Agents - you think on-boarding should be easier, a survey claims

A survey of 100 agents commissioned by industry supplier Landmark suggests most believe the current onboarding process is ripe for simplification. 

Some 68 said the current process is too slow, while 58 say it’s prone to human error and 56 claim it’s too cumbersome.

The findings come in a new state-of-the-industry report which looks back at the impact of the pandemic, and forward to what activities should be improved via technology or different processes.

Just over half the agents say they had a difficult financial year as a result of the pandemic, staffing issues have been a challenge for 61 per cent, while 49 per cent say there has been a lack of PropTech investment.

However, the flurry of home-working means 78 per cent say they are now more appreciative of the importance of software. 

The report then closely examines the future of the estate agency profession in the near to mid-term and asks agents about concerns between now and 2025. 

For example, 85 of the 100 agents believe that it is likely that more administrative tasks will be automated within the next four years, suggesting agents can instead concentrate on more revenue-generating activities.

Ben Robinson, managing director of Landmark Estate Agency Services, says: “To capture the current sentiment in the estate agency industry, we commissioned an independent market research project, which interviewed 100 senior estate agents and three key areas of management concern really came through: people, proptech and processes. 

“The last 18 months have really been a challenging time, what with managing resource amidst difficult conditions such as furlough, maintaining compliance and all while working through significant peaks. 

“I believe this has sharpened agents’ focus on where real improvements can now be made  – within the onboarding process an increased use of automation to replace many manual tasks - such as ownership and AML checks – come out as particularly strong themes.”

You can access the survey findings here.