Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 23rd October 2008
New “hybrid” property portal feeder launches
A new combined property portal feeder and CRM system launches today with the aim of taking on Probis, Proptrack and Property Software Solutions (owners of Property Portal Feeder).
eAgent already has agreements in place with seven portals (
Homesgofast,
Propertyfinder,
Propertyindex,
Primelocation,
Lead Galaxy,
The Move Channel and
Kyero) and plans to add more in the near future.
PropertyPortalFeeder, which launched in April this year, feeds to 16 overseas portals and has a significant head-start, but eAgent founder Matthew Lanham isn’t concerned. “We’ve got the technology and resources in place to catch up quickly. The main difference with our system is its simplicity. It’s not going to take two weeks for agents to figure out how to use it,” he says.
As part of the package, eAgent offers overseas agents a complete lead management and property upload system. Leads can be marked according to their quality and then each portal and marketing channel can be assessed to optimize marketing spend. Agents can also set reminders, create invoices and generate financial reports. Prices vary between £99 (1 user) and £199 per month (up to 10 users) with a 14-day free trial.
Pricing problems?
Stuart Sermon, Managing Director of Property Portal Feeder, says the main issue eAgent will face is price. “In this climate, agents are trying to save on cost as much as possible and at £199 per month [for the top package] it’s going to be hard to persuade agents to try the service,” he says.
Property Portal Feeder charges £39.99 per month for its basic product but charges higher fees for the extras offered by eAgent.
Probis, on the other hand, charges £83 per month per user for its CRM software but only feeds to a limited number of portals.
Proptrack is free if you refer leads to HiFX but again only feeds to a limited number of portals.
Do agents really need a CRM system?
With their business model, eAgent is betting that agents need and want to use customer relationship management (CRM) systems as well as just feeding to portals.
The theory is great. If used correctly, they can often save you enough time to reduce admin overhead or at the very least free up more time for your sales team to sell. They should also help you assess the best sources of leads so you can save on marketing budget.
In practice however, they can be difficult to use and it requires senior management discipline to get sales people to use them. The principle of “rubbish in, rubbish out” applies and you can end up just adding to overhead with very few practical benefits.
Simplicity, not price
The most successful technology is often the simplest to use. Witness the rise of the iPod and iPhone. CRM systems can save you money and are a great idea, especially when times are hard, as they can help you to allocate scarce budget more effectively. Test a good number of systems and get the people that use them (the sales team) involved early to get their buy-in. Price is a red herring. Go with the one that is easiest to use, you’ll save more money in the long run.
25% discount for Globaledge customers
eAgent is offering Globaledge customers a 25% discount on their rate-card price. Just mention Globaledge in the “where did you hear about us” box on the sign up form to get the discount. You can sign up
here.
Please note, we do not take commissions from third parties, this is an independent recommendation.
User Comments
Cant see many agents wanting to add such a high monthly expediture in the current climate. Most agents will have a management system in place and an xml feed that can be uploaded to most portals, so in my opinion probably even in the good times this would have few takers.
Anthony Duggan,
LivemedCoast Sl