Rightmove has unveiled ambitious plans to help agents get more out of phone leads from the site.
It is to launch a prototype piece of technology that will pre-brief them about callers at the point at which they are ringing in – allowing agents to identify the most important leads.
Agents will be able to see information provided to Rightmove by the caller about the property they are inquiring about. The agent will be able to view that data in real-time while the consumer is calling.
Rightmove is to trial this with a number of agents next year, and then hopes to roll it out.
A spokesperson for Rightmove said: “In essence, it is a way of having the best of both worlds. Agents get some details in writing about the consumer’s query, in the same way they would in an email lead, but they also get the chance to have a call with them at the same time – which is what both consumers and agents say they prefer.”
Rightmove says that phone leads have been growing rapidly and have contributed to 65% of all its lead growth since 2009.
Their importance for both agents and home-movers is clear, says the site, with 81% of consumers saying they will pick up the phone if they are serious about a property, according to a survey last month of nearly 3,000 Rightmove users.
According to another Rightmove survey of 598 agents last month, agents say that out of all types of enquiries from property portals, phone leads from Rightmove are considered the most valuable for conversion.
However, Rightmove research also shows that 38% of consumers experience issues getting hold of an agent by phone.
It is against this background that Rightmove has unveiled its new prototype, called FreeCallPlus, which pre-qualifies phone leads.
This tool will allow agents to receive pre-qualification information over the internet that will give them a head start about a phone lead, and designed to ultimately lead to a better experience for both the agent and the prospective buyer or seller.
As a first step towards this vision, Rightmove intends to launch free wi-fi calls for consumers in early 2015.
Rightmove says this will ensure that on any device, consumers are only one click away from talking to an agent about the property they are interested in, completely free of charge. For agents, this brings the vision of pre-qualified phone calls significantly closer.
In addition, Rightmove plans to extend the prototype of FreeCallPlus to trial stage in 2015 with a limited number of customers.
This trial functionality would include Rightmove pre-qualification data, an agent ‘console’ and integration with an agent’s CRM software.
This innovation will join the new market insight tool RightmoveIntel, now available to all Rightmove members as part of their standard membership.
James Micklethwait, head of product development at Rightmove, said: “Our research shows that the more serious buyers and sellers prefer a one-to-one conversation on the phone, as it leads to a more satisfying experience.
“But one of the major advantages of email over phone leads is that they can be enriched with pre-qualification information, which can help agents prioritise and respond to the leads which matter most.
“Therefore, we have developed a prototype which uses internet technology to create the best of both worlds – a pre-qualified phone lead.
“It is intended both to help Rightmove agents and to improve the customer experience for the home buyer. Next year we want to make the prototype a reality.”
Rightmove is getting like toothbrush's. They must be sitting round a table thinking, how can we stay ahead and justify our price? Ahh I know let's do X to make us stand apart. Similar to toothbrush's when they add extra bristles or a tongue cleaner or extra bending brush, who cares!
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There is no need for this product, the money wasted on this should have been given to agents in their fees.
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No doubt typical RM line "We have listen to our customers and they….." love to find out who these nutty customers are that sit there all day long emailing RM with new and innovative ideas!
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These so called "nutty customers" are probably camped out in their "fee raising ideas dept".
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What next? An app that does the agent's job for them ? RM needs to get real and plough some of their obscene profits back into reducing fees (as said above). By constantly looking to tweak a service that should be a clean, efficient and uncomplicated experience, they risk over-egging the pudding.
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This is a classic legacy trap Marc. For technology service providers there is a real problem moving on from the generation you first develop into. Rightmove has hopped up one generation of tech by adding features but are now stuck in the same development cycyle as Zoopla. Both need to do what Ford did with the Escort; stop adding features and letters on the boot and design something new. The catch 22 for both RM and Zoopla and possibly for OTM (depending on what has been built) we are now past the portal age and moving to something new which neither of the main portals are prepared for.
