5 automations your agency needs to save time and book more valuations

Automation and proptech are revolutionising estate agencies, helping save time, reduce administration and improve efficiency. The end result is less time spent on paperwork and manual processes and more time dedicated to customer-facing roles dealing with buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants.

But if you are considering automation, where should you start? Read on to find out more about five key automations and the benefits they bring:

1 Email & SMS lead nurturing

Generating and nurturing leads is a key part of your work. But it’s no longer good enough to wait for leads to come to you or hope that word of mouth will be good enough to drive business. Instead, you need to be able to convert your website traffic into leads. These can then be followed up by your team and nurtured into full sales opportunities.

Online valuation tools such as ValPal are key for finding such leads, with customer details sent to agents once a potential customer receives their free no-obligation valuation. MovePal, meanwhile, is a similar lead generation and nurture tool that also combines marketing campaigns and management.

2 AI Calls to book valuations

Cold calling was once the bane of an agent’s life. Yet an online valuation request like the above usually signals intent to sell and enables agencies to follow up with potential clients. Automating this process helps to further improve efficiency.

With ValPal Pro, the follow-up is automated. Once a customer uses the tool for an online sales or lettings valuation then the AI-powered tool makes a call or sends an AI-SMS to the client if it can’t get through. It explains that it is a virtual assistant and asks them what prompted them to use the tool, gathering more about the customer’s requirements and booking them in automatically. If a customer doesn’t respond to either channel the lead drops into a 12-month nurture funnel.

3. Portal lead-qualifying and revenue-building

Automating leads from portals also allows agents to qualify buyer and tenant application leads before humans pick up the phone. With PortalPal, for example, while the portal lead is sent to the agent the applicant is sent an email questionnaire to find out more about their property search which then allows you to prioritise calls to prospective clients more effectively.

4 Automated AI property Meta ads

Automating on the likes of Facebook and Instagram can also boost reach and save you time and hassle with your advertising campaigns. AdVantage, for example, automates and streamlines the process of advertising property listings on such channels, posting pre-designed ads automatically every hour as well as managing campaigns for you. Machine learning AI meanwhile helps to put the right properties in front of the right people, thereby boosting your chances of a hot lead.

5 Automations in lettings e.g. automated payments/software to speed up the process

There are other back-office processes that letting agents can look to automate, too. Rent collection, reconciliation and payments are key functions of agents, for example, and automating this process can reduce the likelihood of mistakes. PayProp is one such software option for companies wanting to automate payments. Wider property management can also be automated, helping to simplify lettings, maximise revenue and stay compliant through platforms such as Goodlord.

Automation doesn’t replace – it enhances

There can be a common misconception that automation replaces human contact. It doesn’t. Tools such as these simply help you do your job better. And that results in more business.

If you want to learn more about automation solutions, just drop us a message at team@valpal.co.uk we’d love to chat!