registrations Research

Time of registration One of the most interesting aspects of this analysis is the timing of registrations; 55% of all enquiries were received whilst agents are traditionally closed. This is slightly down on the same analysis from 2016, where the percentage was 57%.

Each office in the research would have had 44 registrations on average waiting for a call back on Monday morning based on the volume coming in over Saturday night through the rest of the weekend.

Monday evenings after 9pm are the busiest time of the week for new registrations, with Tuesday to Thursday evenings also seeing high volumes.

Sales enquiries by time received

Mon-Fri: 9:00am - 5:59pm Sat: 9:00am - 5:59pm Mon-Fri: 6:00pm - 7:59pm Mon-Sat: 8:00pm - 8:59am Sat 6:00pm - Mon: 8:59am

45%

of registrations received during the working day

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24/7 agency 55% of all enquiries were received whilst agents are traditionally closed.

Lettings enquiries by time received

There are very few consumerfacing industries that do not serve customers outside of normal working hours and this is one of the areas where online agents have stolen a march on traditional agents by offering convenience to book valuations and viewings online.

This is the second year where we have seen the majority of enquiries come in out-of-hours and in the face of online competition, it is difficult to see how agents can continue to restrict customers to contact on their terms.

Aside from the customer experience, every agency wastes many hours just following up on enquiries and then liaising on a mutually acceptable appointment times.

55%

of registrations received while agents are closed

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Internet Registrations Research Volume of sales registrations by month (main portals) 25000 21,534 20000

19,922

20,837 19,316

20,458

19,306

15000

10000 6,407 5,050

5000

1,826 0 January JANUARY

6,578

7,064 6,967

5,059

8,001 6,422

8,572 7,091

8,860 6,330

1,093

869

1,212

1,386

1,293

February FEBRUARY

March MARCH

April APRIL

May MAY

June JUNE

Source of sales registrations The analysis consisted of 341,165 applicant registrations for both sales and lettings over the period of 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2017.

In our 2016 analysis, we observed a narrowing of the ratio between sales and lettings, with a decline in sales registrations running parallel to an increase in lettings. The 2017 trend shows a much more steady balance between the two disciplines, with volumes rising and falling together.

The 2016 analysis had 278,937, but the rise in volume for this year is largely down to growth in the Reapit client base through new customers and expansion of existing clients.

Source: Internet Registrations Research, January-June 2017, Reapit

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Source of lettings registrations The dip in registrations for OnTheMarket is predominantly due to a couple of major companies within the analysis not receiving any registrations after January. Although OnTheMarket had more agents receiving registrations at the end of the analysis period than the beginning, those who joined were smaller operators than those who left. Rightmove and Zoopla’s numbers were consistent throughout.

The rise in registration from other sources is predominantly down to the integration work Reapit has been doing with leading industry suppliers such as Homeflow, ValPal and Moneypenny.

Source: Internet Registrations Research, January-June 2017, Reapit

Volume of lettings registrations by month (main portals) 15,115

15,247

6,061

5,768

2,430

2,712

2,887

16000 13,761

12000

11,907

12,478

11,850

8000 5,052

5,430 4,362

4000 1,842 1,476 0

JANUARY January

4,859

1,350 739

1,342 499

797

882

866

FEBRUARY February

MARCH March

APRIL April

MAY May

JUNE June

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Internet Registrations Research

Volume of registrations by source Within the clients surveyed, the majority of internet registrations came from the major property portals.

24%

4% Lettings applicant registrations by source

9%

62%

Rightmove’s dominance in the portal space is evident from the volume of enquiries generated both for sales and lettings.

A significantly lower proportion of lettings registrations were generated from other sources when compared to sales.

19%

4%

20%

Sales applicant registrations by source

Note: enquiries from Primelocation are included in the ZPG calculations.

Source: Internet Registrations Research, January-June 2017, Reapit

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57%

Onthemarket ZPG Rightmove Other

STAY COMPETITIVE, STAY RELEVANT

With RPS Digital, you can provide a rich customer

experience from initial booking of a valuation or viewing, through to sales progression and management of a tenancy without changing your business.

GOLD

supplier estate agency

2016

showcase.reapit.com/masters

Internet Registrations Research Average volume of Lettings registrations per office

Lettings registrations per office by source The volume of registrations received overall put Rightmove as the clear winner, as was the case in 2016, but this was largely due to more of the agents included in the analysis using Rightmove.

When we examine how many registrations were received per office who actually use each portal, there is a more evenly matched performance between Rightmove and Zoopla.

This performance widens when you exclude duplicate registrations from the equation though. OnTheMarket trails significantly by either measure.

198

40

29

Average Lettings Registrations Per Office – Excluding Duplicates 205 165

28 Onthemarket Zoopla Rightmove Other 16

210

35

Average volume of sales registrations per office

Sales registrations per office by source

165

112

59 25

Rightmove enjoyed a more dominant performance for sales with or without duplicates excluded and delivered almost 50% more leads per office than Zoopla. Agent websites delivered a healthier volume of enquiries for sales than lettings.

