A PropTech firm says agencies adopting livestream viewing could win more instructions and save thousands of pounds, all the while abiding by Covid-safe protocols.
Joel Smith of Gavl - a livestream platform which allows agents to stage interactive open house viewing events - says the savings come through not requiring expensive staff and business time for physical viewings.
"Recruitment can be an expensive process which doesn't always pay-off. Livestream viewings significantly reduce agents' workload which means business owners don't have to expand their teams in an uncertain market if they don't want to. The money saved can be spent on looking after existing staff, improving customer service and the associated costs of adapting to the new normal” he says.
The additional instructions can come from an agency promoting live-streaming as a USP to prospective customers.
Matt Nicol, managing director of three-branch agency Nicol & Co, says that on average his agency now agrees tenancies after 1.1 viewings, down from 14 before adopting livestream technology.
"Despite all that 2020 threw at us, we have some good moments to reflect on and finding Gavl is certainly one of them" says Nicol. "While our portfolio has grown, we haven't needed to recruit because we've actually managed to cut the workload for the team."
Joel Smith says day-to-day efficiency also shoots up as the time previously spent travelling to viewings - many of which were pointless - can now be used more effectively by agents to progress transactions and generate new business.
"The majority of agents will be much happier not to keep travelling to viewings over and over again so there are opportunities to improve team morale and productivity" adds Smith.
A further bonus in the current Coronavirus period is extra safety.
For prospective buyers and tenants, a livestream viewing means they don't have to leave home and are not wasting their time travelling to a property that is not suitable for them.
"By organising just one livestream viewing appointment instead of 10 to 25 viewings, agents can allow all interested parties to view properties at the times which generally suit them most such as evenings and lunchtimes" Smith continues.
"This means they can view more properties and the chances of missing out on their desired property through not viewing it quickly enough are reduced as there is a level playing field for all applicants."
He adds that instead of just one or two people attending a physical viewing, an applicant's friends and family can attend a livestream event which can help them to make a decision.
For sellers and landlords, one of the main benefits is only having to open up their property for viewings once or twice rather than 10 to 20 times.
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One of my considerations when it comes to "prop tech" is whether I will still need it when the current restrictions from the pandemic are over. Gavl is one of those I will simply because it has made a big change to the way we do business. The headline might be we've halved our viewing to sale ratio spending time with just the serious buyers but actually the new "toy" for us is actually the valuation request option. All of our valuers now mention this option (and the request a private viewing option) Clearly viewers love it because the val and viewing requests now come flooding in during our live broadcasts.
Fully agree Nigel - the impact Gavl has had is huge, largely down not only to the tech' itself, but how well the teams have embraced it and delivered something that really is a game changer to the public as well. We have so many positive reviews about Gavl from everyone as a reason why they have chosen to do business with us, and pleased to see agents actually adopting methods that make a meaningful difference...! No way we will ever go back.
Our very first Gavl had 3 people watching it live, one of whom recently exchanged contracts on the house and we secured a very good fee and instant return on our investment of money and time. Many months later we are about to sell another property to someone we know has viewed the livestream 22 times after the live event. We are just about to start Gavl for our Lettings properties. It is seen as very proactive and modern to offer a live and virtual open house. We love it and there is also the fact that two members of staff (soon to be three) develop as individuals - initially nervous to get in front of the camera and now "Camera, Lights & Action" and they are off :)
Great product, we started using it in April 2020 and have not looked back. We are only showing properties to tenants whose offer has been accepted and who have passed referencing. No push back from prospective tenants and we will not be going back to 12-15 individual, physical viewings to let one property!
We started to use Gavl late in 2020 and it now saves us so much time when carrying out viewings, especially on lettings and auction properties. I did our first stream on a commercial building and we had offers before I got back to the office. It's safe during Covid and our staff and clients now love it because it's fast and convenient. We don't plan to go back to initial physical viewings after the lockdown.
It's been a revolutionary platform for Davidson Estates. We've cut down the amount of viewings and doubled revenue as our process is now more streamlined. There are no time wasters and 95% of applicants proceed after an in-person viewing. Each lettings applicant is also qualified including a R2R check before viewing in-person and for sales, we obtain proof of funds and their decision in principle before an in-person viewing. Before Gavl, when we had loads of viewings in the diary, we didn't really know what to expect week by week; now when a viewing is in the diary, it means a deal has been done.
Brilliant during the Pandemic as well. All parties appreciate the safety aspect to this and reducing human contact as much as possible.
Great product and highly recommend all agencies to get on board.
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