"I was first introduced to Goodlord when I worked at another estate agency in Marlow as the lettings manager," says Robbie Hearn, Lettings Manager at Bonners & Babingtons. "They weren't even using a referencing company, they were doing their own referencing - and this was going back less than two years ago. It was a very bitty process."
That's when the agency started to research the different solutions that could help them tie together all their processes - and Goodlord cropped up as a strong contender. "I met with Oli Sherlock, Director of Insurance at Goodlord. We had a chat and really liked what we were seeing."
From then on, Robbie used Goodlord to help manage all aspects of the pre-tenancy process - and liked it so much that he took it with him to another two agencies, including Bonners & Babingtons, where he currently works. "Goodlord did all the things we were hoping it would. Subsequently, when I went to a different agency, I again suggested Goodlord to them."
The primary benefit of Goodlord for Robbie is the streamlined process that the platform can offer. "It's about getting everything under one digital umbrella," he says. "It's been interesting to see how everybody originally used different platforms or different ways to go through the lettings process. Whether it's the referencing, the ID checking, offer letters, drawing up the tenancy agreements - but now, utilising CRM systems and Goodlord means that you can have all the documentation and everything you need stored in one place."
As well as streamlining, the digital approach has another benefit: security. "I said to one of my colleagues 'trust me - those documents are safer on our CRM than they are on our shared drive'," says Robbie.
"Don't get me wrong - I was one of these people that fought against getting rid of the paper diary at one point. I was a bit scared of technology but, once I embraced it, I realised that it was the only way to go. That's why I'm a big promoter of Goodlord."