After a tough year in the property sector, everyone deserves a break over the festive period. However, with a survey of 1,600 businesses from BT finding that a missed call loses a UK business on average £1,200, it’s clear that making sure you can enjoy the holidays without having to worry you’re missing essential business calls is incredibly difficult.

The real estate industry has gone through unprecedented changes over the course of 2020 and with more than 100,000 additional house sales expected during the first three months of 2021 it’s a hectic time to be a property agent.

So, being able to step back and switch off over the festive period is crucial to be successful in the new year. Taking a break will help stop burnout, increases job satisfaction and improves productivity – all things required for property agents to pick themselves up and go full steam again in 2021. However, while you’re away from the office it’s important you don’t miss any important business enquiries, calls from tenants with urgent maintenance requests, or people looking concerned about new year moves. So, why would you risk leaving crucial customer communication in the hands of automated systems?

1. Rota staff so everyone gets a break

Ensuring you and your team get a break is crucial to recharging the batteries after a torrid 2020. Not having time off over the festive period will cause low staff morale which ultimately will lead to an unhappy workplace and decreased productivity. A rota over the festive period means everyone gets time to switch off but also means that you have people to answer important calls from a designated hotline. As an influx of enquiries are predicted over the festive period by people rushing to get in before the stamp duty holiday ends, you can share the workload between employees and management by simply forwarding your office line to one mobile. And remember, when potential clients are at first enquiry stage, they often just move to the next option on the Google results list if no one answers the phone.

2. Setting expectations with customers before Christmas Eve 

Managing your customers’ expectations in the run-up to Christmas Eve is massively important to make sure customers don’t expect a service you simply can’t deliver when you’re enjoying your family feast. Provide a clear timeline of events from limited opening hours to on-call services. You can even provide last dates for certain activities to be completed before services resume in the new year. Communicating clearly and effectively when setting expectations with customers is vital.

3. Choose a day in-between Christmas and new year to touch base

The last thing you need when taking a break over the festive period is the constant fear of what may meet you when get back into the office. Arranging a day in-between Christmas and the new year to touch base with your clients and colleagues will keep that dread at bay. It doesn’t even have to be a full day. Allocate a couple of hours to run through business-critical activities and contact clients with the shortest lead times on their negotiations or completions.

Touching base is an opportunity for you to get a well-rounded picture of the events that have taken place while you have been unwinding and recharging the batteries. It’s a golden opportunity to help you clear some tasks and identify important items to pick up on your first day back in the office. Most importantly, it means your attention is only diverted from spending time with your friends and loved ones for a few concentrated hours and not sporadically throughout the week.

4. The personal touch  

Some agents opt for an inbound communication specialist to answer calls and messages over the festive period. AI-operated systems are, in my opinion, impersonal and make agencies seem faceless. Some 71% of consumers said they would be less likely to use a brand if they knew that brand didn’t have human agents to talk to. This shows just how important it is for agencies to maintain a human touch as part of their communication, whether over the festive period or any other time.

Tim Morris is the MD at Cymphony.