Proptech or TechProp? OrangeTee announces their digital transformation

At the annual OrangeTee Business Conference 2019 on 20th Feb, OrangeTee & Tie (OTT) announced an industry-changing initiative to transform their business into a TechProp company.

Steven Tan, Managing Director of OTT, hails the company as a TechProp company, the first of its kind. A TechProp company combines the strength of traditional real estate with innovative technology, expanding OTT’s influence to create an immersive and effective experience for agents.

“PropTech companies usually focus on narrow functions or segments with high friction level or those underserved by traditional real estate companies. Their aim is to provide a better experience using digital technologies to reduce costs, increase revenue and remove friction. Hence, many Proptech companies are also the disruptors of our industry.”

However, TechProp companies are “traditional real estate companies that are able to transform their business by accelerating innovation, building new skills, participating in the ecosystem and disrupting themselves to come out stronger in this digital age.”

Technologies like AI, robotics, IoT, blockchain, and immersive experiences are changing the basis of competition in every industry, including the real estate industry.

OTT is Singapore’s third largest real estate agency, with a 4,200-strong team of property agents. Tan believes tech innovation gives them an edge over other companies; a fact compounded by OTT’s scale and domain experience. One such example is  their Agent App, released last year to OTT agents. Branded as a “super app”, it enhance agents’ work processes and equips them with different capabilities, such as managing and re-posting existing listings across multiple property portals.

Two additional features in its Agent App around the second quarter of this year

To boost the productivity and performance of agents, OTT is releasing Auto-Website and NewsFeed that will soon be accessible on its Agent App.

NewsFeed works just like WhatsApp, where OTT can notify agents about critical information. It can be a reliable “singular source of truth” once it launches, according to Tan.

The Auto-Website will be a key feature of the Agent App. This will boost agents’ productivity and performance digitally by allowing agents to launch their personal website(s) in three steps.

Tan said, “In today’s digital world, the need for agents to have their own website is no longer a want, but very much a need, basically to have their own virtual shop fronts. We understand that it is very difficult and time-consuming for agents build and maintain their own website(s).”

“Agents will now no longer need to update their own websites, instead, when the company updates any information on our end, all agents’ websites will reflect those updates instantaneously“. He explains that there will be dedicated project teams to update data and information on these agent sites.

This service will be free to use, and agents are not limited to the number of website(s) they can launch. This will save agents a good chunk of money, considering websites can cost anywhere from $500- $2,000 to create. Agents will be able to select from a standard template of five designs, with the option to customise further for more tech-savvy agents.

Tan declined to reveal the amount invested in this Agent App, but shares that it is one that is necessary. When asked about agents’ adoption, Tan admits that it will take time to move agents completely online. However, with their continuous efforts to add more features and evolve the app to become more of a necessity than a value-add, Tan looks to achieve close to 100 per cent adoption in the next one to two years.

Entering the digital sphere through platform to platform (P2P) partnerships  

Tan also announced three strategic partnerships to help them enter the digital sphere- namely with DBS, KPMG, and ride-hailing app TADA.

All of OTT’s property listings and verified reviews of its agents will now be accessible on DBS Property Marketplace and this will give property seekers on the marketplace more choices and a greater peace of mind when engaging agents. This collaboration is designed to empower users and to provide for them a holistic customer journey to make smarter decisions on real estate matters.

“As technology advances, consumers are empowered to more alternatives which will lead to variations in search behaviours. Some buyers may prefer to search for properties first then looking for bankers to assess their affordability, while there are many who prefers to check their affordability status before embarking on any property search.” says Tan.

With KPMG, OTT plans to transform agents learning with mobile eLearning platform partnership. OTT will provide the domain knowledge and content while KPMG Business School (KBS), the flagship executive education institute of KPMG in Singapore, will provide the eLearning platform, which will be integrated within OrangeTee’s Agent App by 2Q19. The partnership will digitise OrangeTee’s classroom Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses into eLearning to support its agents with on demand and continuous learning to stay relevant in Industry 4.0.

OTT’s partnership with MVL Foundation, the company behind the ride-hailing app, TADA, increases OTT’s value to customers. This enables, agents can get a ride for themselves or their clients on the way to showflats or back home. Through this partnership, OrangeTee & Tie agents will be able to enjoy TADA’s ride-hailing services through Agent App, giving them access to TADA’s 28,000 vehicles, where they can book a ride for themselves or their clients, e.g. concierge service for new projects show flats or open houses.

Kay Woo, CEO of MVL said, “MVL is committed to improving the mobility experiences for all Singaporeans, and this partnership will help benefit the OrangeTee and Tie agents in their daily work, allowing them to do their jobs more efficiently. This will also allow our drivers to have an additional opportunity to receive ride bookings.”