Selling privately, how did you handle it?

Herzlos

Email is the perfect mechanism for that sort of thing, just like written letters were. Everyones got access to it, it's easy to understand, and you can include text, links, attachments, etc. 

A ticketing system will just result in people filing dozens of tickets incorrectly, sending emails and phoning because they don't understand the ticketing system in addition to whatever else they didn't understand. 

You can never underestimate how terribly the public will use anything you give them access to. 

Making it clear to the customer that you're charging them £100/hour to deal with any communication may get some of them to slow down, but whatever you do the problem customers will feel that it doesn't apply to them because they are special. 

artyboy

Herzlos said:

Email is the perfect mechanism for that sort of thing, just like written letters were. Everyones got access to it, it's easy to understand, and you can include text, links, attachments, etc. 

A ticketing system will just result in people filing dozens of tickets incorrectly, sending emails and phoning because they don't understand the ticketing system in addition to whatever else they didn't understand. 

You can never underestimate how terribly the public will use anything you give them access to. 

Making it clear to the customer that you're charging them £100/hour to deal with any communication may get some of them to slow down, but whatever you do the problem customers will feel that it doesn't apply to them because they are special. 

This x1000. I can't tell you the number of new IT applications that I have worked on over the past 25 years where the original intent was for the users to do everything within the app workflow, but every single time they insist they want to get notifications (and send responses) via email. So the developers have to integrate with Outlook (or whatever) before there is a revolt.

It might be a generational thing that shifts over time, but right now, you're not getting away from email as a mechanism for 'doing things'

Chief_of_Staffy

Herzlos said:

Email is the perfect mechanism for that sort of thing, just like written letters were. Everyones got access to it, it's easy to understand, and you can include text, links, attachments, etc. 

A ticketing system will just result in people filing dozens of tickets incorrectly, sending emails and phoning because they don't understand the ticketing system in addition to whatever else they didn't understand. 

You can never underestimate how terribly the public will use anything you give them access to. 

Sounds like you're a bit behind the times (like, 20 years behind). Any decent ticketing system is accessible via email. The user can access it via a web interface, or app, or they can email just like they'd email a person. The difference being that all emails are collated, categorised and organised; topic threads are maintained, documents stored and properly distributed. A professional organisation trawling through an email inbox to reply to clients is a terrible way of doing business.

Herzlos

That still doesn't do anything to solve the actual problem which is the customer with a sense of entitlement and no patience. They won't read anything so instead of spamming up an inbox and calling, they'll spam up a ticket queue, fire off some emails and then call. You can't solve that with technology unless you can embed a tazer into their phone. 

And I can't express how much I hate having to use a bespoke app for something that can just be a website or an email, but that completely off topic. 

There is a point to be made regarding security for documents and payments that can't really be satisfied via standard email, but for "I emailed you 5 minutes ago, have you got any update" messages it's irrelevant. 

MeteredOut

Herzlos said:

That still doesn't do anything to solve the actual problem which is the customer with a sense of entitlement and no patience. They won't read anything so instead of spamming up an inbox and calling, they'll spam up a ticket queue, fire off some emails and then call. You can't solve that with technology unless you can embed a tazer into their phone. 

And I can't express how much I hate having to use a bespoke app for something that can just be a website or an email, but that completely off topic. 

There is a point to be made regarding security for documents and payments that can't really be satisfied via standard email, but for "I emailed you 5 minutes ago, have you got any update" messages it's irrelevant. 

Its simple for a ticketing system to group emails from the same customer together, so that doesn't necessarily tie up the system with new tickets. And with AI, its even easier now. It can tell if a new email is effectively the same question as an already open ticket, and merge them together, or whether its a new query, so a new ticket.

You can tie your ticketing system into the telephone IVR, so if, for an example, a customer has phoned within 30 minutes of you receiving an email to them, you can give them a specific voicemail, or route it to a specific person. Your virtual tazer is to not them them through the phone system.

