Page 15 - Future Demands Jan 2021

FUTURE DEMANDS
DAVID PLUMTREE
GROUP CEO (ESTATE AGENCY) – CONNELLS ESTATE AGENCY IN 2021
Taking the lessons from 2020
The UK housing market is more accustomed than most at responding and adapting to rapidly changing market conditions.
Whilst we have never seen a year like 2020, the experience gained in recent years certainly helped the best estate agents navigate their businesses and safeguard their clients’ and customers’ interests through the uncharted COVID-19 waters of 2020.
In a year that has seen technology solutions enable remote working and online customer interactions, it would be easy to assume that 2021 will be driven by technology, and potentially the moment ‘prop-tech’ finally takes hold and delivers on its aspirations to revolutionise estate agency forever.
However, as we enter 2021, it really is a case that – whilst everything has changed, nothing has.
Yes, there is no doubt that we will continue to see a wider range of technology supporting service delivery, and our use of robotic processing is already helping to improve administrative processing. However, this will continue to be an evolutionary process, that is focussed on supporting the services our people deliver to our customers through our branch network in person, over the phone and online, rather than replacing them.
During the year, much was made of the role that virtual viewings would play in enabling prospective purchasers to find their next property, whilst allowing agents to be more productive and handle more viewings.
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