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Outsource your property viewings to reduce costs and boost your bottom line

The last 12 months have been difficult for estate agents. In the UK, the rate of homeownership is decreasing, and, at the same time, the average age at which people become owner-occupiers is rising. For agents, the market has become fiercely competitive, and with budgets and team sizes slashed, they are increasingly expected to do more with less.

But, regardless of how short agents are of time, mundane and unproductive tasks still have to happen – including showing a plethora of viewers around your properties. And, despite the rise of virtual tours, this means leaving the office.

However, even the most talented salesperson isn’t going to talk a prospective buyer into making an offer if they’ve decided the home isn’t for them. And that’s before you even start to think about second/third/fourth viewings, out-of-hours viewings and decorator/survey visits. So, all too often, agent time is wasted as they are taken away from the more lucrative aspects of estate agency life for a significant part of the working week.

Of course, you could always appoint more junior members of your team to look after viewings while you concentrate on generating new business and closing sales. And indeed, many agents are having to do just that. But, while this might save your valuable time, this approach can be devastating for your business. Buying a property is one of the most significant purchases most of us will ever make, so trusting this to an inexperienced pair of hands (however willing they may be) is a bad idea. In the worst cases, the result is likely to be fewer sales and even long-term damage to your reputation.

What’s more, employing a junior to manage viewings isn’t even the best use of your budget. Especially as, when you take training, sick pay, holiday cover, pension contributions, and National Insurance into consideration, the costs soon mount up.

But there is a better way, and today, shrewd agents are outsourcing their property viewings in a bid to save time and increase costs.

More lucrative than employing inexperienced staff to perform these tasks, outsourcing helps to increase the chances of a sale, with professional, experienced viewers on hand to remove the burden seven days a week. So, outsourcing your property viewings makes financial sense while protecting your reputation. At the same time, by hiring an expert to look after your viewings, you will free up valuable estate agent time. And that can only be a good thing.
But the benefits don’t end there. Today's buyers expect to be able to view properties at a time that suits them. And agents can see significant increases in turnover by offering viewings in the evenings and at weekends. But this can mean longer hours and an even busier workload. Not to mention the additional costs involved with employing people to work these extra hours.

For smaller agents, this increase in viewing demand is proving incredibly difficult to meet. But not keeping up with shifting consumer expectations isn’t an option if you want to survive long-term. Here again, outsourced property viewings can help; by allowing agents to meet evolving consumer needs while keeping spend to a minimum, with no need to commit to regular, ongoing employment costs.

An established property marketing business, at Houseviz we have hundreds of professional, viewing assistants across the UK; ready to save you money, time, effort and energy. All while boosting your bottom line. Ultimately, by allowing you to keep up with current and emerging property marketing best-practices, in an increasingly competitive and challenging marketplace we help to ensure your long-term survival.