WIRRAL LIFE TALK TO LET HQ ...
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WIRRAL LIFE TALK TO LET HQ ...
LetHQ is an online provider of pre-tenancy assessment checks and specialist Insurance products to the UK rental sector . Supporting over 7,500 Agents and Landlords from all corners of the UK . Wirral Life caught up with owner Simon Skinner .
Tell us about how LetHQ began ? Having worked in estate agency since the late 90 ’ s I have successfully sold and let thousands of both residential and commercial properties from across the Wirral and beyond . This has given me an incredible level of industry experience . Whist the services offered by LetHQ are not completely unique many of our competitors come from outside of the industry or have been set up by insurance companies looking to piggy-back a referencing service to help push their insurance products . Letting agents are under incredible pressure to deliver and meet their clients ’ expectations . As a result , this makes them very fickle when it comes to their own suppliers and customer service is everything . I believed that by combining my industry knowledge along with a high quality , cost effective , accurate product and industry leading customer service we could appeal to a wide variety of clients both large and small .
What makes you stand out from your competitors ? There is nothing more frustrating when a business does not return telephone calls or takes hours to reply to an email . Whilst it is important to offer a genuine range of quality services , in this business the level of urgency is unparalleled , the turnaround for the average tenancy is incredibly quick and the home moving process very stressful for all involved . At LetHQ we aim to maintain the highest levels of customer service across all areas of our business . We deal with our workload accurately and promptly , telephone calls are answered within three rings and all staff or either ex letting agents , landlord or are trained up to a GNVQ Level 2 in housing management .
What is your greatest achievement ? In 2022 we won the ESTAS award for customer service , best in sector for Tenant Referencing . Going toe to toe with various industry giants and based off client feedback , the ESTAS award is an industry recognised award widely regarded as the most prestigious awards ceremony in the UK Presented by TV property personality , Phil Spencer . Always looking to maintain pole position in 2023 , we were elated to win this once again for a third year running this year in 2024 .
Was LetHQ immediately successful ? Building a business from a cold start with essentially a zero-client base was not easy . However , within a few short weeks we started to receive new business enquiries and users slowly started to get set up and the business started to trickle in . As a UK based online provider with nationwide coverage , we tried a variety of different methods to attract new clients and targeted all of the major UK cities as these tend to have the most roof tops and potential new clients . As we continue to grow , we have constantly updated the public facing , LetHQ platform and back and CRM system . Bolstering our systems with new features , products and enhancements further helps us gain more business , process and track checks more easily and help maintain a great level of customer service .
What type of client do you deal with ? The LetHQ platform was initially developed with Letting Agents in mind . Whilst they provide the bulk of our business , as the incubation process progressed , we realised that there was also a demand from the likes of housings associations and independent landlords who required the use of a professional service to vet prospective tenants , guarantors , companies and protect their rent . With this in mind we made our system more flexible to cater for different user types . We now support thousands of clients from small one-off independent agents , high street chains , do it yourself landlords to large international commercial clients who manage billions of pounds of assets .
How do you see the future of LetHQ ? On the surface the UK rental sector is in permanent flux . However , people have been leasing properties and land for hundreds of years . The government proposed Renters ’ Rights Bill proposes a raft of potential changes such as making tenancy terms more flexible , allowing tenants pets in properties and providing tenants stronger protections against backdoor eviction . As the population of the UK continues to swell , I do not see the demand for rental property reducing any time soon . The LetHQ platform will continue to evolve and innovate . We have several new features in development that will help us remain competitive and cope with any future industry changes or trends .
If Letting Agents or Landlords would like to find out more about how we can support them please visit us online at : www . LetHQ . co . uk or call 0151 606 5106 .
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