Neil Ewen, Director at Central Estates explains why he chose Reapit for his busy London agency and how Reapit’s advanced reporting capabilities help him to understand the business more, giving him the confidence to open another branch. We also discuss the importance of their Customer Success Manager’s support, favourite apps and the value of the AppMarket.
Tell us about your agency
Central Estates was opened back in 1992, which is 30 years this year. We offer Sales, Lettings and Property Management. We have recently opened a second office in Leytonstone to expand our area, because all of our applicants that register are generally looking across the board in Walthamstow, Chingford, Leyton, Leytonstone and we just felt that if we’ve got the demand – based upon the information that we now get from Reapit – then we might as well service it, and having an office there made sense.
Why did you decide to move from your previous CRM provider?
It was a couple of things. One, it just didn’t evolve to keep up with the changes in our industry. And secondly, I couldn’t manipulate the data. The only thing we could do was draw it into an Excel spreadsheet, and then what we could do with it from there was near enough impossible and took too long.
What was the most important thing for you in choosing a new CRM?
It needed to do what the other CRM wasn’t doing, that was the start. I’ve changed CRM before, a long time ago, and I knew that it was a major task. So, I needed to know that if I was going to do it, I was 100% comfortable with what I was seeing and that came really from the presentation from Tara Sparrow – who I knew previously – and then also from speaking to people within the industry that use the system already.
Why did you choose Reapit?
There were a couple of things. I asked around and went to a number of trade shows and I’ve been in the industry for a long while, so I asked who was the best in the market and Reapit kept coming up. And then, strangely enough, I knew somebody that started working for Reapit, had a conversation and then it worked from there.
How was the onboarding process?
I’m not saying it was a task because it was always going to be a task. So, I remember when we used to work in a box with paper cards and then we implemented a CRM and obviously, that made a big change and it was great.
But as I mentioned, because it didn’t evolve, and then we were sitting there with 20-odd years’ worth of data that we had to work out how it was going to integrate into the new system, whilst operational. But to be honest with you Reapit delivered what they said they were going to do, and I think that just purely comes down to having a strong team, like any business, any good business has a strong team.
"..Reapit delivered what they said they were going to do, and I think that just purely comes down to having a strong team..."
What business challenges does Reapit help you solve?
Well, now I can manipulate the data, I can ask the question, and then when I’m asking the question – and I’ve got lots of them – I can start to understand how we can use the data in the best and most efficient way.
So, there’s that side of it, being able to market to our clients and keep in contact with our clients, but more so for me, it’s all about time. So, if I can save a moment of someone’s time, then they’ve got more time to deliver what we need. And I think Reapit does that purely because, as I mentioned, if I ask a question or speak to Michael (CSM) then he can tell me how to get that information.
I can then look at that information and decide how it’s best used. Also, because Reapit deals with a number of different estate agencies – not giving away anything from one to another – I can understand whether or not lots of people are asking for that, which in turn makes me think maybe I’m looking for the answers for the right sort of outcome.
What’s your favourite thing about Reapit?
Michael. Without the support of Michael, I wouldn’t be able to deliver what I need to. When you onboard, there are lots and lots of questions to be answered about where the information is going to go and also a number of the filters that the system uses to be able to digest the information.
You have to then use the system to understand what that all is. But without good support, I wouldn’t be able to understand, but now that I understand, we speak the same language and because we speak the same language, then it allows me then to get the most out of it that I need.
“Without the support of Michael (CSM), I wouldn’t be able to deliver what I need to.”
How would you describe the value that Reapit brings your agency?
In timesaving. I think that’s the main thing. I think that it’s allowed me to look and understand the business because there’s so much data now to understand. And even with new laws that have come in, like Anti-Money Laundering, there’s so much more that us estate agents have to do. It’s not just the classic thing of writing up a card, walking round to a property, showing them, and then leaving them with the solicitor and off they go.
Anyone in the industry will know there’s a lot more involved, and because there’s so much more involved, having a system that streamlines and saves you time, allows us just to focus on what we need to do, and ultimately, we’re business trying to make money, so we need to focus on that part. Otherwise, it might be a great business, but if it’s not making money, then it just doesn’t work.
“...having a system that streamlines and saves you time, allows us just to focus on what we need to do...”
Also, being able to review your data in a digestible format is key. So, when I’ve got certain companies that come in that we advertise through that let us know their valuation alert reminders are really powerful and they charge the earth for them. I can look at the data and understand actually, the value is in our business, in our website.
It allows me to consider how to negotiate in that moment and also how to consider our own website, and what we invest in that. It allows me then to make decisions, but that all comes back to the data. Without the data and being able to review the data, I couldn’t make those decisions. But that’s the same in all things in life though really isn’t it? Without knowing the rock you stand on, you can’t move forward really.