Average Volume Sales Registrations Per Office – Excluding Duplicates

154

95 56 23

Onthemarket Zoopla Rightmove Other 17

Internet Registrations Research

Lettings Lettings handling by source Rightmov e

Rightmove ZPG

ZPG

OTM

OTM

2,320

563

2,742

17,895

74,610

ADDED

DUPLICATE

Rightmov e

ZPG

ZPG

OTM

OTM

Overall Overall

32,795

66,536

11,026

23,934

56,850

112,931

DUPLICATE

22,042 4,932 1,940

1,791

3,948

ADDED Added

37,207

UNPROCESSED

Sales handling by sourceSales Rightmove

6,006

5,256

20,270

Overall Overall

25,168

9,483

45,707

41,672

UNPROCESSED

Duplicate Unprocessed

Handling by source Over a quarter of all registrations were from contacts already in agents’ databases (identified as duplicates in the charts). This has the potential to put a big dent in the ROI from these sources and it is probably a case by case judgement as to whether the previous contact record should 18

be attributed as the source of any business derived from the enquiry.

Unprocessed registrations – those where there was no record of the contact being added to the agent’s database also made up for a further 20% of all enquiries.

The combined effect of these duplicates and unprocessed errors

Vendor conversions by source 1,789

1,086

544 43 Onthemarket Zoopla Rightmove Other

meant that 53% of the registrations could really deliver any ROI. OnTheMarket suffered from a large proportion of unprocessed lettings registrations.

ZPG had the highest proportion of duplicates with 28% to Rightmove’s 27%.

Vendor conversions The registrations included in the research were all applicant enquiries. Although RPS also processes vendor enquiries automatically, the volume of these is much lower than applicant enquiries - just over 5,000 during the analysis period, compared to 211,453 applicant enquiries in the same period.

When we examine the applicant records though, a modest number have been converted into market appraisals and then instructions.

Rightmove remained dominant in this sphere by volume and ratio.

Additional insights on the volume and ratio of accepted offers, instructions and arranged tenancies are available in the full research report.

To receive a complimentary copy, please visit: showcase.reapit.com/irr/ 19

The best of both worlds RPS Digital proves an instruction winner for Lawrence Rand When we designed RPS Digital, the foremost intention was to enhance an agent’s service offering. As has been the case with so many other industries, a comprehensive online service proposition will surely become an essential part of winning instructions in the near future.

For now, the early adopters have the advantage of both removing differentiators from online competitors and offering something over and above existing traditional ones.

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The theory is great, but we wanted to put it to the test thoroughly and we have been able to do just that with a top quality independent local estate agent, Lawrence Rand.

Since deploying RPS Digital, Lawrence Rand has seen improved efficiencies and several direct instructions. The ability for potential vendors to make real-time valuation bookings has been particularly well received. By displaying live availability from the agents’ RPS diary, rather than waiting for a call-back from the agent the following day, Lawrence

Rand can offer appointments that are instantly diarised. Similarly, applicants can book viewings via live booking links that can be added to property listings.

Peter Lawrence, Managing Director of Lawrence Rand, comments: “RPS Digital has saved us huge amounts of time - we’ve had 35 appointments booked via the digital platform in one month and three instructions that have sold – for a small independent agent, that’s brilliant! It is ideal for both the agent and the consumer. Because it allows 24/7 access to our agency, it fits around our client’s needs; they can log in at 11pm whilst having a glass of wine on the sofa and book an appointment. When we get to the office the following day, it’s all diarised - we make a brief courtesy call to confirm the appointment and that’s it. It really is a win-win for both the consumer and the agent.”

RPS Digital provides an end-toend solution that is fully integrated with RPS and means that agent’s customers get all the benefits of traditional estate agency with the convenience of the 24/7 online model. It enables agents to give their customers access to key information about their property transactions via a branded self-service login area on the agent’s website, so clients can securely monitor sales

progression, view information, and download documents 24/7.

Reapit has integrated the RPS Digital solution with a number of other industry-leading providers including Homeflow, Moneypenny, Valpal and Fixflo to enhance the data and services offered to agents and in turn, their clients, through one unified self-service portal.

We now live in a 24/7 digitally savvy society where the consumer can access their bank, book a holiday or shop for almost anything whenever and wherever they like.

Traditional estate agency needs to adapt and evolve to this culture in order to meet consumer demands and compete with online agency models. It has been great to see that Lawrence Rand has immediately benefited from RPS Digital and gives us reassurance that the ‘traditional agency’ model is still very much alive and well, as long as it can adapt.

To watch an interview with Peter Lawrence about his experiences with RPS Digital, please visit: showcase.reapit.com/rpsdigital/ 21

Introducing JET Software Reapit’s exclusive reseller is six months old and things are starting to take off…

Over 50 agents have joined Reapit’s exclusive reseller, JET Software, since its launch just six months ago and early adopters are reporting greater efficiencies and increased market share.

Reapit has long been regarded as the gold standard in estate agency software and our client list is like a who’s who of the very best in the business, but the way in which Reapit delivers RPS on a bespoke basis was unnecessarily complex for smaller agents.

We have worked out a way to deliver the JET solution for just £200 per month, but that’s been more about automating and streamlining our own processes than anything which compromises the user experience.

There has been a great deal of investment in setting up JET properly. The experience and understanding of the Reapit team was paramount to creating a version of RPS that was optimised for smaller agents, but still offered flexibility.

