Technology is the new fighting ground for estate agency - Blog

Technology is the new fighting ground for estate agency

Technology is the new fighting ground for estate agency

CEO Comments Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals 20th July 2023

In the latest episode of The Home Stretch Podcast, Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals is joined by Richard Combellack, Chief Commercial Officer at nurtur.group, to discuss the importance of technology, evolution and innovation in the property sector. 

 

 

Over the past few years nurtur.group has acquired four technology businesses that feed into what the group calls an ‘eco-system’, which provides agents with a holistic approach to estate agency, with all of their proptech requirements under one umbrella. Combellack explains that at its core, the eco-system is a sales funnel designed to capture leads from all lead sources.  “At the top of the funnel we have businesses such as Starberry and The Property Jungle that are focused on generating and capturing leads through various activities such as social media advertising, pay-per-click advertising, websites, and portal lead capture. These leads are then filtered into the next layer of the funnel, where they are qualified through the LeadPro platform. From here the lead will either result in a phone call directly with an agent or it will be filtered into a nurture journey through BriefYourMarket, developing the lead until converted,” he adds. 

 

Combellack says that at the bottom of the funnel there are aspects such as Yomdel, a chatbot that mans the chat coming from sources such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and live chat on the agent’s websites. Yomdel is able to book appointments in agents’ diaries from those sources to ensure that no lead is missed. “The nurtur.group eco-system covers the entire sales funnel of an agent – lead capture, lead qualification, lead nurture and conversation. Off to the side of the funnel, we also provide other services such as mystery shopping and market research with KnowYourMarket, so we are constantly able to reassess the success of process and adjust if needed to ensure optimum results,” he comments.

 

He explains that the theory behind the methodology is simplification for agents, cutting down the number of toolsets required to do their job effectively and efficiently. “While there are other proptech suppliers in the market the unique aspect about the nurtur.group eco-system is the integration between the various businesses and a joining up the dots so to speak. All of the various elements work together to ensure a lead flows through the process as effortlessly as possible. It also allows us to determine the cost of each lead as well as the return on investment the agent is getting,” says Combellack. 

 

Speaking about the feedback he has received regarding the nurtur.group eco-system, McKenzie says that many agents see this as the ‘holy grail’. “Many within the sector have been waiting for one system that does it all, rather than having various accounts and systems to deal with each aspect of the business. Also, being able to determine the ROI and cost of each lead gives agents the information they need to make informed business decisions with regard to lead generation spend,” he adds.

 

McKenzie and Combellack go on to discuss several other aspects around the technology and digital services within nurtur.group and how agents can integrate them into their businesses to enhance their lead generation and stay ahead of their competition on the proptech playing field. 

 

To listen to the conversation, visit The Home Stretch podcast

 

Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals

Iain McKenzie is the CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals and is responsible for the direction and management of the brand plus offering support to the network of over 800 Guild Members. Iain is a highly established estate agent and business leader, with over 30 years of industry experience and a strong entrepreneurial background. He has led and managed teams to success, as a business owner, Franchise Director and MD for a large corporation. Iain has 30 years’ agency experience starting within the industry at 17 on a youth training scheme in Devon. He quickly progressed through the ranks, and at 26 he became a Regional Manager. Three years later, he set up an independent estate agency, called Complete Property Services, and became a Member of The Guild of Property Professionals. This was his first encounter with The Guild and was extremely impressed with the services that were offered. In 2011, he joined a large corporate as Managing Director, which grew year-on-year.

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