How does Reapit help support the growth of your business?
We have always dabbled to open up a second office. I think that Covid asked us all some unusual questions really on what we want generally, and a business replicates its owners and what they believe in and what they aspire to. Reapit gives me the ability to understand the business more and get the confidence that if I opened up a second unit, it would work in cohesion, and I think that’s what it’s done, so it’s delivered.
There have definitely been some challenges, as I think anyone opening a second office would tell you, especially after so many years, from our perspective. But, that’s what I do what to do for. I enjoy the challenges. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have opened a second office. But I think Reapit has definitely delivered what I need it to, over the two separate units. And also now I can see how it would work over 3, 4, 5, 6 units. It’s more me getting into a line with the reporting, just so I could manage it on a different level.
“Reapit gives me the ability to understand the business more and get the confidence that if I opened up a second unit, it would work in cohesion, and I think that's what it's done...”
It was key to me on a certain thing. So, first of all, I look very grassroots, so I’m looking at negotiators, what do they have to do? what do they have to deliver? Then I’m looking at our valuers, what do they need to do? And how do they deliver that? The negotiators could work from all offices, selling all properties so that kept it nice and simple. The lists for our staff to work on, could work in multiple offices or they could work for singular offices. So again, I had a decision to make, but Reapit had the options for me to choose.
And then what we’ve been evolving is the opportunities through the offices in both offices with potential clients because, what we’ve been doing very recently is understanding how we can gain opportunities from applicants that are registered across both offices because we’re now covering a larger area and having the workflows that will actually inform our valuers of a new potential client that’s registered to view another property.
With our old system, there was nothing like that. Even opening up the conversation is a success in my world because we know it’s there. Whereas before we didn’t know it was there, and I think that’s what the difference is.
What’s your favourite app?
I’d probably say the two that stand out the most to me, GeoDiary, it’s a simple, easy tool for you to see what’s happening in your diary on a day-to-day basis, whether it’s on your mobile, whether it’s on the PC, and simple things like it works out your ETA, you know if you’re running late, but you don’t know how late. You can click a couple of buttons, text the applicant, and the applicant knows you’re on the way. It doesn’t sound like much, but it does make a bit of a difference and it shows customer care.
Fixflo is another one. We use that, it’s a great tool, communicates in all different languages for our multicultural area and integrates with Reapit perfectly.
We also recently, in the last four or five months signed up with LeadPro. We find LeadPro does the basics right. So, if you’re running a number of offices and you’re training lots of staff and moving the staff all the time, you’re constantly saying the same thing, ask these questions to gain maximum opportunity. LeadPro just filters that down and makes sure it’s asked, and you can change the list of questions that are asked.
But really, where we’ve seen it succeed is potential with people that have got properties to sell and then we create them as potential vendors as well as applicants. Obviously, that’s a winner straight away. But also mortgages. Mortgages we’ve had great success with it. I think that it’s a system that we trialled, and the negotiators have become increasingly reliant on it, so I would say that it’s a very good tool. You just have to make sure the setup is right from the very beginning to get the most right.
How valuable do you find the AppMarket?
I keep my ear to the ground for all different things and I love evolving, if anything it could be my strength and also my weakness all at the same time. What is handy about having Reapit integrated with these systems is that I immediately know that it works with Reapit.
Secondly, I assume – and I’m sure that happens – that Reapit has considered the business because obviously, it’s a partnership for Reapit. So, they’ve been vouched for. It’s not necessarily whether or not it might work because you might take something on and it doesn’t work with your business. But if it doesn’t integrate with all your systems, it is a bigger headache. Because it’s a no go from the start and then you’ve got to change everything.
“What's handy about having Reapit integrated with these systems is that I immediately know that it works with Reapit.”
And as anyone would know, once you have your systems in place, you don’t necessarily want to start changing them because it takes a lot. It’s good to review them, but it’s not necessarily good to change them all the time. It can create confusion among the staff and everyone else. So we tend to consider things before we change, depending upon the amount of connection that that company would have with the business.
What advice would you give to anyone considering Reapit?
Any CRM change is a big change. Anyone that sits there and does it flippantly I would say would be a bit silly. I’ve changed some systems before and not had the support from the company when I was changing and I stopped using the system.
With Reapit, it’s not been about that. I’ve got the support, the system works and it also is evolving, more importantly. Obviously, with the new AppMarket you brought in there, that definitely helps. So I feel that Reapit constantly evolving allows me to evolve, and with the support that Reapit delivers with an experienced team, and also a team that works in the estate agency world. I mean, we’re talking about people who understand what we do on a day-to-day basis, and that would just make the transition easier, that’s all I would say.
“With Reapit... I've got the support, the system works and it's evolving, more importantly.”
