Adaptation is the key to survival. It sounds dramatic, but if housebuilders are to keep trading well in the upcoming months, they – like all customer-focussed businesses – will have to adapt to the changes in customer demand.
At Moneypenny, we’re hearing from developers that they’re experiencing more demand in terms of enquiries but they’re operating with fewer resources due to furloughed sales staff and social restrictions, which is proving to be a real challenge.
Tech adoption has been put on fast-forward in the property sector. Virtual viewings have long been talked about, but now with social restrictions in place and buyers more reluctant to travel, providing virtual site tours online or via video links has become commonplace for all types of property business.
Social distancing measures have meant site visits and viewings have to be carefully managed and a limit on the number of people turning up on site. Implementing an appointment booking process is a great way to achieve this, and can be managed with the support of Moneypenny’s specialist teams. These are highly-skilled receptionists who look after calls and live chats exactly as if based within your sales team.
Keeping up to date with progressions in the industry will also be important to recovery. Social distancing measures mean you will need to rethink your systems and structures. We’re hearing that some sites are offering key safes and issuing codes to viewers over the phone, to allow interested parties to show themselves around a property.
While health and safety measures will also mean big changes. Both customers and employees will need to be aware of new procedures prior to visiting your site. With precautions such as disinfecting keys and sanitising properties mandatory before each viewing.
Since the property market reopened after full lockdown, many developers experienced an influx of enquiries. A recent survey we conducted before the lockdown told us that 56% of businesses consider the phone as their most valuable channel.
And now, as buyers seek human reassurance more than ever before, that percentage will likely have increased. With this in mind, it’s important you have the people on hand to capture every call that comes through to your sales office so there are no missed customer conversations.
Just one of the reasons house builders lean on Moneypenny’s Telephone Answering Service for support is due to its flexibility. You can rely on our skilled receptionists to look after your calls as a full-time solution (available 24/7 if desired). Or on an overflow basis to fit in with your demand. Ideal for busy launch days or mid-week cover when the sales office is closed.
Working in our dedicated Property team, your very own Moneypenny Receptionist will answer calls in your site name, take bookings on your behalf, deliver important messages, and pre-qualify callers, giving site sales staff time to focus on visitors. As Joshua Allen, IT Manager for Cameron Homes, explains:
“Although we had a call group in place, they were getting busier with different tasks every day. On top of this, our sales offices are often only manned by one person, so whenever they were on another call or customers wanted to view the show home, calls were subsequently missed. We knew support was needed.
“Now, any unanswered calls route to our team at Moneypenny. Each lead is a potential purchaser and it’s vital that they don’t slip through the cracks simply because we’re not able to answer their call or get back to them soon enough. We know every opportunity is secured with Moneypenny.”
Adding Live Chat to a website is a no-brainer for housebuilders. The platform can generate six times more engagement with your website visitors, and 35% of chats result in a new customer lead. These are customers you cannot afford to be missing out on.
Live chat can be time-consuming to manage while staff have other duties and customers to attend to. Moneypenny’s Live Chat team makes it easy for you. Just as with our call answering service, we can manage your live chat either some or all of the time.
Given that a third of chats occur during evenings and weekends, having a team in place to chat with your website visitors while your office is closed or your team is busy, could see your enquiry level increase significantly. Danica Clements, Group Marketing Manager for Acorn Blue, explains:
“Working remotely across many development sites meant we struggled to answer online enquiries as they came in. Customers were often waiting until the next day for a response. Recognising the immediate benefits of live chat support, we contacted Moneypenny.
“Now online customers can chat to a real person, even if it’s out of hours, giving our website visitors reassurance their enquiry is being dealt with there and then. Speaking to a real person has made the world of difference to our customers. No matter where we’re working, we know that our enquiries are being dealt with perfectly.”
With safety front of mind right now, we’ve just developed our Self Screening Bot at Moneypenny, especially for the property sector. As an extra layer of safety, the bot provides peace of mind to developers, builders, employees and customers, assuring everyone that all parties are free of COVID-19 symptoms before contact on-site occurs.
Designed to be non-intrusive, the bot asks users a simple series of questions relating to their recent health. An email report is then sent through to you instantly, so you can decide whether or not it’s safe to progress with a visit.
As a seamless extension to your service, the bot integrates with your current online booking process or it can be sent via email depending on your preference. You’ll also gain access to a full audit trail along with analytics, within your own online portal which stores each response for your records.
To talk to one of our informative team about how we can help you with your communications needs, visit moneypenny.co.uk or call us today on 0333 009 8329.
12 Feb 2024
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