2020 has proven that agility and innovation is key to remaining a thriving business able to serve our clients throughout COVID-19. Over the past 28 years, WBP Group has helped millions of Australians make informed property decisions and it quickly became apparent that our customers would need us to innovate quickly to accommodate their needs throughout COVID-19. Hence, we are working with the world’s top technology partner, Salesforce, to provide alternative services to meet the needs of our clients during this challenging time. One of these new products is Virtual Valuations. While embracing technology has been at the core of our business for decades, it is providing an unparalleled customer experience that drives every decision we make.

For WBP Group, it’s about improving efficiency and streamlining processes to ensure an excellent product with outstanding customer service in the new world of COVID-19. Where we can continue to visit the site of the valuation, our valuers maintain all social distancing and quarantine guidelines. However, at times the valuer is unable to personally visit the property. Video-conferencing would have been a short-term fix and, as a team, we knew we needed to provide our clients with more— a secure platform to ensure the privacy of our customers, confidence that we are valuing the correct property and an assurance that all details of the property are being taken into consideration.  Working together with Salesforce, we invested in SightCall, integrated with ServiceCloud, to embed into our existing IT infrastructure. This implementation was swift to ensure we could quickly adapt to our clients’ needs, making us the first in our industry to offer such a solution.

Now, customers can opt for their valuation to be completed virtually if they feel at risk having someone onsite. They simply select the option upon booking to be sent a link to an app. The valuer guides the customer through the inspection in real-time and steps them through the process to complete the virtual inspection, ensuring the geo-location of the property being valued is securely captured. At WBP Group, our goal is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our customers and employees without compromising the quality of our service.

When the situation is changing daily, the ability to analyse and react to different data sets in real-time is crucial. Next on the radar for WBP Group is the upcoming launch of  our new Customer Community. This platform will enable WBP Group to engage directly with our customers, our lender clients, brokers and industry partners to provide up to date insights into the property market and valuation industry, as well as showcase our services and products. Customer Communities will allow us to obtain feedback, answer questions and provide relevant, up to date articles based on what our clients want. For us, investing in new technology and partnering with world leading experts such as Salesforce, gives us the flexibility to offer new products and services seamlessly, while focusing on the customer experience.

The founders of WBP were early adopters of technology in the valuation industry.  Innovation is ingrained in all aspects of what we do, from our valuers on the ground, to our booking agents and our IT and executive teams. This ability to innovate has allowed us to quickly adapt to provide our clients with the property services they require in the ever-changing world that is COVID-19.

To find out more about our Virtual Valuations or how we can assist you, contact us today.