We are experiencing the rise of online estate agents promising us to sell our homes at a fraction of the cost of high street branches.  As a result of this, one in five high street estate agents are at risk of going out of business amid a growth in online companies, according to figures. High street estate agents are under increasing pressure to keep costs low and deliver outstanding customer service to stay competitive.  Hosted telephony (or VOIP) is a simple way to help to do this – a quick win.

A recent report by accountancy firm Moore Stephens found that one in five estate agents are now at risk of going bust.  Purple Bricks is now the third biggest estate agents in the UK having benefited from exponential growth since its launch four years ago.

Aside from the obvious cost savings, one of the advantages of opting for an online estate agent is they offer a 24/7 service.   Sellers can manage their sales as and when they want to which suits buyers who often work full time and search for properties in the evening.

How Hosted Telephony (VOIP) can help

By making a change as simple as moving to a hosted phone system (VOIP), high street estate agents can experience huge benefits, from costs savings to essentially, improving customer service:

• Never miss a call again – Each and every call received is potentially extremely valuable in the property market. If an agent is out on a viewing, mobile twinning means that calls to a desk phone will also ring on a mobile, so they are always contactable by the customer.  Setting up auto attendants means that customers will be routed through to the best person to speak to.  Not only this but the hunt group feature means that calls can bounce from one agent to the next, or even seamlessly between different branches.  A superb customer experience.
• Driving efficiencies – Hosted telephony comes with an extensive range of call handling and management features that are operated via an easy to use web interface. Use these metrics to find out when the busiest time of your day is.  You may miss a number of calls after 6pm, in which case you could introduce shift patterns to cover the demand.
• Improving flexibility – One number anywhere means your staff can work from home and present the office phone number when calling customers. You don’t need to have people in the office after 8pm to meet customer demands, simply have staff on stand by at home. Using the management tools and features such as call recording means you will always be able to measure staff productivity, even remotely.
• Reducing cost – We understand high street estate agents are facing financial pressure from their online competitors. Hosted telephony can significantly reduce your monthly telephone bills, in many cases up to 30%.  Plus with no capital expenditure, free installation, free maintenance and free calls, the monthly savings really do add up.

Don’t just take our word for it though, we recently had great feedback from local estate agents James Du Pavey:

“We switched to VOIP with Eze Talk as they offered great value for money and excellent communication and support which was important to us. Throughout the easy process, Zoe kept us in the loop and was always on hand to help. The hosted system was delivered on time as promised. We intend to switch our other sites to Eze Talk as soon as possible. We wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them.”

Talk to us today.