Empowering the real estate agency industry by going digital
(Image: Real Estate Doc Pte Ltd)
Jun 2023 - 3 min read
“We were looking for solutions to digitalise our work process and operations,” said Ms Audrey Lim, Key Executive Officer (KEO) of Element Properties, as she shared her motivation behind implementing digital solutions for her estate agent (EA). “I understand the difficulties and challenges of small EAs. We have limited resources and having a good solution for operations is very important.”
All businesses stand to benefit from automating and digitalising their processes. Digital solutions help streamline operations, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately improve the overall performance of the business. For small EAs, this is especially important, as the increased productivity and cost savings can help them stay competitive in an increasingly digital world.
Element Properties is one of many small EAs which implemented Redoc, with funding support under the SMEs Go Digital programme. Redoc, a pre-approved, sector-specific digital solution for the real estate agency industry provided by Real Estate Doc Pte Ltd, is a smart cloud-based document management platform. With Redoc, Ms Lim is able to manage property data, client information, contracts, and invoices with ease and convenience.
“It ticks all the boxes,” said Ms Penny Chia, KEO of Worldbiz Realty, another EA which had adopted the Redoc solution. “Redoc provides training, is responsive to all our questions and addressed all follow-up issues to our satisfaction.”
Accessing real-time information
One useful feature of Redoc that Ms Chia spoke of was the access to real-time property transaction data, through the integration with Squarefoot API. With this feature, real estate salespersons (RESs) can track and retrieve the latest property transactions and provide immediate information to their clients.
With access to real-time data instantaneously, RESs will be able to get relevant information on shortlisted properties and provide timely advice to help their clients make informed decisions.
Improved productivity
Redoc enables EAs to implement different commission structures for their RESs by tabulating and calculating multi-tier commission structures, thereby managing RESs’ progress and promotion performance. In addition, their Document and Template Management feature helps RESs create, save, and retrieve contracts easily.
Both Ms Lim and Ms Chia found Redoc’s invoice management module useful for their EAs. Redoc has developed a seamless invoice and accounting management process that allows for immediate revenue tracking and management, and invoice generation. It is also integrated with XERO accounting, which some EAs may already be a user of.
By automating repetitive tasks, RESs can free up their time to focus on more important and value-adding activities. Automation also minimises errors and reduce the risk or reworking, resulting in increased productivity, faster turnaround times, and improved client satisfaction.
Increase cost efficiency
By cutting down on expenses associated with manual processes, such as labour, paper, and printing costs, small EAs can expect cost savings in the long run. In addition, eligible EAs may receive up to 50% funding support for qualifying costs from 1 April 2023.
“I would recommend small and medium EAs to digitalise their business processes,” said Ms Lim. “I went with Redoc as there is the Productivity Solutions Grant funding support, so it was more affordable for my EA.”
About the SMEs Go Digital programme for the real estate agency industry
CEA has partnered with the Infocomm Media Development Authority and Enterprise Singapore to introduce pre-approved digital solutions for the real estate agency industry as part of the SMEs Go Digital programme.
The programme aims to help small and medium-sized EAs build stronger digital capabilities to raise productivity, with funding support from the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG). Eligible EAs may receive up to 50% funding support for qualifying costs from 1 April 2023.
The pre-approved sector-specific digital solutions pre-approved for the real estate agency industry are in the areas of:
- Document management
- Document management and transaction records submission.
Digital solutions that cut across industries (e.g. in the areas of accounting management, customer relationship management, and human resource management) are available for adoption by EAs with PSG funding support.
Do visit the CEA website for more details on the SMEs Go Digital programme for the real estate agency industry. The programme is an initiative under the Real Estate Industry Transformation Map 2025, which envisions a professional, productive and resilient real estate agency industry.
You can also learn more about the other available digital enablers to support EAs in their transformation journey via this link. |
Information accurate as at 12 June 2023