Classic Folios have cemented themselves as one of the best UK handover solutions companies going, and have expanded into VR. David Graydon, owner and managing director of Classic Folios, tells us everything about the company’s journey.
In simple terms, how would you describe handover solutions?
Handover solutions are, quite simply, the heart of customer care.
Our flexible, bespoke approach means that property developers can choose a handover that is suitable for their buyers, whether that’s a more traditional folio approach, or an online option to keep up with the digital age. By providing homebuyers with relevant and useful information, costly calls to customer service teams are reduced and customer satisfaction scores increase. Housebuilders can go one step further and provide extra information at reservation too, reducing buyer remorse and keeping purchasers on track to completion.
In order to assist with relationships, how do you make sure that communication and presentation are exactly right?
It is essential to provide homebuyers and owners with relevant and useful information, written in a clear, concise and easy to access format, to ensure that small queries don’t become big problems.
That is where our handover solutions really come into their own. Written to plot level, Classic Folios’ content is bespoke to each homeowner. This individual approach eliminates the problems that we often see with generic content, which just doesn’t provide enough information to be truly useful.
As well as being experts in content, we are investing in the future with our software. Our new, fully developer branded portal, Hoozzi, is a game-changer for improving customer communication. Tapping into consumer needs for digital products, it provides a unique portal for each home, containing a wealth of information in one place.
Hoozzi also has the added benefit of a branded communications platform that keeps homeowners engaged for longer, from instant notifications wand automated branded emails, to interfaces within Hoozzi from some of the best service and property technology providers, offering a range of solutions in one place. Hoozzi is the next step in relationship marketing for the property market.
You claim to be experts in your field from both a knowledgeable and a contemporary aspect, how do you get to that status?
We have competitors, like most businesses, but what makes us market leaders is our specialisation in all aspects of new home handover and the trust that we have built up with our client base over the last 20 years. Our experience, gained from working with over 250 UK property developers, means we have the knowledge to work with all types of homebuyer, right through the customer journey, from first timers to downsizers. However, we never rest on our laurels and listening to our clients and taking their feedback on board is essential to how we evolve.
We new proud to use our expertise and experience to act as consultants for our clients, guiding and working with them on what would be ideal to reflect their brand.
We are always up for a challenge and love the opportunity to shake up the market with new ways of doing things. We are investing in new technology to lead in this area, from introducing tablet solutions to the development of Hoozzi. We are already seeing a huge change in how digital products engage homebuyers and provides the opportunity for developers to track this engagement, we have seen developments with 100% activation rates on Hoozzi.
We make sure that handover is never dull and are keen to break new ground to respond to the changing needs of homebuyers and owners.
Having worked with over 250 clients, both big and small, how important is it to adapt to the customer requirements based on the size of their company?
Everything is bespoke to each developer, and we can cater to any company size, providing a solution that works to ensure customer care standards are met and bottom lines are improved.
Because we offer full-service solutions, whatever the size of the company, we know that we can provide a cost-effective result that can reduce internal costs, free up staff time and improve customer satisfaction.
You stress the care aspect of your work quite a lot, how vital can it be to show that you’re a caring company to clients?
It’s extremely important to show our clients that we care about them and this is backed up by our high retention rate and long-term relationships with developers such as Weston Homes and Ballymore, who have worked with us for over 15 years.
Our company values ensure that every member of the Classic Folios team really cares about our clients and will always go the extra mile to meet their needs.
We are passionate about improving customer care for new home buyers through our clients and, in turn, believe that our caring and supportive approach sets us apart from the competition.
In regard to VR home tours, how much of an impact has that had on the company since it’s been introduced?
VR home tours are still very new to the business, but already we’ve seen an exciting interest in the product and PropTech is only going to get bigger. For developers to stay ahead of their competitors, they’ll need to try new things to stand out: Hoozzi and our 3D Virtual Reality (VR) service provide the opportunity to do this.
How do you see property developers using Virtual Reality?
We see VR being used throughout the customer journey, to engage homebuyers with their property through an immersive experience.
VR offers a wealth of opportunities for both property developers and homebuyers. Viewing properties remotely reduces time and costs spent by site staff on unnecessary viewings and site visits, as the purchaser has 24/7 access to the show home – particularly useful for overseas buyers.
Once the homebuyer has moved in, we use VR to provide tours that act as a virtual home demo, as we can create bespoke video content and tag this in the walkthrough – when a customer has a problem, they can refer back to the walkthrough where video content is available to them to self-serve.
VR is a natural step forward in customer care, as we see consumers moving to digital methods to make purchases and solve problems.
Are there any other potential new products in the pipeline that you can reveal?
As technology leaders, we continue to invest large sums in research and development. This investment is focused on providing a great end-customer experience, while doing all the ‘heavy lifting’ for our clients. To do this, we are moving fast to meet the servicing needs of anyone living within four walls, continuing to work with property developers, but looking further at other types of home occupiers and commercial needs.
