Tech of a Life Edition 4: Into the Ecosystem

Our Co-Founder, Ben Ridgway, speaks to Partner Agents every day and understands how difficult it can be to take a view to the future, instead of focusing on the day to day. In the latest edition of Tech of a Life, Ben shares iamproperty’s vision for the future and ambitions to lead the market with an integrated ecosystem of solutions where agents can manage their whole day – everything under one roof, one central login, one partner relationship.

An exciting future for Estate Agents

“We’ve spent the last two years collaborating with our Partners Agents and industry leaders to really understand what matters to them when it comes to technology solutions and working with them to shape the future.

“We asked Estate Agents about their biggest frustrations and what they really want from solution providers. Nearing the top of the list of frustrations is having to deal with fragmented solutions that only tackle part of the transaction process.

“Agents are finding themselves with multiple disconnected systems that fail to give them that single view of their clients and business that they’re looking for; coupled with the complexity of managing lots of suppliers and the time burden of using more than one system to do a job.

“It’s this insight that has led us to the next phase in our innovation journey and the launch of our ecosystem vision. It’s ambitious and unique, and we’re confident this will deliver what agents are looking for and add value to their businesses. We’re excited to share our plans as we once again look to pioneer new solutions and ways of working and continue to transform the home moving process.”

What agents want – a single pane of glass

“Agents share their frustration at not having a “single pane of glass” available, and the inefficiencies of conducting their work via fragmented solutions. Any experience which automated manual tasks was valued, but ultimately, they want technology to give them choice and control and to work in the background, not to replace their roles within the transaction. They want it to drive and deliver better communication (which their clients expect) through sophisticated automations and give them a single view of their clients, their day and their business without having to log into multiple systems. The timeline to completion, with duplicate information and systems not able to interact with one another, is another huge frustration. Agents want a seamless experience for themselves and their clients that matches the experiences consumers are accustomed from other service providers.”

Consumers – what’s changed?

“Of course agents want quicker transactions and more time to spend on the things that make a difference to their role and their business, but most importantly they want to deliver a great service for their clients who have a whole new set of expectations. During the interviews agents noted that consumers are more ‘emotionally involved’ in the process than ever before and that they expect constant communication throughout the transaction, which is adding to the admin burden. We also understand that consumers place customer service and ease of experience high on their list of priorities with all brands, not just Estate Agents.

“Agents also discussed the increasing consumer frustrations around the process and communication. This echoed the consumer research we carried out earlier in 2023 around timescales and technology solutions, where consumers noted their growing frustration surrounding duplicate information, lack of communication and time to complete.

“They agreed that change was needed and that they would happily pay higher fees to speed up the process and to access a platform that would keep them updated at every stage of the transaction. Consumers and agents are ready for a quicker and more modern approach to buying and selling houses.”

Introducing the iamproperty ecosystem

“Our vision for the iamproperty ecosystem is to bring about the change needed to solve agent and consumer frustrations now, but also pave the way for continuous innovation that will create more opportunity and solve market challenges in the future.

“For us, innovation is about so much more than a platform or a service. It’s about empowering our Partners Agents with a win-win relationship that makes a real difference to their business. The iamproperty ecosystem has been designed to set agents up for success, with one solution and one partner relationship that will prioritise innovation and development so that they are always at the forefront of change.

“Our ecosystem will give agents a central intuitive system that works flexibly around their business to give them a single view of their clients, bring more speed and security to every transaction and support efficient processes that make them money, not cost them money.

“We put people at the heart of technology and that’s what sets us apart, as not everything can be delivered through tech. Service needs to be wrapped around great technology to get the most from it.”

What core benefits will the ecosystem deliver for our industry?

“There are a number of key benefits that the iamproperty ecosystem will provide for agents including:

• Access to a central intuitive system that shows a single view of an agent’s clients and business
• More speed and security for every transaction to benefit agents and consumers
• A modern system that aligns the home buying and selling process with consumer wants and demands

“The future is exciting and we will continue to work with Estate Agents to shape the solutions they require and how we as an industry embrace technology together.”

You can real the full article here: https://iamproperty.com/tech-of-a-life/tech-of-a-life-edition-4/