Crockers Property Group is a market leader in residential and commercial real estate, body corporate, property management and sales. It has over 20,000 units worth over $4 billion under management and recently purchased a major industry competitor. With a portfolio predominantly covering the wider Auckland area, Crockers Strata Management is also expanding into the Bay of Islands, Taupo, Gisborne, Wellington, Nelson, Queenstown and Wanaka with increasing body corporate management work.
When you’re dealing with burst plumbing, power outages or cars crashing through shop windows, time is of the essence. Enabling staff to be instantly available to their clients anywhere, anytime, was the key driver behind Crockers Property Management Ltd’s decision to implement a Vodafone Integrated talkZone (ITZ) link into its Auckland head office. The resulting productivity benefits were an unexpected bonus.
Fast response time critical
Crockers Director, Rob Macdonald, says property managers are the first point of contact when things go wrong. “We handle the day to day management of a property and respond to tenant calls 24/7.
“Understandably, our clients get very anxious if and when there’s an issue with their residential or commercial property. It’s vital that we can respond quickly and make sound decisions to solve the problem.”
Crockers also receives thousands of new tenant enquiries each month and all the usual calls associated with buying and selling real estate.
In September 2005, Vodafone introduced an Integrated TalkZone Link into Crocker’s head office, mobilising around 40 of Crockers sales and rental staff. This means that anyone dialing Crockers’ DDI landline numbers is automatically put through to the mobile phones of whoever they are calling if the landline number is not picked up after two or three rings.
Hardware introduced was Motorola V550 and Nokia 6230s with optional Bluetooth headsets.
Enhanced client service levels
Crockers’ property managers and sales staff are frequently away from the office, out on property inspections, showing tenants or buyers through properties or attending to maintenance.
Before the Vodafone mobile solution, staff would return to the office and often find up to 30 messages needing responses. In addition, there was a level of resistance from clients, prospective tenants and buyers about calling mobile phones because of perceived cost.
“Our staff aren’t telepathic, so they couldn’t know when problems arose,” says Macdonald. “We’ve significantly improved client accessibility to our staff and given our people greater freedom from the office. They can be on the road and be available 24/7. They can receive and respond to calls anywhere, anytime. In this business, urgent decisions are critical to excellent service. We have to be able to move fast and responsively. “
Crockers’ clients have already noticed a big difference. “In our business, no feedback is a good thing but we’ve actually had positive feedback which is exceptional,” says Macdonald. “Improved client service was our main motivation for the new technology, so we’re happy.”
Better productivity and reduced stress
Macdonald considers the Vodafone solution is a giant step forward for his company.
He believes that the old adage of “time is money” is applicable. “Staff save considerable time each day by not having to return to the office to clear voicemail and respond to messages. The direct calling for tenant and buyer enquiries means we don’t lose any prospective calls. And, of course, there are reduced stress levels for clients and staff alike, simply by making our staff as accessible as possible.”
Vodafone’s Account Manager for Crockers, Andrew McLaughlin says that real estate and property management is the “classic mobile business”. He says the ITZ link is cost effective and has been packaged so it is affordable for Crockers, with the call diversions to mobiles being free of charge.
