Again, different products will offer differing solutions so there is no straightforward answer. The main functionality in the web site that your customers demand is the ability to undertake property searches. To that end, the key things to consider are: - Can the software provide live data directly into the web site, or does it require a daily upload (like the portals)? The advantage of using live data is that any changes made in the database (such as a price reduction or a tenancy being agreed) are reflected in the web site immediately. This will impact on your customer service provision and thus competitiveness in the market.
- Can the data that applicants enter onto the web site be automatically downloaded into the software or is there a process of re-keying required? Clearly the higher the degree of automation, the more productive the system can be. It will also reduce the risk of manual keying errors.
- Can information regarding the properties being clicked on be captured by the software? This can be value adding information you can offer your vendor/landlord and provide a basis of differentiation against competitors. For example, prospects are clicking on the properties thus showing interest, but not progressing on to viewing – which could provide you with a basis for discussion with your vendors/landlords.
- Does the software offer flexibility on how information is displayed or are there restrictive formats applied to page design? There is a high degree of variance in this area and can have a big impact on the visual appearance of your website.
The Aspasia route: In response to requests from customers who want complete freedom in how they design their web sites, it is now possible for web developers to be as creative as they wish in designing your public property search facility. There are now 3 distinct ways of handing property search functionality: - Use the standard Aspasia interface. This is the most favoured option. It ranges from giving your web designer hardly anything to do up to having a fair degree of control over the look and feel of this part of your site. It uses live data so anything done within Aspasia is immediately reflected in the website ( ie price changes). It also allows for integration with Google mapping.
- Take an overnight property upload (like the portals) and do your own thing on your site with your web developers. It gives you freedom to do what you want but the data is not live and it can be costly to set up and maintain. It does not support automatic registration of applicants into Aspasia and there will not be any viewing statistics integrated into Aspasia’s marketing histories.
- Use the XML Aspasia interface. This is a powerful option but it requires a degree of XML skill from your web developer. It gives you the freedom to do whatever you want with live data but be prepared for costs from the web developer for the coding involved.
“People looking for property want to find things easily and since the launch of our site, we have received e-mails stating that we have won instructions on the back of our website alone.” Marcus Lucock, MD, Marchand Petit.
“With Aspasia, customers could do a virtual tour of the property straight away which gave us a competitive advantage.” Georges Verdis, Managing Director, London Executive. | 
