Tim Robinson revealed the key challenges he feels that commercial agents and surveyors face post coronavirus and pivotally what the industry will need to do to evolve.
Like many companies, Knight Frank had to adapt to working from home with 24 hours notice. Tim shares how they went from 300 Teams meetings one month, to 6,000 the next month.
Property is a people business and Tim points out that establishing relationships without in-person meetings is a challenge. We’ll need to strike a balance between conference calling and in-person meetings.
Commercial property is a people business. We like to know people before we take on leases, so understanding the relationship is important. However, with increasing concerns about the environment we might see people cutting down the frequency of their trips, particularly with established relationships. The challenge will be if you don’t know someone at all.
Tim says “We all know the importance of virtual viewings. Across Knight Frank we’re really encouraged to see that whether it’s residential or commercial we’ve undertaken a number of transactions via digital viewings, so people have never seen the physical asset and yet they’ve committed many millions of pounds to either a lease or indeed to purchase a large asset in central London”. The circumstances will transform how the “digital dinosaurs” do business once the economy is stronger.
Learn more about how to make use of virtual viewings on Rightmove using our new Online Viewing functionality with optional automation and tracking – contact your Rightmove Business Development Manager to learn how to use this hot off the press data.