TVA’s Deal Tracker moves listings to done deals in one digital ecosystem

November 11, 2022

MAIN IMAGE: Candice Goldberg, TVA Head of Sales and Marketing

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Described as a ‘game changer’ by agents using the launch-phase version of the feature, The Virtual Agent’s (TVA) Deal Tracker shifts most of an agent’s administrative work onto a simple online portal.

Structured as an eight-step graphic, agents appreciate an ‘at-a-glance’ view of all their listings at each stage in the sale process. But the real power of the feature lies in TVA’s knowledge of estate agents’ needs and the customised functional flexibility that adds intelligence to the simple-to-use interface.

“Agents expressed the need for an end-to-end solution to track the lifecycle of the sale,” says TVA Head of Sales and Marketing, Candice Goldberg. “The development of the Deal Tracker is a giant leap forward towards creating this single environment where agents can save time and costs and manage every aspect of their business in one place.”

Step-by-step process

Property listings and buyers’ or sellers’ profiles are entered into the system via easy-to-complete forms in the ‘listing view’. As part of TVA’s CRM package, existing details can be pulled through to the Deal Tracker, without any re-capturing.

The first step in the sales process is a new listing – where the details of the property and seller are captured. Agents complete basic mandatory fields and choose to add more information and upload documents associated with the listing.

Safe convenient storage

Agents can upload any files related to a listing that are stored safely and conveniently for reference. “This eliminates the need for paper files to be moved around and having to search for FICA documents, mandate information, photographs of the property and other notes. Any file types can be accommodated, and agents no longer need to pay other service providers for cloud storage,” says Goldberg.

“With everything saved digitally in one place, an agent can simply login on their phone, tablet or laptop and view or edit any details anytime anywhere.”

From new listing to done or lost deal, there are eight stages in the predetermined sales cycle:

New listing
Property viewing
Offer to purchase
Attorney documents
Lodgements
Key handover
Done deal
Lost deal

Once a listing is loaded, leads can be associated with that property by a simple ‘drop and drag’ action. Leads are categorised as hot, warm, or cold, and the source of the lead can be captured in a dropdown menu. Numerous leads can be associated with a listing.

Once an offer to purchase is submitted, the lead’s status changes to Current Buyer. An agent can see, in the high-level deal view, which properties have offers to purchase and, with one click, the buyer’s and seller’s details are expanded.

Estate agents using the system are finding it extremely useful and notice a difference compared with other packages that are not customised for property professionals operating in South Africa.

“Some agencies choose even more customisation,” says Goldberg. “We can white label The Virtual Agent to include national brands, or templates specific to an agency. This ensures consistency across the group and all agents know they’re using the latest versions of templates which are uploaded when changes are made. Linking to the CRM module, agents can send out emails without leaving the Deal Tracker.”

Look forward to more convenience

Although many features of the Deal Tracker are live and available now, others are in development and will be incorporated into the next generations which are scheduled for release from early 2023.

New features to look forward to:

Integration with attorneys
Integration with bond originators
Listings syndication from a single entry
Show house tool integration which will pull leads from this feature into the Deal Tracker
Commission calculator which includes mandate options. On the current release, commission is calculated based on a percentage of the sales price. Future releases will enable more complex commission structures, including referral fees and principal’s commission specified separately.

“With the Deal Tracker, we’re unshackling estate agents from their desks. With additional features and transparency, we hope to eliminate even more time-consuming admin, giving agents more time to do what they love – sell property,” concludes Goldberg.