We wanted to ensure however that we weren’t distracted in servicing our current client base and took the step of forming a 22

re-seller to entirely focus on this project and its market. JET has its own dedicated sales and service resources to look after customers, but benefits from direct access to the enterprise-level development and infrastructure resources of Reapit.

Whereas most Reapit clients are large, complex businesses, the majority of those who have joined JET to date are smaller, independent operations with typically under ten users. Consequently, JET has been able to streamline and simplify the deployment of RPS for small agencies; agents can be up and running within 24 hours of signing up to the service with minimal fuss. JET provides a comprehensive training and learning programme on a largely automated basis, enabling new users to quickly take advantage of the software’s vast capabilities.

Sukh Sukra, Director at Saints Estate Consultancy, was one of the first agents to join JET and was quick to understand how it would add value to his business: “We were

able to secure a number of different instructions using the Rightmove Importer. What I love about JET is that unlike other systems that are really just admin based, it clearly has had a wealth of agency knowledge built in so it focuses on helping me actually win business.

Since we began using it, our productivity has increased no end.”

JET has produced a series of videos interviewing some of their new clients including one with Sukh. The hands on nature of leadership in smaller agencies means that the business owners have a very clear view on how the software is contributing to their businesses. To watch the interview with Sukh and the other JET clients, please visit: rps.jetsoftware.co.uk/successstories JET will be on show at various events throughout the industry calendar this autumn, but comprehensive demonstrations can also be booked online. You can find a list of the events that Reapit and JET Software will be attending on page 50.

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JET Software – Case Study

Rosindale Pavitt Rosindale Pavitt is a family-run estate agency business based in Wallington. The company is run by Chris Rosindale and David Pavitt who each have over 25 years experience of working in the estate agency sector. In previous roles they had used a broad range of software packages including Dezrez, Encore, Matchmaker and Estatecraft but when it came to opening their own business they wanted to use RPS. Chris Rosindale commented: “From the start when we were setting up our business we knew it was really important to invest properly in software. RPS had been recommended to me by a number of people – estate agents who are very successful – and I know that it is very user-friendly which was one of the most important things to us when we set up our business.

“At the demonstration for JET I was really impressed with a couple of key features. One of them was the Universal Search button – so you can type in a number, an email, a name, and it brings up every single bit of contact that you’ve come into with that person. Which is really valuable 24

to us because when the phone rings we automatically know who is calling us which is really important to us.”

JET Software deployed RPS into Rosindale Pavitt within a few hours Chris continued: “The experience of going live with RPS was a positive one – it was really easy. It was all done remotely so we didn’t have to have anyone coming down or building computer systems for us it was really easy. We had it done within a day and we were fully functional hitting other agent’s boards and trying to win some stock.

“I would absolutely recommend RPS and JET to anybody who is looking to set up a new estate agency within the UK. It’s very easy, user-friendly, easy to train people on and it’s really helped us with making new revenues and new income streams through some of the functionality that we’ve got. I can absolutely say that without using JET to start with we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

JET Software – Case Study

Marlowe Estates

When the team at Marlowe Estates decided to switch software from Gnomen, they identified several challenges that they needed their new solution to overcome: transparency of data throughout the team, paperless offices, increased referrals across departments, better management reporting and maximising business opportunities.

Jeff Quantrell, a director at Marlowe Estates, discovered JET Software after enquiring with Reapit about their proposition for small businesses; Jeff had previously used RPS at another agency. Jeff talks about their experience of switching to JET and how their business is benefitting from the move: “One of my major concerns before choosing JET was that it wouldn’t have the full capabilities of RPS and that it had been stripped back.

We were delighted to find that wasn’t the case and it certainly has the full capabilities that we need for a business of our size. It was a bit like getting back in a comfy old chair, but certainly one of the pleasing things is that my team have picked it up immediately – it’s very easy to

use, it really benefits the people at the coalface so the functionalities for them are easy to pick up and we’ve been delighted with the integration.”

“We were up and running within 24 hours and were really pleased with the service. The process was seamless. There is this myth out there that this type of change can be really problematic and cause a lot of upheaval but we certainly didn’t find that to be the case and were genuinely delighted with the process.”

“The list of key problems that RPS has helped us to overcome goes on, but certainly the day-to-day general fluency of the office has improved dramatically. Our ability to now be able to report on performance is now where I would’ve wanted it to be and most importantly we have generated more income from having a software package that we’re all very happy with.”

“Over the years I have used many software providers, to name a few some of the Vebra options, Jupix, Dezrez and, without question, JET stands head and shoulders above the competitors and I can’t hesitate to recommend them highly enough.”

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General Data Protection Regulations

by Neil

Manito

Product Manager nmanito@reapit.com

GDPR will supersede the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Having been 20 years in the making, what’s changed? GDPR, like the DPA, has a set of principles that must be adhered to, however the most significant addition is the Accountability Principle which states that an organisation must demonstrate how they comply with GDPR. One example of this could be how your agency records 26

its decisions on the processing of an individual’s data.

What information does GDPR apply to?

GDPR relates to ‘personal data’. The main difference between DPA and GDPR is that GDPR is more detailed, including reference to ‘online identifiers’; for example, an IP address of a person’s internet connection.

