Agents of Digitalisation and Sustainability

(Image: PropNex Realty)

Mar 2023 - 3 min read

Real estate agencies have always been in the business of connecting people with their dream homes. Now, one estate agent (EA) has enhanced its real estate salespersons’ (RES) connection with their clients, and also upheld its pledge to the sustainability drive in the process.

In March 2023, PropNex Realty introduced a Virtual Contact File (or a vCard) in the form of a QR code on its RESs’ EA card, in line with its support for the Singapore Green Plan 2030. This new EA card will serve as both a form of identification verification and a business card for its RESs, which reduces the need to produce multiple and different cards for each purpose.

QR codes, or Quick Response codes, have been in existence for a while, but they only became ubiquitous in recent years due to the increased need for contactless transactions and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. The QR code has proven to be such a seamless means to transverse between the digital and physical domains that it is now in our everyday lives, with use cases that extend beyond the pandemic.

(Image: PropNex Realty)

The addition of a QR code on the PropNex EA card is a convenient way of recording and storing contact information, as clients and other contacts can save a PropNex RES’s business information on their phones without having to manually input it like they would with a traditional business card.

When a client scans the QR code, he is taken to a digital business card of the RES, where the contact information would be auto-populated and can be saved directly to his phone.

At the same time, clients are assured that the contact information is up-to-date, unlike traditional business cards which had to be reprinted whenever any information is changed. PropNex estimates that this move will eliminate the need for the annual printing of around 5 million business cards by 2024.

“PropNex has managed to streamline their operations, further their digitialisation efforts, and push for sustainable development in the industry, all through a simple EA card. What used to be just a requirement when conducting estate agency work has now become an improved and innovative way of connecting with their clients. This is indeed a laudable move which is aligned with Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative,” said Mr Soh Cheng Hwee, Director, Corporate Communications and Public Outreach, Council for Estate Agencies.

Information accurate as at 30 March 2023