Leuterio Realty & Brokerage | What Property Developers Must Do to Stay Productive Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic?
The spread of COVID-19 all over the globe, lead to travel bans to prevent further exposure of their citizens to the virus. In the Philippines, the government also implemented enhanced community quarantine in cities and municipalities in the country to prevent local transmissions from happening. Real Estate developers need to cut their workforce to at most 40% and keep the 60% working amidst the crisis.
Until the situation gets better, property developers can make the best out of the time they have during COVID-19 Community Quarantine.
Here are some ideas property developers must-do:
1. Reassess strategies on possible behavioral changes of people
Vaibhab Gujral, et al. of Mckinsey.com mentions that once the COVID-19 pandemic will be under control. There could be some changes in the behavior of people and agencies such as stricter building codes, lesser cross country business travels, and consumers preferring to shop online than physically going to stores.
Given these possible realities, developers need to reassess their strategies to adjust to the possible changes after COVID-19. Mid-April 2020, developers have implemented Online reservations for all of their projects. They have created Sales PROMOS that surprisingly leads to a great number of sales. In Cagayan de Oro for example, Casa Mira Towers of Cebu Landmasters Inc. recently just sold out their two Towers during COVID Pandemic.
2. Redesign projects to be more quarantine friendly.
Property developers have already made plans for their future projects for sure. But today, as a developer you have to make sure that it adapts to the new norm. Houses need to be more quarantine friendly whether you are in an urban area or in rural areas. Home office and urban gardens will be part of the new normal.
3. Digitize your business processes
Just like most businesses right now, there is a great shift from selling in physical stores to e-commerce. Property developers are now considering online payment systems like Gcash or PAYMAYA in accepting their reservation fees and monthly equity payments.
Property developer offices have shifted a hundred percent online. Online Product Knowledge Webinars for their sellers. Reservation processes online are now in place. Documentation processes have been relaxed until the ECQ’s will be lifted. Although not all developers have shifted and adapted to the change, the majority of them already did. These processes have been available and doable even before but since they still have a choice, these were not practiced. Now, developers need to adapt, whether they are ready or not.
Site presentations will definitely be virtual, thus the availability of virtual tours is a must have.
4. Stay connected with clients.
As a developer, everything that is happening to the project or decisions made for the project should be readily available to the investors, the sellers, and future buyers. It is very important that all websites, social media accounts of each developer are up to date and well maintained. The Internet is man’s best friend nowadays. And as a developer, official statements and memos should come directly from your own website, and not from the news or here says from the social media.
Site development updates should be posted in the company or project websites. The developer must also maintain a blog for the investors, clients and sellers.
5. Empower your employees through webinars and online classes
Maximize this time during the Enhanced Community Quarantine by enriching the knowledge and skills of your employees by enrolling them in online classes or letting them catch up with the latest trends by inviting resource speakers and conducting webinars.
People will be adjusting to this new normal. Their productivity might be affected because of their adjustments. But whether they like it or not, they have to adjust or Virtual assistants may take their places. If you are not that familiar with Virtual Assistants, these are online workers that are trained and equipped for doing admin tasks (mostly) and do all things entirely online. Some are home-based workers that have already developed routines and system to make sure that they are productive and they get things done. Sometimes, 1 VA can actually do the tasks of 3 to 4 staff in a regular office. They’re not cheap to hire but they get things done faster.
Though we are not suggesting to replace the staff with VA’s, the point is, they can be trained as VA’s to make sure the staff remains productive despite staying home or working home base. The inputs and techniques from a skilled VA may help them level up and equip them better in doing their job while working from home.
6. Create exciting PROMO for the BUYERS
To keep the sales coming, property developers must come up with exciting promos for the ready market. To encourage them to invest now. Investors at this time are ready investors that might also be end-users. These buyers are financially ready to buy for the best deals that will be available in the market.
Contrary to predictions of some brokers, Filipino Homes hit surprisingly high sales just like the old normal. And the property developers who are quick to shift to online transactions experienced amazing number of sales for the past weeks we were in Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ). Amidst COVID threat, real estate industry remained resilient.
