Merry Christmas from NicheCom and all the best for 2020!
Well what can we say, 2019 has been a belter of a year for NicheCom, but we couldn’t have done it without the continuing loyalty of all our clients (over 500 of you the last count). We’d like to thank you all for your support throughout the year and wish you all a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing festive break.
The year in review
We all know the property market this year has been very challenging thanks to endless political uncertainty causing major paralysis. Despite dealing with a reduced number of transactions, we’ve been determined to push forward with developing new marketing propositions so that when things start to (hopefully) bounce back in 2020, you’ll be poised ready to wow potential vendors with some cutting-edge options for showcasing their homes.
In light of the challenges that this year has brought, we thought we’d focus the mind on a few highlights and see what’s in store for 2020.
Pushing forward with new services
Some of our newer services have gone from strength to strength as the need to go above and beyond to win instructions has been more critical than ever.
Our drone photography service has really ‘taken off’ in 2019. We’ve expanded our drone fleet and recruited new pilots so we can pretty much cover the entire country, although take-up has been the greatest in rural and coastal areas. Sometimes only a drone can reach the parts that other types of photography can’t! Our qualified drone pilots differ to those of other aerial photography outfits because they are property photographers first and foremost. See gallery
Our 3D tours have been gaining ground as more and more vendors are expecting a showcase to come as part of the package. We’re confident that we are now the largest UK operator of Matterport 3D showcase technology. Agents need not worry about missing out on that all important buyer data, as this year we developed a new data capture option on all our 3D showcases. View gallery.
Inventory Services have been a big success story for with growth coming in at over 45% year on year. There has been a growing demand from agents, landlords and tenants for a really detailed and accurate independent inventory at check-in and check-out thanks to the growth in new types of deposit schemes. Since the Tenant Fee ban in June, more tenants than ever are using insurance-based deposit schemes, that rely heavily on a really comprehensive report with photographic evidence to help avoid disputes.
Notable Events
Summer Party and Photographer of the Year Award
July sees the gathering of our full national network of photographers, inventory staff and head office team for our annual Summer shindig. The evening is rounded off with our ‘Photographer of the Year’ award ceremony. Our photographers nominate their most creative and well composed images in a number of categories, with our Group MD, Andy, awarding prizes to the winners. Always a competitive bunch – our photographers all strive to win a trophy each year!
EA Masters & EA Supplier Guide Award
We were delighted to meet so many of you at event-of-the-year EA Masters in October and to have welcomed so many new clients to the fold.
We might have mentioned this once or twice already 😉 but we’re still over the moon about being considered ‘exceptional’ in the EA Supplier Guide for 2020. Definitely a massive highlight of the year for us knowing that our clients appreciate the quality of all the different services we provide.
December High Achievers trip to Rome
This was a bit of busman’s holiday for our talented photographers. Every year, our highest achievers (those who have smashed their targets) get rewarded with a weekend away in a glamorous location. This year was Rome, which provided ample photo opportunities for our team who couldn’t bear to be parted from their cameras for even a few days. A fantastic few days of culture were enjoyed (we won’t mention the football match some of our Directors snuck away to).
What’s next for 2020
As we’ve hinted already, we’ve been busy working on an exciting new product to help you deliver an exceptional service to your vendors while saving you a lot of internal resource. Our immersive accompanied viewing service GotoView utilises 3D Matterport technology and provides numerous benefits to all parties involved. Agents can reduce the man hours spent out on appointments, vendors will appreciate having less visitors and potential buyers can quickly whittle down their shortlist. Watch this space for more information.
Contact us in the new year if you’d like us to come and talk to you about how we can help you with any aspect of your property marketing.