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will apply in the UK on 25th May 2018 and, if you have not done so already, it is time to start preparing your business for it

Brexit and GDPR To ensure that there are no gaps between EU and UK laws on Brexit Day, the EU Withdrawal Bill (previously known as the Great Repeal Bill) will convert EU Laws into UK Laws. GDPR is expected to follow suit with that process and remain enforceable from 25th May 2018. Although, as with all items relating to Brexit, it is no doubt up for much political debate and wrangling before that time.

The following list is not exhaustive, but serves to show the information that can be considered as personal data:

GDPR also references ‘sensitive personal data’, relating to special categories of data such as religious beliefs or data concerning health.

• Name

Although there are not many pieces of sensitive personal data an agent needs to process, it is entirely possible that sensitive information will be on documents that an agent has to store or use.

• Address • Financial information • Contact numbers and addresses • Physical identifiers (e.g. ID and photos)

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Processing of personal data and consent For processing of data to be lawful under the GDPR, each organisation must ensure that there is a lawful basis for that processing to commence. Two of the lawful bases for processing, which could be considered most relevant in our industry, are: • Consent of the person • That processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the person or is necessary to enter into that contract

Consent Consent under the GDPR must be “presented in a manner which is clearly distinguishable from the other matters, in an intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language1.”

So, in plain speak, this means that: • the individual must have made a clear and informed choice to their consent • this must be verifiable, i.e. there must be a record of the consent being given • the individual can also remove this consent at any time This is the area that probably presents the biggest 1. Article 7, (2) 28

potential challenges to estate agency as we consider: • How do you gain consent for your historical database?

• How is consent established for an agent when it was actually a property portal who the individual gave their data to in the first place?

• How do you refer business to third parties, such as conveyancing and mortgages

Principles relating to data processing There are a number of principles that require adherence from GDPR perspective.

1. Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner 2. Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes 3. Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary 4. Accurate and, where needed, kept up to date 5. Kept in a format, where the individual can be identified, for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data is processed 6. Processed in way in which ensures appropriate security is applied to personal data

In summary this means that: • An individual’s data is processed in a fair and clear way, by ensuring that the organisation explicitly states how data will be processed • The data is only used for the purposes for which it was collected in the first place • It is accurate and up to date

• The data is only relevant to what’s required • Only kept for as long as long is needed for the stated purposes • Kept secure This brief summary of GDPR is by no means exhaustive and new interpretations of the regulations are being published regularly.

Summary There is no getting away from the fact that the GDPR will impact estate agency; however, it also gives a framework to allow individuals to have their personal data treated in a fair and transparent way and to ensure it is used correctly. There is a real need for organisations to be ready and ‘get GDPR right’, particularly with potential fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of global turnover, whichever is higher.

The Reapit team have been working hard to ensure that our products are compliant with the GDPR. We have been consulting with a number of our clients to ensure that guidance and interpretation of the regulations are consistent. Any change required to RPS and its associated products are being ratified by independent legal experts to ensure that we and all of our clients are fully compliant.

Part of the challenge with preparing your business for GDPR compliance is that the guidance is very vague and open to interpretation. This has led to a degree of scaremongering from a rapidly growing pool of GDPR ‘experts’ who offer their services to help with compliance. Some companies have also fallen foul of existing laws by trying to prepare for GDPR compliance and have been fined as a consequence.

The Information Commissioner (ICO) is the government body charged with interpreting GDPR for the UK and they have been slowly, but surely, issuing guidance on various practical steps that should be taken to ensure compliance.

Reapit is holding a client forum in November to discuss the practical steps that agents should be taking to prepare for GDPR based on the ICO guidance. If you would be interested in attending, please visit: showcase.reapit.com/gdpr/ 29

Branch Management Mastery Senior staff are regularly engaged with useful strategic insight. Junior staff are trained on the latest techniques, but what about those managing at the frontline?

by Andrew

Tyler

Head of Consultancy atyler@reapit.com 30

Reapit has a long history of putting training at the heart of its service delivery. It is a fairly universal truth for all software that users only ever use a fraction of the functionality the system possesses, but that has not stopped us from persevering over the years to help our clients to embrace as much as possible of what our technology provides.

I started training agents on using Reapit in 2003 and back then, the company was much smaller - based in a relatively small office in Fulham, the training room was a small corner of another room, with space for two computers on a worktop. We now have training facilities throughout the country with large interactive displays and workstations to help every trainee get hands on with the software; but despite how much both Reapit and estate agency has developed in that time, the fundamentals of good estate agency practice and business management have remained the same.

As a former estate agent, I was always keen to identify the particular challenges that clients faced and then provide them with practical solutions using the software. One of the things that I started to observe with quite a few clients was a degree of frustration with their teams failing to embrace the practical solutions that we were showing them.

I would spend a great deal of time with senior staff on the strategic challenges and the training team were spending a great deal of time with frontline staff, training them on the features that would help with those strategic challenges.

It was then we realised there was quite a disconnect between these two groups – branch managers.

The newest recruits to estate agency are quickly trained up to a very high standard in using RPS, but branch managers tend to be in a position where the time they commit to training is relatively low. Many have been fully trained in RPS, but that may have been some years ago and not from the perspective of how to effectively run an office.