Its much easier now to filter out the noise but still provide a good service to customers.

I'm not sure estate agents/conveyancers have the appetite (or funds) to build and maintain such a system, however.

Chief_of_Staffy

Herzlos said:

That still doesn't do anything to solve the actual problem which is the customer with a sense of entitlement and no patience. They won't read anything so instead of spamming up an inbox and calling, they'll spam up a ticket queue, fire off some emails and then call.

You can't 'spam' a ticketing system. It will add to the ticket or conversation and it will be read at a later date by whoever is assigned to action it. It can identify duplicate requests and collate information.

Herzlos said:

And I can't express how much I hate having to use a bespoke app for something that can just be a website or an email, but that completely off topic. 

Me too, but since we're discussing technology that also uses email and web front end as options I don't see a link.

Herzlos said:

There is a point to be made regarding security for documents and payments that can't really be satisfied via standard email, but for "I emailed you 5 minutes ago, have you got any update" messages it's irrelevant. 

So what's better? Having to open dozens of emails saying "Have you any updates?", check who they're from, link to their file, and presumably archive or reply to, or viewing a single ticket bearing all the file information and reading a message saying the customer has requested updates a dozen times in the past 24 hours.

saajan_12

Bashie90 said:

saajan_12 said:

Disagree, finding a buyer (I'll add in, for the best price) is the hard bit. If you're on a smaller website than the big players and have a limited pool of buyers, that could result in a lower offer. A small % difference coudl be £x0,000s of a difference. 

Once a buyer is selected, its not difficult to check affordability and then most of it is done by solicitors. The chasing can be hit or miss with agents, so I wouldn't pin much on that personally. 

Fair comment. I’ll rephrase and admit that while you may get enquiries selecting the right buyer and at the best price is a different thing and does need due diligence. And you’re right, if you’re not on the big portals then you can easily limit the buyer pool and that can impact the offer. But that does not mean they can't be challenged.

Once a buyer is agreed, a lot of the heavy lifting does sit with solicitors, but I don’t think it’s always as simple as job done either, people still go quiet, surveys downvalue, chains wobble and it’s easy for momentum to drop. Even professionals get it wrong and sales still fall through.

That’s kind of what I’m trying to get my head around really, what checks/tools/steps would actually help a private seller filter out timewasters and qualify a buyer properly, without pretending it removes all the risk

None - I'd just ask them how they plan to pay, ask for statements for any money in cash / stocks & shares (with proof of when they can withdraw), ask for proof of an offer accepted if they are selling and DIP from a known bank for moneys they're borrowing. Then I'd add up and make sure that totals a bit more than the offer price (to account for fees). That's all that agents do, so what more 'properly' is there? 

However that's BEFORE the offer, whereas you point to work AFTER the offer. The solicitors (&brokers) may indeed get it wrong or slow down, in which case someone has to figure out where the bottleneck is and speed it up. Someone could be the seller or someone they appoint - which is by definition an agent, and hte latter will naturally want to get paid. So you're ending up nowhere differet? 

Bashie90

When I said more properly I did not mean some magic extra checks, more making that stuff structured and standard so it actually happens and happens early. Like a simple flow that forces the right questions, collects proof in one place, sets expectations before viewings/offers and cuts down the 'they seem nice so it’ll be fine' approach.

on the after offer bit, someone does have to keep momentum up. That can be the seller, but the problem is most people don’t do this often so they don’t really know what good looks like. I don’t think that automatically means a full EA model though. It could be prompts/visibility, basic progress tracking, maybe optional support for people who want someone to chase (more like sales progression). And that doesn’t have to fall to an EA.

So yeah you’re right, the work doesn’t disappear. I’m  trying to work out what parts can be made easier/cheaper/less painful and what still needs someone in the loop. I know it’s against the norm, but I do think it can be challenged. Guess we’ll find out (hopefully!)