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FAO Peebee ( I know how much you hate @) 😉 on the other thread you were asking me about ones and zeros, Generation 5 and why the development cycle is so extended. Here is a classic example of analysts and coders having not a clue about Estate Agency. This seems ( to them) like such a great idea they have programmed it, tested it and are here shouting about it. For a firm as mighty as Rightmove to be grabbing at straws like this with a product that no self respecting Estate Agency owner would ever consider a good idea, is laughable and an indication that there is an embarrasing lack of domain knowledge at RM
Sure as eggs is eggs every lazy under performing neg will think this a brilliant bit of whizz but this sort of information share across the board simply levels the playing field bringing poor performing agents up to the level of the better ones.
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Cheers, Robert… yes – all that Tw@tter-speak well and truly boils my water as you well know from my previous rantlets on the subject! That being said, there are always exceptions to the rule and my dearly departed mucker Ampersat could have strung a line of the dreaded @'s in a conversation with me and I'd still have smiled (albeit through gritted teeth) at his posts! Jonnie, also, likes the symbol way too much for the good of his own health – but at the end of the day he can be my wingman any time he wants, so he gets away with it also. ;o)
SO – to the widget. I totally agree that the snot-nosed underperformers will lurve the fact that they don't need (in their blinkered opinions…) to ask the caller any qualifying questions and get straight to the nitty-gritty of the call. I worry that it will have another effect. At present, when the phone trills it is a race to get to it – or at least it should be. If I read correctly, my translation of "…allow agents to receive pre-qualification information over the internet that will give them a head start about a phone lead…" reads, to me, "…gives Jimmy an early warning device as to which calls to pass on…".
Hmmm… looking at your analogy – technology that brings "poor performing agents up to the level of the better ones" – good thing or bad? Personally I can hear some ineffective Managers already breathing sighs of relief that Jimmy won't be needing his regular hauling in for a KPI Meeting thanks to this bright, shiny new toy – which means that survival of the fittest could be out of the window and the weak 'grow' due to artificial intervention rather than fighting at the trough. If what you want is battery-negs that couldn't survive out in the real world rather than free-range animals who get down and dirty to earn their meals – then THIS is the toy for you without a shadow of doubt! ;o)
Like you say – of "598 agents" who contributed to the RM survey seem NOT to have been the business owners.
Also, the usual, maddeningly frustrating tail-before-the-dog mentality is highlighted by the RM spokesman – "…which is what both consumers and agents say they prefer.” The idiotic striving for the USER experience to be of greater benefit than that of the CUSTOMER is where these shop window extensions have blown their own importance out of proportion – and should be the REAL reason why Agents want to move away from them, in my opinion at least.
There – rant over. I've turned t'interweb off and got out those good old Vizzi-cards – I need a sale by four 'o' clock latest! ;o)
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Call me a troll, but I am delighted to have coaxed that very relavent bit of 'UX' out of a practicising Agent. I could have said most of that but when a consultant states the obvious it tends to be ignored. Hopefully this is can be seen as the perfect example where service suppliers have their 1s and os back to front.
At best it is a fantastic example of Agents delegating their workload to the portals thinking that it helps to sell more property, it doesn't. Tools like this and the Zoopla valuation tools of which I am openly scathing simply increases the number of people who think they are doing the job of Estate Agency.
UX is analyst speak for market research, it is used to keep projects on track. UX is only any good if you know that Negs and Business owners have different agendas. In this case they asked the wrong group….. unless this is actually part of an RM contigency plan in the event of a sudden drop in revenues. Both RM and Zoopla have had fair warning of OTM and it really would have been amiss not to have a contigency strategy.
Does that sound a bit conspiracy theorist? possibly but if it prompts Agency owners to be mindful of what is, isn't and is possibly going on and that opens up the sort of dialogue that resulted in AM then it is well worth me looking like a tin foil hat wearing fool.
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And I guess I'm your tinfoil hat wearing wingman, Maverick! ;o)
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RM are getting worried
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I really don't think they are! – Every single agent I have spoken that will join OTM have or will drop Z. RM will not be worried for at least another 5 years in my opinion and by then will have generated new ways to replace lost income.
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When you get a lead from Zoopla and OTM they should also remind you just how much you are paying RM every month as well.
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One day (lets call it armegedon) Rightmove will ban estate agents and only charge vendors for their private listings…
It will treble their income.
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Of course it will.
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That's a lot of property to list at £200 a pop compared to the £1000's every month from agents……
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you don't believe RM could make Private Listings work and return the income the shareholders are used to do you?
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