Since the opening of the 1st office in 1990, rapid expansion led to 10 Henry Adams and Partners offices and 5 offices for the Neal Smith Partnership operating 3 different IT systems between them. A working party was set up to identify one system common to all branches.  Five systems were reviewed, two server based (Estatecraft, which they were already using, and Reapit) and three web-based (DezRez, Caldes, and Aspasia).

Philip Jordan, Partner for the group said, "After having demonstrations of each, we decided that web-based was the way forward.  We were getting an increasing number of enquiries from the web and the ability to use live data and a high speed of transfer of information was key."  These criteria were strongly influenced by their experience of using GMW which was operational in 7 of the branches.  "We knew that the synchronisation of data with server based systems often resulted in problems and data was always out of date," Philip commented.

Thus the competition came down to Dezrez and Aspasia.  In Philip's words, "Aspasia did not have the best looking front end, but we knew that considerable thought had gone into the development of the system and it was the best developed web-based system on the market."

They are now rolling out the system with 10 of the 15 branches operational to date.  It is at this level of operation that the real potential of Aspasia becomes apparent and some of the wider implications emerge. "We underestimated the level of sophistication.  GMW was very basic and anyone who was computer literate could pick it up within a few of days.  With its much greater functionality, Aspasia requires more training and the process of implementation takes longer," said Philip.  The route that the group decided to go down was to employ their own trainer and one of their own negotiators readily took on the role.  Sarah Jones, having traveled to Crowthorne to have the initial training at SPA, "picked it up and loved it!  It was easy to use and intuitive.  After having done the 2 day introductory training course, I sat down and played with it and easily went through functionality I hadn't been trained on because I knew how it would work," she said.

She is now responsible for training people ranging from those familiar with GMW to people with no IT experience whatsoever.  "Part-time staff take longer to train as they are not using it as often and those that have had a system make more direct comparisons which can hinder.  However, the strength is you really can't break it!"

As people's familiarity with the system grows, one further challenge that Sarah is now facing is the fact that there are more than one route to achieve an end goal.  Aspasia has been designed to be a flexible system that supports agents rather than controlling them.  "Training provides the recommended route but then people find other routes and can use the one that works for them.  People are still finding short-cuts and new routes and these are e-mailed around to share best practice," added Sarah.

Whilst the group still have some way to go in terms of experiencing the full benefits Aspasia can offer, some "Eureka" moments are already happening.  "The records so far are a 30 second response from an SMS message going out and a 3 minute response from an e-mail which resulted in a viewing.  That kind of response is fantastic," said Sarah. This was something that Philip had also picked up on as many agents are hesitant about SMS and e-mail.  Philip's viewpoint is, "When the market is moving fast, Aspasia comes into its own and the serious purchasers are always happy to receive electronic messages."

Another common concern for Estate Agents considering changing systems is the impact of change to processes.   This fear has not materialised so far.  "Aspasia provides a good structure when it comes to processes such as sales chasing, chain checking etc.  It gets us away from cumbersome paper systems and the need to decipher bad handwriting! And it means that if other branches are involved in a chain, they can see what is going on from their desk."

Having one of the largest New Homes business in the South East, the Henry Adams and Partners group were asked by SPA to be involved in the development of the New Homes module, which they were keen to do.  "It will mean that the New Homes department can access the database for resale properties and interrogate the data for marketing and for pricing decisions," said Philip.  Customer input into Aspasia's development is something that SPA has always sought and this approach has contributed greatly to continuous improvements in functionality.  "The system we are now using will be different in 6 months time and that keeps it fresh, providing opportunities to make the system better.  We have an input into how it is developed," commented Philip.  And it is not just at the development stage that customer input is sought.  "We had input into how the fields were set up, how particulars were presented, the content of standard letters, etc" he added.

Of course, implementing a new system takes time and patience.   Philip's final comment was, "I went from the extreme of wanting to throw the computer out of the window to times of great joy. Any Estate Agent who gets a system which is successful immediately is either using a very simple system or is very lucky –and that is not the real world of estate agency.  Any Estate Agent has to be technically oriented or he will miss out altogether."