I therefore set out to address this, not simply with another training session, but with something more consultative‌ I launched the Branch Management Masterclass in March 2017 and it clearly hit the right note with our clients as the first six sessions were oversubscribed within two hours of announcing them.

I was very impressed with the masterclass and am keen for all our managers to attend.

Mark Fish

McCartneys Estate Agents

Andrew offers consultative advice and guidance to Reapit clients on a wide range of issues.

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Andrew’s advice regarding the use of RPS to deliver more productive morning meetings was very helpful.

Lynne Lancaster | Cumberland Estate Agents

Since then, I’ve been running the masterclasses regularly and they’ve proven to be very enjoyable discussion-based sessions where I can both demonstrate how RPS can be used to run a successful office, plus pass on many of the management tips and tricks I have learnt over the years as an RPS trainer. So far, almost 300 managers have attended a masterclass and the feedback has been very positive.

OBJECTIVES OF THE MASTERCLASS Learn how RPS can make you a more successful manager Enjoy in-depth power report training on your own RPS data Discuss management issues with fellow managers Share branch management tips with leading players

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Beyond running the masterclasses, I offer consultative advice and guidance to Reapit clients on a wide range of issues...

Cumberland Estate Agents is a successful network of offices across the Lake District, with a head office and central sales team based in Carlisle. After attending the masterclass, I was invited to work with members of the senior team at Cumberlands, reviewing some of their sales business processes.

Subsequently Lynne Lancaster, Cumberland Sales and Lettings Manager attended a masterclass in Leeds. ‘We had already identified a need for change within the business and Andrew’s advice regarding the use of RPS to deliver more productive morning meetings was very helpful.’

The Branch Management Masterclasses are a complimentary addition to Reapit’s standard training for all customers. For availability and to book, please visit: showcase.reapit.com/bmm/

Pocket Media - Case Study

Cumberland Estate Agents In 2016, Cumberland took the decision to reorganise their business around the ‘modern customer’ and shift their long established traditional high street model to a hybrid one. The business has managed to maintain a high street presence through its chain of 34 high street building societies but, on the property side, all calls are now handled centrally. Partnerships with Reapit and Pocket Size Media have been critical in making this transition a successful one.

Graeme Macleod, Managing Director at Cumberland commented: “We took a really brave decision and we decided to reorganise around the new customer rather than our old high street model. We brought the majority of our phone traffic and business centrally, so that people contacting Cumberland, no matter where they are in our field of operation, come through into a central team of dedicated negotiators ready to take business.”

Cumberland needed a secure technology solution that would support their new flexible hybrid estate agency model by making them more responsive and more productive. Pocket Neg ticked all

the boxes. The mobile presenter and data capture app created by Pocket Size Media is seamlessly integrated with Reapit’s RPS software and works on and offline, providing a truly mobile solution for valuers.

Another challenge that Cumberland were looking to address was how to keep their valuation team productive.

“It is really important that the customer conversations that valuers are having are new business ones – We want to be in the house giving our very best marketing advice and then be ready to get it to market and move onto our next role. Using the Pocket Neg App has been absolutely pivotal to this. There’s no return to base, so there’s no travel time or down time whilst they return to do their admin and this has helped us to double our output month on month.”

Reapit and Pocket Size Media have worked together for some time now to ensure that the exchange of data between Pocket Neg and RPS is quick and seamless. Graeme commented: “What is really exciting about this partnership is that Reapit and Pocket Size Media have worked together from the outset to create one single software platform; one single solution.”

Cumberland has seen its lead time for getting properties to market reduce from 3-5 days to just a few hours. Graeme commented: “The journey is so much smoother and the speed at which we can get a property to market is a great asset.”

For more information visit showcase.reapit.com/pocketneg 33

Real-time Appraisal Data Reapit is moving agents towards reporting in real-time to make sure business intelligence can lead to actions in a timely and effective manner.

The new Market Appraisal Analysis dashboard in RPS:

Many agencies regularly compile large sets of reporting data to monitor their performance and a surprising amount of this is still done manually and laboriously using Excel.

What’s more, by the time this data is reviewed, it is starting to date and insights derived from it serve as little more than historical record.

One of our latest enhancements is a new management information dashboard for market appraisals, which makes analysing this important area of agency performance a real-time activity.

Monitor appraisal to instruction ratios, lead times and spot issues with contact and competitors in real-time with the new dashboard 34

Track trends in conversion ratios and volumes of appraisals and instructions and compare regional or office performance

Users can quickly assess key performance indicators across seven metrics in the dashboard and drill down into more detail where required.

and Instruction volumes and review if there are reasons or competitors that you are losing business to with the Lost MA Reason and Lost MA Agents analyses.

The ability to monitor Market Appraisal activity at a company or office level in real-time will help you to identify issues and opportunities in a timeframe where remedial action is more likely to be effective.

Identifying offices or negotiators who are either not converting or not following up with market appraisals is possible in just a few seconds with the Market Appraisal to Instruction Ratio and Uncontacted Market Appraisal analyses.

With so much focus on generating Market Appraisals in the first place, this new tool should empower RPS users to ensure that opportunities are followed up on and converted more diligently. With the numbers calculated automatically based on journal activity and other records, there should be less reliance on manual reporting.

You can also identify trends in relation to overall Market Appraisal

This is the first in a comprehensive set of new real-time dashboards that we are developing to help clients make better, data-driven decisions in a timely manner.

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Market Appraisal Research January 2016 to August 2017 Reapit’s new Market Appraisal Analysis dashboard (see p34-35) is one of our major new features for 2017, but its introduction does prompt the question... “How do my results compare to the competition?” Few agents swap notes on how they are faring with market appraisals and instructions, so we analysed a large set of client data over a 20-month period to shine a light on how, as in industry, we are performing when it comes to turning appraisals into instructions.

371,860

market appraisals

126,764 instructions

158 agencies

Volume of Market Appraisals and Instructions Period

Appraisals

Instructions

Jan - June 2016

120,972

43.911

Jan - June 2017

121,273

41.193

July - Dec 2016

93,426

32.617

Conversion Ratio 36% 35% 34%

When comparing the first six months of 2017 to 2016, market appraisal volumes were up, yet instructions were down. The last two months of the anaylsis period are excluded from this table.

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Volume of Market Appraisals and Instructions by month Appraisals

25,000

Instructions

20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr Mar Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Mar Jun Jul Aug 2016 2017

With the exception of a seasonal dip in December 2016, there was a fairly consistent volume of appraisals and transactions throughout the analysis period. March 2017 represented the busiest period for both appraisals and instructions, being 10% and 4% up on the previous march respectively.

Ratio of Market Appraisals to Instructions by month % 40 38 33 25

36

37

36

36

35

35

35

35

35

34

33

36

34

35

34

34

31

29 21

18 10

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 2016 2017

Aug

The ratio of instructions to market appraisals varied little in 2016, bar a seasonal dip in November and December. There are signs that 2017 will not be as good as 2016, but the data for July and August 2017 will have a degree of inaccuracy as not all appraised properties will yet have come to the market.

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Lead time between Appraisals and Instructions by day – first month

8,000 6,400 4,800 3,200 1,600 0

0 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

The largest number of instructions came on the day of the appraisal and this was consistent throughout the research period, however, this still only represented under 7% of the overall total of number of instructions.

The first 30 days accounts for 68% of all those properties that instructed after appraisal, but as the charts show, there is a long tail both within the first month and in the longer term where instructions are still being generated over 12 months after the appraisal date.

In all cases for this analysis, the period is calculated between the latest appraisal and instruction.

Multiple appraisals do not factor in these calculations, so some instructions may have longer lead times from the original appraisal date.

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Lead time between Appraisals and Instructions by month / quarter

68%

Lead time between appraisal and instruction

1%

1% 3% 7% 8%

0–1 Month 1–2 Months 2–3 Months 3–6 Months 6–9 Months 9–12 Months Over 12 Months

11%

Lead time between Appraisals and Instructions – over a month 15,000 12,500 10,000 7,500 5,000 2,500 0

1–2 2–3 3–4 4–5 5–6 6–7 7–8 8–9 9–10 10–11 11–12 months months months months months months months months months months months

Conversion ratio performance by agent 51.4%

68%

34.1%

Top 10% agents average appraisal to instruction ratio

LeadAverage time between appraisal and appraisal to instructionratio instruction

1%

48.6%

1% 3% 7%

Instructed Not instructed

The top performing agents were converting more than 1 in 2 appraisals into instructions.

Increasing your conversion

65.9% 8%

11%

rate in line with the top 10% of performers from the average of 34.1% would represent a proportional 50% uplift in business.

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Power Prospecting Power Reports is one of RPS’ most versatile features. It offers a comprehensive reporting tool that lets you query hundreds of different pieces of data within your database and, where necessary, cross reference multiple pieces of data. Whilst it is fantastic for analysis, it is also extremely useful for prospecting. Every agent has hundreds of contacts in their database with potential for more business and a proactive agent will often go hunting for this potential.

For prospecting to work on an industrial scale, it needs process and procedure and Power Reports is perfect for this. Reports can be preconfigured and then run on-demand to give you an up to the minute set of results. With time then allocated to prospecting, an agent can quickly compile a list for who they want to target and hit the phones or produce targeted marketing to the list.

Investors Sometimes the simplest Power Reports are the best. This one looks at the archive and digs out any investor applicant. So many viewings for investors take place and then, if an offer does not materialise, the investor applicant is forgotten about. The reason for buying is often recorded for viewings and this is quite often a treasure trove for prospecting. How else could you help them with their portfolio?

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Missed Appraisals How about digging through the diary to find some business?

Set a date range in this report to identify market appraisal appointments in your diary that have an associated property record that never came to the market.

We have developed “Prospecting Power Pack” – a collection of Power Reports that you can use to consistently unlock the hidden potential in your database. If you’re a Reapit or JET customer, then we can easily add these reports to your account – simply contact your Customer Relationship Manager to find out more.

MORE PROSPECTING POWER REPORTS Lost Instructions Withdrawn Properties Missed Potential Clients Previous Landlords And more...

For prospecting to work on an industrial scale, it needs process and procedure and Power Reports is perfect for this. The reports can be configured and saved and then run in a matter of seconds on demand to give you an up to the minute set of results.

