Leading agency reveals Data Science is key to how it wins business

Foxtons has given details of what some believe is market-leading use of technology to drive its sales and lettings effort.

In a document called The London Report, prepared for last week’s MIPIM international property conference in the south of France, the agency’s business analytics director Michael Grant says his company’s use of Artificial Intelligence in particular gives it greater power to understand and predict future activities.

Foxtons has partnered with DataRobot, a data analytics and modelling firm, to create a machine-learning model which scours millions of data points to find patterns of behaviour - in turn, allowing the agency to identify customers most likely to convert.

The primary objective of this partnership has been to produce a lead-scoring model to predict which properties are likely to be instructed for sales in the coming 12 months. This in turn influences marketing activity and the work of sales teams who focus on those most likely to convert.

“Initial results are promising with the number of sales valuations booked up 51 per cent in January and February 2022 compared to the same period last year … Having built a model to look at what variables are impacting whether a property is likely to be sold, we have changed and amended both our pricing strategy and marketing strategy to maximise the likelihood of a property being sold” explains Grant. 

When applied to new-builds, this approach allows Foxtons to identify which prospective buyers and tenants are best suited to new developments marketed by the agency. 

Internally, data is also used to forecast client churn and future revenue.

Grant’s contribution to MIPIM also outlines the specific technology used by the agency.

“We re-invented our sales and lettings processes through our: proprietary CRM system, BOS; the introduction of My Foxtons in 2003; Customer Data Platform in 2019; and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning platform DataRobot in 2021” he says.

And he explains this has paid dividends: “Training and data enable our people to meet the differing expectations of every customer - buyers, investor, landlord, management companies. Business clients choose Foxtons for the detailed data consultancy.” 

Foxtons’ The London Report is available here.