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The launch of WhatsApp Business has brought messaging to millions of businesses around the world. One of the industries expected to benefit from this trend is the property industry.

WhatsApp Business Solution for Estate Agents

 

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The messaging apps we all use everyday to chat with family and friends are becoming places of business. The main reason? Convenience!

When it comes to the property industry, that convenience translates into personalised services, immediate answers and up-to-date information…. all that delivered by a channel where the user feels at home, no matter how unfamiliar their environment.

If as a business you are wary about using WhatApp to communicate with your prospects and customers, you need to think again. As a means of communication, this messaging app has grown faster than anything we have ever see before (including the telephone).

Here are some vital stats:

  • 1.60 billion monthly active users
  • 3 million companies using WhatsApp Business
  • 23 average daily visits per user on WhatsApp

WhatsApp has set completely new standards. Not only is the average message sent via the messenger read after only three minutes, but its open rate of over 90 percent is also unbeatable. By comparison, the average email is only read after five to six hours — if at all — because the average email open rate is just 21 percent. Neither does email radiate that personal touch which is so crucial in the residential estate agency market. Phone calls, while personal, can be inconvenient and quite disruptive.

What’s more, WhatsApp is extremely popular across all age groups, from millennials to 60+ seniors, and it is the communication channel of choice throughout the UK.

Use cases for the WhatsApp Business Solution for Estate Agents

Below are some practical examples of the use of WhatsApp Business for estate agents:

#1. WhatsApp chatbot to respond to all of your leads 24/7.

For our Syndeo customers who already have our Facebook Messenger and website chatbot, why bother with WhatsApp? Isn’t the Facebook Messenger and native website chatbot just as effective?

Whilst, website chatbots can be quite handy, they require your leads and customers to go through the trouble of actually visiting your website. While it can be very effective as a first touchpoint, you are unlikely to talk to your leads again once they have actually left your website.

Having a Facebook Messenger chatbot provides greater freedom than having a website bot. However, since the messenger app is tied to personal profiles, many are unwilling to use this platform.

Using the Syndeo WhatsApp Solution for property dealings can help you harvest the ultimate potential of automated digital assistants. Syndeo can build a WhatsApp chatbot that can answer any questions at any time, anywhere. Leads don’t need to download any new apps, visit a website or write a clunky email to ask one simple question. Plus, writing to a specific phone number feels far more personal than writing to a business Facebook page.

All of the above not only improve customer experience but also presents considerable cost-saving opportunities.

The variety of tasks you can “delegate” to such a bot, include the following:

  • Property Queries
  • Schedule Viewings
  • Repair Reporting
  • Mortgage Advice

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#2. Confirm Viewings

Sometimes prospects schedule viewings in advance and forget about it. Other times something unexpected happens and they forget to cancel…

To avoid wasting your time, WhatsApp for Business enables you to send proactive messages to remind prospective buyers/tenants about their viewing.

Receiving such a reminder on mobile, via an app they use frequently and notifications from which are likely to be turned on, significantly increases your chances that the reminder will be read. Furthermore, since replying is so fast and simple, it’s also more likely they will let you know if they cannot come.

#3. Customer Engagement

Sometimes potential customers aren’t ready to engage your services just yet… However, you shouldn’t discard these leads. After all, they have shown interest in your agency.

You can use WhatsApp to keep in touch, send regular updates about the local market or keep their interest alive with other content. This is your opportunity to be creative and reengage your prospects in a more instant and personable way that social media marketing campaigns could ever afford you.

“Hi Kate, we valued your house a few months ago. The market is really starting to pick up again and we currently have a high level of demand from buyers for properties in your area. Now could be a good time to put your house on the market. Please let us know if you would like to discuss.”

#4. Relationship Management

Relationship management proves itself to be quite essential as it helps businesses develop meaningful connections necessary for retention and loyalty.

Using WhatsApp to help manage relationships allows you to provide personalised service at scale. Furthermore, it ensures prospects and customers feel a constant ‘presence’ on a trusting channel.

For instance, once a house is agreed for sale you can use WhatsApp to keep the seller and the buyer up-to-date and engaged on all aspect of the sale and purchase process.

It could also be used as a post-viewing engagement tool. The role of marketing a property doesn’t end once a viewing has been completed. If an agent has held an open viewing on a property you can easily retain close engagement with all those viewers in a personal, convenient and effective manner.

“Hi John, thank you for coming along to the open viewing of 10 Park Avenue yesterday evening. What are your thoughts on the property? If you are interested, we are more than happy to discuss the next steps. Please let us know”

#5. Updates & Notifications

WhatsApp is the perfect app to send notifications. You can use messages to simply inform prospects and customer about important matters.

“Hi Anna, many thanks for submitting your application form to lease 10 High Street. We will let you know by the end of next week whether your application was successful or not. We will be in touch again then”.
Hi Oliver, we are delighted to let know that we have received an opening offer of £200,000 on your property. The agent will give you a call before the end of the day to discuss

#6. Feedback Collection

It’s no secret that collecting feedback is the best way to ensure the satisfaction of your customers as well as identify the points of difficulty. However, not many people take time to complete surveys as they can be quite a drag. Hence, if you want anyone to care, your survey should make it as easy as possible on its subjects.

Hello Sarah, we are delighted to have completed the sale of your house and we hope that you are settling well into your new property. We care about your experience with us and would like you to complete a quick WhatApp Feedback survey regarding the overall service you had from us. Your answers will remain confidential and they will only be used in findings ways to improve our estate agency service in the future.
We would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to answer the questions and be as honest as possible.
Are you ready?”

Given Syndeo’s ability to create chatbots, you can easily carry out the survey via WhatsApp. The bot can collect the responses as part of a natural chat and expedite them to a designated database. Hence, your customer can answer the survey anywhere, anytime, while waiting for a bus or having a coffee.

#7. Payment Reminders

Another great way to use WhatsApp for Business is automating any process while maintaining a human touch. That includes payment reminders.

People easily forget or lose track of what needs to be paid. With WhatsApp you can send friendly payment reminders.

“Hi Patrick, just a reminder that your payment of £1,000 is due tomorrow. If you have any issues, please do not hesitate to get in touch!”

There is no need for pestering calls. You will not have to waste your time wondering whether the customer received or read the email.

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Why Syndeo?

Syndeo are here to help by offering intuitive, no-code solutions to communicating with your prospects and customers through WhatsApp Business API. With the Syndeo WhatsApp Business solution, you will be able to:

  • Create a WhatsApp Property Chatbot
  • Launch and send WhatsApp campaigns to selected audiences using a user-friendly no-code dashboard
  • Integrates with your CRM to ensure your property management workflow is seamless and efficient
  • Manage (or let multiple staff members manage) all ongoing chats from a centralised dashboard

The Syndeo solution empowers your business as well as agents and staff within the business. Designated staff are free to direct and manage their own communications when necessary in person.

Whether you plan to use WhatsApp to reinvent your communication processes or leverage the app as part of the property process itself, Syndeo allows you to stay in control and manage all of the processes at scale.

You don’t have to be a huge online estate agency to be able to offer extra value through messaging. Any estate agency can find a way to use WhatsApp to make a difference to both customer engagement and overall experience.

Summary of Benefits for Estate Agents

  • Achieve 90% read rate on all delivered messages.
  • Drive down operational costs with WhatsApp thanks to lower costs when compared with phone calls.
  • Achieve 2x higher confirmation rate compared to phone calls and emails because your estate agency provides a channel that is consistently used.
  • GDPR compliance with end-to-encryption.
  • Modernise experiences by contacting prospects and customers in a faster and more efficient way.

What’s Next?

Well, that is up to you. There is little doubt about the customer communication advantages entailed in using WhatsApp Business in the property industry. You are able to reach your customers and prospects anytime, anywhere. With WhatsApp, you can be there whether they have an iPhone or Android phone or are using a desktop.

Besides the familiarity and convenience, WhatsApp Business integration allows you to nurture personal relationships.

If you wish to learn more about the Syndeo WhatsApp Business Solution for Estate Agents please get in touch.

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