Andy Soloman

Humans vs machines: it’s a debate that rages across almost every sector. Who is more efficient, more empathetic, more reliable?

As an estate agent, you’d like to capture as much lead information as possible, as early in the process as feasible - but we all know asking too many questions can be off-putting for potential buyers and vendors.

As an estate agency, it’s likely that a vast majority of your budget is allocated to your marketing. From the cash you splash on your website, the fees leveraged by portals like Rightmove and Zoopla – lead acquisition is the foundation of a good estate agency business.

With Covid restrictions slowly easing, stamp duty holidays coming to an end and the property market looking a little more stable, now is the time to consider what to take forward from the past twelve months to continue to grow your estate agency.

One of the biggest learnings, for example, may be the fundamental changes to how customers interact with your business.

Changes that were perhaps initially borne out of necessity can now be continued and built upon to enhance lead generation and business reputation far into the future.

Online services and technology are playing an increasingly crucial role in customer experience and complaint resolution, and redress schemes recognise the need to find new and innovative digital solutions for resolving both initial enquiries and more complex disputes.

Consumer expectations are now at an all-time high, and people are increasingly intolerant of poor customer experiences, meaning if they do not get what they need quickly they leave, or worse, possibly share their poor experience via networks and social channels.

At this time it is more important than ever that we all work together, for together we are stronger, and at Yomdel the success of our clients is our success as well. Since the coronavirus crisis hit us, Yomdel has been pulling out all the stops to ensure we are able to continue to deliver our award-winning 24/7 managed live chat service. I'm delighted  to say the service is secure, we continue to operate with 100% uptime, and I know we are a lifeline for our partners and clients. Our fabulous team is doing a fabulous job.

Live chat teams can be used to relieve overwhelmed customer services in the face of  a deluge of telephone and email enquiries.

A new report from Justice, the influential all-party law reform and human rights organisation working to strengthen the justice system, has proposed a ‘bold, ambitious’ model to resolve housing disputes and suggested that live chat is an important channel for customer contact.

The travel industry is no stranger to crisis management, and risks can take many forms. Be it earthquakes or a devastating tsunami, terrorism, ash plumes from volcanoes, pandemics, travel companies going bust or political upheaval.