How to keep your agency afloat during COVID-19

2020 was meant to be a great year for real estate - the industry was expected to grow, tech was going to transform traditional franchise models and PMs were going to drive the rise of property-as-a-service. That was until COVID-19 hit.

The industry has taken a sharp turn and many agencies have been impacted.

But, all is not lost. Now is the perfect time to take a step back and really look at how your agency operates to try and find ways to optimise your ways of working - and hopefully create a leaner, more agile business model.

Here are six ways to help your agency stay afloat during this crisis.

1. Stabilise your bottom line with the support available
   

   Protecting your revenue during this uncertain time is crucial. The government has issued allowances to ensure small businesses don’t fall through the cracks of this pandemic. So, if your agency is eligible for rent relief or JobKeeper allowances, apply for them. If your agency isn't eligible and you find you are struggling to pay your bills, pick up the phone to your suppliers / bank / landlord and ask for some relief. This crisis is full of uncertainty and adopting these methods will ensure you are securing as much profit as possible during this tough time.

2. Keep on top of tech and software updates
   

   Real estate is an industry that relies heavily on essential software applications, so it makes good business sense to keep them up-to-date. Ensuring you have the right tech in place to mobilise your employee base to work remotely will allow them to service your customers in different ways - providing more opportunities for you to keep your business operating. Keeping your tech updated will also help you improve business efficiencies.

3. Ensure your team remains productive in a new work from home environment
   

   If you’ve made the move to a work from home model, then it’s probably come to your attention that your staff aren’t familiar with working remotely if the concept is new to them. To ensure your staff remain productive in a home environment, encourage them to choose a work area that is distraction free, ensure they have the right tech in place, provide clear communication guidelines on how they will be managed remotely and put expectations in place around deliverables. For more tips, read this blog.

4. Do not pull the plug on new business activity
   

   Sustaining your marketing and sales initiatives is imperative during this time. Pulling the plug on new business activity will have a direct impact on your market share, your sales pipeline and your agency’s reputation. To read more, check out this blog.

5. Ensure you’re communicating effectively with your clients and staff
   

   This may seem simple, but not every business gets it right. Effective communication will be crucial to your agency during this uncertain time - the key is to communicate as frequently as relevant, with authenticity and transparency. Keep your clients and staff in the loop with the changes happening in your agency as relevant to each stakeholder set. To find out what your clients and staff actually want to know during this crisis, read this blog.

6. Look into smarter resourcing strategies
   

   Now is the time for you to be pulling apart your P&L line by line to critically analyse any non-essential or excessive costs. To help cut and control costs in your agency, look to smarter resourcing strategies. Outsourcing is a cost saving strategy that can help improve efficiencies in your agency at a fraction of the price.

Look towards the future

There is no doubt that many agencies will struggle to bounce back from the current crisis. But those who use this time to examine their ways of working, innovate and optimise their processes will put themselves in the best position to stay afloat post-COVID. Are you one of these agencies?