Alto Q&A: New features and integrations agents need to know about

01 March 2022 17936 Views

We know that agents rely heavily on property software solutions to run their agency, particularly to ease the burden of administrative tasks that eat into time that should be spent building a rapport with clients, conducting valuations and winning instructions.

After revealing a series of product enhancements to their cloud-based software platform Alto, we chat to Director of Product at Zoopla Simon Woodward, about some of the latest feature releases - and the benefits to agents and their customers.

 

You’ve made some changes to the way agents communicate with their customers in Alto. Can you tell us a bit more?

With time-saving being front of mind for many agents, it’s not surprising that one of our most -requested features from customers was the ability to share documents with tenants digitally.

This has directly informed the release of our latest feature, tenant document sharing which provides a single storage solution for both agents and tenants for deposit information, references and other key documents like right to rent guides which can then be accessed by tenants via a tenant portal – not only saving time for agents, but also providing a better customer experience as a result.

For agents, e-signing requests go to their customers as a seamless, professional experience via Alto’s PropertyFile portal.

 

Customer communication also includes marketing. Can you explain how you’re making property marketing easier?

In an increasingly digital world, embracing the latest communication tools is key to unlocking a host of marketing opportunities. Including how agents differentiate their offering within their local market.

That’s why we’ve made some improvements to email template tools in Alto - so agents can easily and quickly build, manage and deliver on-brand, personalised emails that their customers are more likely to engage with.

The simplified experience allows users to drag and drop images, videos and buttons into everyday emails. Removing the need for any HTML skills, while delivering a high quality, on-brand email experience for their customers.

In the near future we will be releasing an enhanced letters template editor, allowing our customers to easily build and maintain their own on-brand letters.

 

We’ve also heard about Alto’s integration with anti-money laundering (AML) provider Smartsearch. How did this come about?

As a regulated sector, estate agents are required by law to run a risk-based anti-money laundering programme. This includes obtaining proof of identity for buyers and sellers that they interact with.

With an increased focus on the potential financial risks for agents who don’t comply, we wanted to build this process into Alto, removing the need for agents to leave their software platform to carry out all the necessary AML compliance checks.

Our new partnership with industry-leading AML provider Smartsearch has made this a reality. Plus, it gives agents the most comprehensive checks with results in seconds - helping safeguard their agency against fraud and money laundering risks, as well as saving them time.

 

How else are you planning to support agents going forward?

We constantly hear from our customers that they expect their software to show how they’re performing at a glance. For example, how many applicants they’ve registered or how many offers, sales and viewings they’ve got in the pipeline.

That’s why we’re always enhancing Alto’s reporting system, to provide up-to-the-minute-data on business performance, as well as analysis on under-offer properties.

As part of our ongoing commitment to delivering the next generation of Alto, our customers have the opportunity to sign up to our Product Research Panel - helping us to improve as well as giving them the chance to shape the future of property software.

To get more details on all of Alto’s latest product innovations, agents can visit Alto’s hub Alto Agenda, which contains information on new features and updated functionality.