A new remote viewings service trialled with several agents in conjunction with Zoopla is claimed to have resulted in 5% of properties being either sold or let without a physical visit.
Smart Viewing said the estate agency industry could increase it profits by a fifth through the use of its online remote viewing platform.
The technology allows the agent to walk a client through a tour of a property, without either of them needing to be physically present at the time, using live audio and video to act as an online guide.
Smart Viewing CEO Marc Haguenauer said: “Accompanied viewings are one of the biggest expenses that estate agency has to bear.
“In fact, we estimate the cost of conducting some 33m physical viewings each year is around £655m. That figure bites into the £7.7bn annual commission for sales and lettings generated by the industry.
“However, we believe that the use of Smart Viewing would reduce the number of physical viewings by a third, which would provide savings of £188m.
“That means, assuming an average 12% profit margin, the industry can increase its bottom-line figure by 20%.”
Haguenauer claimed that not only does Smart Viewing help agents capture more leads, but it also assists consumers in short-listing properties they want to view in real life.
It means that distance and availability of the parties concerned is no longer an issue, and unsuitable properties can be identified straight away, he said.
He added: “We’ve had situations whereby agents using Smart Viewing have won instructions simply because vendors fear their privacy will be invaded and don’t want just anyone walking through their home.
“In fact, one of the popular features on the Smart Viewing platform is that an open-house viewing allows multiple leads to be generated. In one instance we’ve had 30 viewers online, all looking at the same property at the same time.”
The trial with Zoopla included online agent Hatched, part of Connells.
Director Adam Day, said: “The icing on the cake with something like Smart Viewing is that anyone booking a physical viewing off the back of attending an viewing online is getting a second viewing straight away.
“I think the goal for all vendors is to get as many serious people through the door as possible, to help them achieve the maximum price – and that’s exactly what we deliver using something like this.”
Martin Cunningham, head of sales at Auction House, said: “It is a game changer for those selling and letting property. Using Smart Viewing assists buyers to pre-qualify property whilst undertaking their search saves them valuable time and inconvenience associated with physical viewing so that viewings culminating from a Smart Viewing online engagement are better quality and more certain of generating offers to buy.”
Simon Charnock, director at Countrywide brand Urban Spaces, said: “The platform is perfectly aligned to the Urban Spaces business model as it enables us to deliver frictionless customer experiences for people looking to buy or rent a property in London from anywhere in the world.
“We have seen particular success with overseas clients in rental markets and are confident that approximately 50% of our rental properties will be let agreed from a Smart Viewing next year.”
Watch an example of Smart Viewing in action here:
Comments (17)
In my opinion if we’re going to start using things like this then we may as well all just re-brand ourselves as <insert name of any online only agent> and close our offices down, make our staff redundant etc.
There is no substitution for actual, real life, face to face interaction with your clients, be they buyers or sellers.
Ridiculous idea.
On the one hand if it works it certainly might cut costs and increase profit margins.
However on the other hand think of all those missed opportunities and extra income streams. My negs are often coming back to the office having secured a valuation or FS appointment having struck up a great rapport with the viewer. Offset the lost income from this against the money saved on viewings & I don’t imagine profits will be soaring.
Yes the industry is evolving but as I have said many times before this is a customer service industry.
If cost is an issue, you can use a walkthrough to do this for as little as £6.50. As for an opportunity you have the opportunity to talk through the property on the phone at the same time as the potential buyer is looking at the property via the walkthrough.
You lot just don’t get it – do you?
Yes – it’s down to cost. Of course it is.
But it’s not the kind of ‘cost’ I would expect to compute with those who wish to peddle technology over human sense stimulation.
Letting potential buyers click a few buttons instead of entering… touching… feeling… smelling their potential new home could COST me and my vendor a sale.
Quantify THAT ‘cost’ if you’re able – but it’s certainly not the paltry six-and-a-half quid you dragged into the debate.
Hit the nail on the head right there PeeBee!
“In fact, we estimate the cost of conducting some 33m physical viewings each year is around £655m.”
£19.85 PER VIEWING?
Clearly they are using the same calculation parameters as others who peddle their wares to come u with such an “estimate”.
1. Think of a number. ANY number
2. Double it.
3. Add the number of hours in a year.
4. Move the decimal spot one space to the left.
Are they going to #numptyfund? Gotta be worth a squillion quid
Give me an @r$£ over the thresh all day…any day.
Isn’t it interesting that some say cost others say opportunity!
Yes, RA, it is. There will always be that line in the sand.
My issue is not one of cost. I was simply pointing out what I would suggest be best termed as “creative” cost figures.
It’s down to interaction in my humble opinion… and in particular the most valuable, irreplaceable ‘interaction’ there is.
That of the Buyer with their potential new home.
So…CW and Connells have trialled Video Tours, presumably, as they are a really good solution,for their On Line only/hybrid offerings?
Presume PB will be next?
I have now filmed over 260 Video Tours myself and can tell you from 5 years practical experience, that they have the potential to be a game changer.
As in the same way that multiple colour photos transformed sales details from a single black and white photo of the front of the property.
I would recommend that agents now consider them as part of your marketing plan as the many benefits far outstrip any negatives.
gardenflat. you are correct, you could film and host VT’s yourself but if it were that easy, would more people be using them? That route however, is the route I would recommend.
Just sounds like another, easier way of flogging off all that is left of the UK to some chap in a mansion outside Beijing.
I see the point in narrowing down the field with fully qualified second viewers, but don’t see why I would need this service to achieve the result.
I can buy my own hardware (probably cheaper than on this site), do a quick walk through on instruction, upload to Vimeo and host / view online whilst chatting via a conference call to several interested parties?
Am I missing something?
I agree with AgentV that the contact between an agent and the potential buyer on a viewing is incredibly valuable. However we all know that one thing estate agents (and buyers!) don’t have enough of is time, so remote viewings are a useful tool and more buyers are demanding them as a first step.
But, most of these services don’t go far enough. You can however access affordable tools that let you have a virtual walkthrough while talking to a vendor on the phone and answering their questions there and then in person. I think that’s far more compelling.
I too must be being a bit thick. Whilst I can see that having 30 on-line viewers at once may prove beneficial in some instances, I don’t see how viewings overheads are reduced. Surely in order for the on-line viewing to be ‘live’ there needs to be somebody at the property with a camera, walking around it, and that person, regardless of which firm they are from will need to be paid….. Then at some point the buy or renter will want to actually see what they are physically going to live in.
I’m sure this has a place in the market, but it won’t replace physical viewings, and the job of a good negotiator will be to really get to know their viewer to match the right property to the right person, this is tricky on-line. Just look at the success of dating apps!!
Pardon me for being a bit thick but given we are in sales, since when has it become a good idea to talk a buyer OUT of viewing??!
Any estate agent who has not said to a buyer “I know this isn’t what you said you wanted but I think you should take a look”, leave the industry now……or don’t and come to work for one of my competitors.
@RealAgent
Do find today’s buyers are still receptive to this and willing to view properties they had not directly enquired about?
With less than 30% of our viewing on individual properties coming from the portals right now, in all honesty, calling buyers and tenants and getting them round to view is the ONLY way we are able to get close to our sales targets.
It is sometimes easily forgotten that marketing and marketing tools are used to wet the appetite, a glimpse of something interesting, the sales part comes in when you directly attribute a benefit to every feature. That can’t be done successfully pre enquiry it can only be done post enquiry.
The contact between an agent and the potential buyer on a viewing is, to my mind, one of the most valuable aspects of what we do….helping to achieve the very best end result for the vendor. It is also one of the hardest things for the ‘online’ fraternity to replicate.
While this, used correctly, could be a valuable additional tool……relying on it to cut corners could be at our peril.