Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly emerged as a transformative force across various industries, and the property industry in the UK is no exception. There is no doubt that the property business is a people business, and rather than trying to replace the human element, AI can be a tool that helps agents to understand and process far more data than ever before. This means the potential to vastly improve aspects such as marketing, advertising, and the overall customer experience, to name a few.
According to Richard Combellack, Chief Commercial Officer at nurtur.group, the key benefit of AI for estate agents is the ability to streamline operational processes and handle repetitive tasks so that agents have more time to spend on the aspects of their jobs that a machine can’t do, such as build relationships with customers. “Estate agencies are people-driven businesses, and AI complements this by freeing up valuable time for property professionals to focus on strategic and value-added activities,” he adds.
Combellack says that there are numerous ways in which AI can be integrated into the property sector to help agents, such as the property valuation process. AI algorithms analyse vast amounts of data, including historical property prices, market trends, and neighbourhood information, to provide accurate and up-to-date property valuations. This technology streamlines the valuation process, minimises human error, and ensures fair and competitive pricing.
He notes that there is also AI’s predictive capabilities, which extend to market trends, enabling agents to make data-driven decisions. By analysing historical and current property data along with external factors like economic indicators and demographic data, AI can forecast future market trends accurately. This eliminates the need for gut instinct and allows estate agents to make highly accurate business decisions. “There are platforms that use data to predict a homeowner’s propensity to move, insight which can help an agent be more targeted with regard to their marketing and lead conversation strategy,” Combellack comments.
Personalising the customer journey is another way that AI can take an agent’s business to the next level. Natural language processing and chatbots such as Yomdel operate 24/7 and offer immediate assistance, engaging with website visitors in real-time, answering inquiries, scheduling viewings, and providing essential information. This leads to improved customer satisfaction and engagement, ultimately increasing the chances of conversions.
“Employing a live chat bot reduces the need for round-the-clock human customer support, saving operational costs for property businesses. Yomdel’s chatbot also captures and qualifies leads efficiently, ensuring that agents focus their efforts on genuinely interested prospects. The data collected by the chatbot will also provide the agent with valuable insight into customer behaviour and preferences, allowing property businesses to make informed decisions and tailor their services accordingly,” Combellack adds.
He notes that BriefYourMarket, another innovative player in the UK property industry, has leveraged AI within its BuildYourMarket platform, an integrated prospecting solution that maps on-market data to an agent database, identifying secondary sales opportunities for agents. BuildYourMarket presents every active listing from one dashboard, with advanced data views for fall-throughs and withdrawn properties allowing agents to build filters for targeted marketing.
Digital marketing and lead generation specialists such as Starberry, have been using AI as an integral part of their digital marketing campaigns, whether it be in assisting with research, helping with content development across blogs, market research, area guides, social media posts, meta data in SEO, and video storyboarding, just to name a few.
He adds that AI is no longer a pipe dream of the future but rather an element that is currently integrating into the sector. “The UK property industry is undergoing a profound transformation through the integration of AI technologies. AI innovations can enhance customer interactions, improve marketing efficiency, and provide valuable data insights. As AI continues to evolve, the property industry in the UK will undoubtedly benefit from increased efficiency, reduced costs, and improved customer experiences, making it an exciting time for both businesses and consumers in the sector. Estate agents that embrace AI can gain a significant competitive advantage by streamlining operations, making data-driven decisions, and delivering personalised customer experiences.