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You are an online agent

Many more people view your website than meet you in branch. To compete with pure online agents, your website must help build customer relationships, and convert website visitors into valuations.

Homeflow specialises in agency websites that generate more valuations. www.homeflow.co.uk/websites Better Estate Agency Websites www.homeflow.co.uk 020 7801 9875

Rental Payments by Direct Debit?

Exploring ways to mitigate the impact of a tenant fee ban Whilst various industry bodies lobby the Government about the proposed ban on tenant fees, Reapit has been hoping for the best, but planning for the worst. In 2012, we helped our Scottish clients to adapt to a fees ban and have a great deal of experience in adapting agency processes to cope. Processes are probably less of a concern to agents as revenues though and, faced with a legislative agenda that curtails current profitability, we’ve been exploring areas where significant cost savings can be realised. One of the most significant of these relates to agency processes around rent collection and tenant arrears. Another change in legislation earlier this year has the potential to help in this respect‌ Direct Debit has - traditionally been considered a risky payment method for rent collection.

However, in February 2017, the rules for Direct Debit payments were changed, closing some loopholes which posed these risks.

And, in the six months since the rules were updated, leading property software provider Reapit has been helping clients to take a fresh look at Direct Debit payments as a way of potentially saving time and cost from rent collection processes.

Here, the company offers an overview of the overall process...

by Ross

Champion

Head of Lettings rchampion@reapit.com 43

Standing Orders – tried and trusted At present, most agents encourage tenants to pay their rent by Standing Order. It is a tried and trusted method of rent collection where the tenant issues an instruction to their bank to send a specific amount of money to the agent on a specific day each month. This certainly sounds simple, but in practice it can lead to a multitude of potential risks.

The widely accepted practice during tenancy negotiation is to issue the tenant with a standing order mandate, which the tenant completes and returns to the agent, who would then forward it to the account holding branch to process.

Despite Standing Orders being a robust method of payment once they are established, most agents will have experienced issues with administration and arrears from hurdles such as an incorrectly completed form, or it being sent to the wrong branch. More recently, some agents have left it to tenants

44

to set up their standing order payments using online banking with the tenant providing screenshots to the agent as a proof of mandate.

Although this removes some of the administrative burden, the significant pitfall of tenant arrears remains.

Standing Order payments are subject to delays and confusion simply because the agent has absolutely no control over them and so has no visibility of delays until after the fact. This means that chasing arrears is highly reactive and can be costly, both in terms of staff time and landlord confidence - even when Standing Order payments are set up correctly for rental payments.

Direct Debits – the history The concept of the Direct Debit is not new to the industry but has always been met with a degree of scepticism by agents owing in large part to fears of risk and exposure.

The overwhelming majority of agents opted to use Standing Orders not because they’re quicker or more reliable but because they reduced the chance of losing clients. How? The savvy ‘professional tenant’ would know that there were some significant loopholes in the old BACS Direct Debit rules, which means that tenants had the right

to clawback paid rent without too many questions being asked. This is significant as it meant there were occasional tenants who would sign up for a tenancy, pay their rent for six months by DD then abscond and claim it all back – while disappearing.

Recovery would then either prove to be expensive or impossible. The agent would then have no choice but to pass on that clawback to their client who would suddenly be faced with returning all paid rent to date (agents seldom absorb this cost themselves) - a very difficult and uncomfortable conversation to have which would invariably lead to a lost landlord client.

It was therefore felt that the burden of responsibility for the payment of rent should fall squarely on the tenant and the much safer Standing Order was widely adopted.

Changes to ‘The Rules’ – a new landscape From 1st February 2017, and in collaboration with banks, BACS have changed how the DDIC (Direct Debit Indemnity Claim) is handled and have introduced new protection for service users – there is now a finite timeframe for an IC and clear supporting evidence is required from the customer prior to the

claim, plus it gives service users the right to counter claim immediately, making it much more robust.

The upshot of this is that Direct Debits are now viable, as the agent is more protected using this method than they have ever been, but this only affects BACS approved suppliers and not the whole industry. The agent themselves does not have to be a BACS approved supplier but rather, their appointed collection bureau has to be and there are numerous bureaus to choose from.

Case Study

Helping Prospect As part of an ongoing process review in to Property Management and Client Accounts we met with Prospect to look at ways in which we can add value by reducing time spent on manual tasks in the Receipts from Statement screen.

Prospect already used Direct Debits, however kept the process of collection outside of RPS. Through a quick analysis of their accounts diagnostics, we were able to conclude that an area in which Prospect’s client accountants could improve is the time spent matching receipts with the corresponding tenancy and invoice.

45

Further to that, the team at Prospect were having to manually create their export file with their collections to upload to their BACS clearing system, which took around 90 minutes a day, according to their client accountant.

There are significant time savings to be made as Reapit can automate these tasks to the click of a button.

RPS has a ‘Manage Direct Debits’ batch routine that sends bulk instructions to the BACS bureau at once for either creation, collection or termination of a Direct Debit instruction. We train this as part of a daily process so that nothing is missed and that is consistent with its placing in the UI. The really intuitive part of this process is that RPS has a memory! When the file is created for upload, RPS remembers the amounts and the addresses so that when a receipt is generated as part of the banking process, the breakdown can be imported from the RPS cache, saving significant time in having to manually match receipts.

