Service Announcements
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More system updates!
The latest lockdown doesn't seemed to have slowed the market too much, and also hasn't slowed our own development much either.
Last year we made a lot of changes to our system as part of our ongoing process of development and improvement, and that process continues, with two new improvements rolled out this month.
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New RICS Survey Standards
We have been asked a few times about how we are handling the transition to the new RICS 1, 2, 3 level standards.
The problem is that the public, and pretty much any other professional in the home moving market such as mortgage advisors, conveyancers, and estate agents, are largely unaware of the change, and continue to refer to the RICS standard products as the Condition Report, HomeBuyer, and Building Survey.
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Helping With Conversions
We are often asked about what level of conversion rate you can expect, and how to improve that. The short answer is, the conversion rate varies. A bit depends on how much competition you have on your postcodes, but typically the conversion rate is between 1 in 5 and 1 in 9. But there is a lot you can do to help your conversions, and here are some tips.
We now have quite a lot of review feedback on our service and I'm pleased to say that it's nearly all positive. But the negatives we do receive shed some helpful light on the things that annoy people, and highlight some of the things that will help you convert leads into fees.
So let's start with the basics...
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Survey Booker API
Among the technical enhancements rolled out this year is the addition of an API (Application Programming Interface!) to allow our leads to be posted directly into the Survey Booker CRM
This allows customers to immediately get information about your services and streamline the process of following up on all leads.
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Reviews, reviews, reviews...
As you know we have two ways in which people can feedback their experiences with us - through Reviews.co.uk, and through reviews of individual surveyors on our site.
These are a highly valuable source of how people are seeing both our, and your, service. Most pleasing is that the overwhelming response is positive, with the average still mostly 4 stars.
BUT.. from time to time we see trends appearing in the negative reviews which we feel would be helpful to feed back.
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Tips on managing your lead flow.
Since the easing of the lockdown, the property market has been seeing quite a resurgence, and that is reflected in the volume of leads we are currently sending out.
That increase can mean that you may be receiving larger number of leads than before, maybe to the point of receiving more than you can easily accommodate. So I thought that it might be a good time to share some tips on ways you can optimise your lead flow so that you are not inundated with leads you don't need, and to help avoid unduly large bills.
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Control Panel Update - Leads List and Average Fee Reports
As you may have noticed, our control panel had a significant overhaul earlier this year. This was much more than a cosmetic face-lift, with some significant technical enhancements behind the scenes to allow us to add additional functionality, some of which have gone live over the last few days:
Read more: Control Panel Update - Leads List and Average Fee Reports
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Coronavirus Update 5
It's been three weeks since our last update on market activity, so we thought it time for a further short update.
Other media have reported that property sites Rightmove and Zoopla have been recording record levels of traffic, suggesting that property market restrictions being eased in England has released some pent-up demand.
That's certainly been our experience too. The graph below shows Google search volumes since the beginning of March:
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Coronavirus Update 4
A couple of weeks ago we gave you an update on what we'd seen happening in the surveying market up to the 9th May.
Since that time things have moved on quite significantly! On Sunday the 11th May, in an address to the nation, Boris Johnson stated that the government would be starting to ease the restrictions on some businesses, details of which would be published over the course of the following week.
Also proudly powering the surveyor search on...
We were almost immediately contacted by two surveyor companies, and we had given instructions to do the work within 4 days of raising the enquiry on your site.
I appreciate the advice that Wayne Norcliffe at Castle Surveyors provided. It was very helpful.
Very good service, I had what I needed arranged within a few minutes, with the survey completed 2 days later.
Very good and prompt service, that provides a comprehensive list of available surveyors, who will respond promptly. Definitely worth using as surveyor fees vary widely!
A good choice of surveyors
Very easy to use. Allowed us to pick the right surveyor for our needs at the best price.
Was struggling to find a local RCS through normal channels before coming across Local Building Surveyors, popped in our requirements & was linked immediately with a Surveyor who was able to offer a date which aligned fully with our property purchase plans.
Swift reply and good price. We used John Endersby from Ajenda TDD for a Homebuyers Report. We are so glad we did. Right from the start, John was prompt, communicated well and was very efficient. We met on site to discuss a couple of areas we wanted him to look at, then left him to it. Within hours, we got a highly detailed email giving an overview of the house and a list of minor points. Far more than the telephone call we had expected. The written report followed, highly detailed, packed with photos. Provided advice and suggestions. A really professional job from someone with many years of experience. I would highly recommend him.
Very efficient and courteous service I could recommend to anyone
Very useful. Got in touch straight away and the survey was organised swiftly and hassle free.
Christopher from Hartree was brilliant. Thorough, reliable with great clear and easy to understand communication. Highly recommend.
Good website - threw up five local RICS-qualified surveyors; three contacted me and I chose one who came a couple of days later and performed the valuation I needed, writing a clear report.
excellent detail
Help to find a good surveyor who carried out an excellent job
Website was easy to navigate.
Andrew was forthright, honest and true to his word. He gave us an excellent and thorough report on an old house and gave us the confidence we needed. A very capable gentlemen who went above and beyond at every step, including recommending excellent craftsman to continue the onward works. I could not recommend enough. I have worked in the mortgage and surveying industry for nay on twenty years and to date, I have not seen such value for money or professionalism. I hope you don't retire before we move again Andrew!
Very good service the information saved us from losing a lot of money . Totally recommend getting survey done especially on old property, thank you for your help .
Quick and easy
Great communication, everything happened on time.
Survey arranged fairly promptly & report received 6 days after survey. It was obvious on reading the report it consisted of computer generated generic paragraphs & phrases strung together. Very little input from the surveyor as information that could easily have been obtained from the owner was not included. Our suspicions were confirmed when at the end the report was dated 28 September 2016 having actually been completed on 18 May 2021.
Got me just the right surveyor for the job. Delighted!
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