Ventrica provides “exceptional” outsourced customer service and added value for world’s first 24/7 estate agent, Purplebricks

Ventrica provides exceptional outsourced customer service and added value for worlds first 24/7 estate agent, Purplebricks

Introduction:
Purplebricks.com is the worlds first 24 / 7 estate agent that combines the human face of the estate agency model with a unique, interactive digital approach.

Purplebricks.com, the brainchild of brothers Michael and Kenny Bruce who owned estate agency Burchell Edwards before its sale to Connells, is a fully interactive, round the clock property platform allowing people to oversee every aspect of their transaction as it happens, at the touch of a button, rather than waiting for an estate agents office to open. There is also full time dedicated support from a team of highly trained and experienced Local Property Experts.

Purplebricks customers also have access to the unique software system which provides an effective, convenient, instant and transparent service never before seen in estate agency. Purplebricks launched in April 2014, following two years of development.

Challenge – Needed an experienced outsourcing partner that could support service, advice and sales across multiple channels for customers, agents and other third party suppliers

James Hearne, Head of Customer Experience at Purplebrickscommented, “To support our customers we wanted a team of experts within our Central Property Centre who could provide support to our customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We evaluated a number of options including delivering the service in-house or using an outsource partner.”

The Solution – A committed and passionate outsourced partner capable of supporting high volumes of excellent customer service and advice on all aspects of residential property sales

James says, “Ventrica were initially recommended to us and after a number of visits to their Southend operation we were convinced they would be the right partner for Purplebricks. What stood out most for us was the quality of staff, their ‘can-do’ attitude, flexibility, integrity and determination to deliver the best possible service to our customers. This made our decision to partner with Ventrica very easy indeed!”

Since appointing Ventrica in April we have been blown away by their passion and love for our brand. At the beginning the team started by responding to support calls and live web chats from customers who might be having any questions in navigating our on-line Ezie platformand liaising with our network of Local Property Experts. However, as our business has developed we have recognised the additional knowledge and value that Ventrica can bring to the table as they now get involved in pretty much every aspect of both our residential sales and lettings.

The Ventrica team now provides the following services on behalf of Purplebricks with the key objective of assisting its customers to achieve their aim of selling, buying, renting or letting their property.

Cross-Selling of Mortgages & Legal Services – liaising with customers and third party suppliers e.g. Mortgage Advice Bureau
Booking of valuations over the phone for customers
Booking Surveys
Support for using the Purplebricks self-service Ezie platform
Follow up outbound calls to customers to enable greater numbers of completions
Calls with third parties such as Landlords, Letting Agencies, Estate Agents etc.
Responding to customer queries via phone, web chat, email and social media (including TrustPilot responses)
Collecting customer feedback that is then used to continually enhance the Purplebricks offering

Results – Exceptional Service and more sales to our customers

We have been really impressed by how Ventrica has applied its customer experience credentials and transferred these to the property sector. With initial and on-going training (many staff havenow started their estate agency exams), the combination of Ventricas customer focus and understanding of our market has resulted in exceptional service, greater value and more sales.

The end-game for using Ventrica has been to make the customer journey as smooth as possible, so that ultimately they can buy,sell or rent a property. This has certainly been achieved, plus we can also create additional value from cross-selling other products such as mortgages or legal advice through our approved partners. Although there are a small number of scripts particularly on the mortgage side, all of Ventrica’s team work unscripted because every call is different. What sets them apart though is that they are multi-skilled enough to spot opportunities whoever they are speaking to. So for instance if someone want to buy then it’s likely they also want to sell and might need a mortgage, so it’s all about asking the right questions, at the right time but in a subtle and helpful way.

“Although one of Ventrica’s key roles is to support and encourage our customers to use our self-service platform, we recognise that in many circumstances this may not be right for them, for instance if they are in the car. So with Ventrica’s input, we can offer the customer the choice of interacting on any channel they want, whether it’s via the phone, web chat, email or even social media.Offering choice can be hugely beneficial both for us and the customer, because if we can’t offer the right channel at a specific time, then they may go elsewhere.”

Summary:

James concludes, “The Ventrica team have been fantastic. They are highly knowledgeable, switched on, dedicated and committed. It’s as if they work directly for Purplebricks. A significant part of our success to date is down to them.”

Purplebricks currently has a Net Promoter score of +51*
Approximately 30% of valuations booked byVentrica team over the phone
The Ventrica team are leading the way on mortgage and legal quotes
Over 8,500 inbound calls and 6,500 outbound calls since Purplebricks launch on 13th April

*A Net Promoter score of +50 is classed as ‘Excellent’