Further to that and as a continuing reference to the ‘Manage Direct Debits’ screen we developed a custom file format consistent with the requirement for our clients chosen BACS bureau and deployed to their build for testing. This now means that no manual work is required to create the specific CSV 46

format required but rather that RPS does this for them ready for upload.

We are going live with this on 1st September and the first collection file is due early next week. Hopefully we can get a good testimonial over the process from them.

Conclusion

It is a fact; the savings in switching to Direct Debit payments are significant.

Not only do they have the potential to eliminate repetitive, manual processes, but they also have the potential to minimise tenant arrears.

In a time when every letting agent is concerned about the impact of a ban on tenant fees, Direct Debits could go some way to mitigate the impact of a ban through greater efficiency.

Reapit’s Client Accounts solution is fully compatible with Direct Debit payments and this works well with our ongoing commitment to reconcile every client account to the penny, every day.

Why Direct Debits?

1

2

3

CONTROL The agent can take back control of the collection of rent rather than rely on the tenant to pay it.

RELIABILITY Direct Debits are extremely easy to set up and don’t require any agency interaction with the bank, reducing the chance of missed payments.

AUTOMATION The collection of rent can be highly automated with Direct Debit, requiring one batch process to be run per day for the collection of all rents due on the agreed collection date.

EFFICIENCY 4

Direct Debits are highly efficient, because they collect what is due rather than a fixed amount, they can be easily adjusted and efficiently handled on renewal. DD’s also do not require any manual input as they are automatically matched to the corresponding tenancy.

SCALABILITY 5

Whether you are collecting five or five hundred pounds, the DD process is handled in the same way and takes the same amount of time, making it a very scalable collection method.

PROACTIVITY 6

If an agency has a problem with tenant arrears, then DD can be prevention and cure. It prevents arrears situations arising in the first place by giving the agent control over the collection and can alleviate arrears situations by giving the agent the chance to pro-actively manage credit control.

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Penny perfect progress In the five years since we introduced our Client Accounts solution, a lot has changed and in the first half of 2017 alone, we processed over ÂŁ69m in rent. This follows a record year of migrating a diverse range of clients to our fully integrated Client Accounts solution, including Bradleys, Carter Jonas and Karl Tatler to name just a few.

These businesses along with many others have realised the significant benefits and savings of our streamlined processes around rent runs, bank reconciling, landlord

payments, chasing payments and receipt imports. What’s more, the value of having a truly integrated solution across all departments has delivered additional efficiencies.

As we look forward to an uncertain period for the rental market, shadowed by the implications of major changes to legislation, every agent will be forced to examine their business carefully. Our expert team of fully qualified client accountants are ready to show you how to save time and boost efficiency and productivity.

Every Reapit client account is reconciled to the penny, every day

Find out more at: showcase.reapit.com/pennyperfect/ 48

“More

viewings, more valuations, happier customers.”

Moneypenny client since 2015

Lucy, Moneypenny Receptionist.

Whenever you need, we provide you with your own Moneypenny Receptionist – someone you know and trust, to look after calls and chats exactly as if based in your office.

moneypenny.co.uk 0333 202 1005

Talk to us about

T LIVE CHA

TELEPHONE ANSWERING

LIVE CHAT

SPECIALIST TEAMS

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Where’s Whaley...?

Reapit and JET Software will be at all the big industry events throughout the autumn

If you would like to speak to us about any of the articles in this magazine or to discuss our solutions in the more general sense, you will find us at all these events.

Date

Location

22nd September

EA Masters (O2 Intercontinental Hotel, London)

21st September

27th September 28th September 3rd October 4th October 5th October

10th October 11th October 12th October 19th October 31st October

17th November 8th December

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If you are an existing Reapit or JET Software customer, then your Customer Relationship Manager can also help. Alternatively, give us a call on 0843 218 1660.

Josh Phegan Separate and Differentiate (Chelsea Football Stadium, London) Guild Regional Conference (Surrey)

Guild Regional Conference (London)

Guild Regional Conference (Newmarket)

Guild Regional Conference (Birmingham) Guild Regional Conference (Lincoln)

Guild Regional Conference (Manchester) Guild Regional Conference (Wetherby)

Guild Regional Conference (Newcastle) NAEA Regional Conference (Cardiff)

The Negotiator Awards (Park Lane Hilton Hotel, London) RAN National Conference & Awards (Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel, London)

Agents Giving Ball (Lancaster London Hotel)

Using mobile to transform how agents work When location is everything, it doesn't make sense for property firms to be tied to the office.

Experts in using mobile to answer specific industry challenges, Pocket Neg is a scalable, flexible solution that unlocks productivity and efficiency to give your team the freedom to get out there, win listings and generate sales.

Onsite or offsite, online or offline, our innovative tools are secure and simple to use and ensure the right people have the right information wherever they are, whenever they need it.

Like the idea of transforming how you work? Come and visit our stand and see how Pocket Neg can help your agency.

0207 099 6501 info@pocketsizemedia.co.uk 51

Tried. Tested. Trusted.

GOLD

supplier estate agency

2016

www.reapit.com