Prior to lockdown restrictions coming into place, Midlands estate agency Centrick filmed 140 virtual viewings.
Prior to lockdown restrictions coming into place, Midlands estate agency Centrick filmed 140 virtual viewings, which it has since edited and uploaded.
This digital approach aims to continue engaging with prospects and generating a steady number of leads, despite the necessity for in-person viewings to cease.
The agency has also implemented a contactless handover process, so that tenants can sign contracts digitally and collect keys without having to interact face-to-face during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Centrick reported that despite a large proportion of the market being on hold, it has continued to generate rental property leads, including 200 over Easter weekend alone.
The agency has also continued to generate vendor and landlord leads through its instant online valuation tool, ValPal.
Andy Butts, group sales and lettings director at Centrick, said: "Despite lockdown restrictions prohibiting people from moving home unless it's absolutely essential, we are still seeing leads pour in thanks to the marketing campaigns we have in place.
"By providing services which allow consumers to engage with us while following social distancing rules – such as virtual viewings and instant online valuations – we have been able to find opportunities and keep the business ticking over.
"Our team has been hugely creative and adaptable during this challenging period in which the property industry has had to undertake an unprecedented shift.
“We've developed our business model accordingly and believe new ways of operating in the future are already coming to the fore.”
Craig Vile, director of The ValPal Network, added: "Centrick is a model agency.
“It is adapting to a challenging market and still managing to interact with consumers while adhering to the government's lockdown rules.
"The agency's results show that the market is still active and demonstrate why committing to digital marketing during this tricky period can be hugely beneficial.
"Encouraging consumers to carry out instant online valuations of their properties can help agents to keep consumers engaged in the moving process now and fill their sales funnel so they can hit the ground running when the market becomes more active in the coming months.”
