Countrywide brand unveils video guides to online and full-service options

Countrywide’s Bairstow Eves brand has launched a series of video guides for customers using their £995 online agency service and for those who ‘upgrade’ to the traditional full-service high street no-sale no-fee service.

The unveiling comes as Countrywide this morning revealed to shareholders that income for the first quarter of 2017 was £162m – down from £187m in the same period in 2016 but “in line with our expectations” according to the company.

The videos, launched this month, are each from 30 seconds to two minutes in length and come as Countrywide is set to announce at its AGM today that rollout of its digital sales proposition remains on track; the launch for Bairstow Eves builds on Entwistle Green and Bridgfords that were launched earlier this year.

With these three key brands now in rollout in addition to the original pilots, Countrywide says it is on track to achieve coverage by the digital model of some 400 branches by June. 

The new Bairstow Eves videos cover preparing for a valuation, why vendors may wish to choose the Bairstow Eves high street services, branch sales progression, going on the market via the online sales service, online sales progression, keeping track of performance, optional services to support your sale, managing your own viewings and managing your offers. 

The videos, some currently available on the Bairstow Eves website and some on YouTube, are accompanied on the latter by captions summarising the content. 

For example, the branch sales progression video has the caption: “As a high street service customer, we'll handle the next steps of your property sale on your behalf. We'll chase all parties involved in your sale and provide you with regular updates. We'll deal with any issues uncovered with your property survey and help with legal matters. By using our website you can still get hold of clear, easy and convenient information when you need it.”

For the online sales progression video, there’s the caption: “You've agreed an offer, your next steps are to generate a memorandum of sale and remove your property from the market, via your online account. Your address details, offer acceptance, special conditions and agreed price will already show up in the form. Add your solicitor's details and submit to create a document for you and your buyer. We can find you a solicitor to carry out the legal matters connected with your sale. We can also give you advice on your next steps towards completing your sale. If it all gets too much we're here to support you, upgrade to our high street estate agency service and let your team of agents handle your sale.”

This week Countrywide’s Twitter account publicly launched the suite of videos saying: “We’re all very excited that we’ve gone viral as part of our digital transformation.”

Here’s an example of one of the videos: