Press Release: flatfair teams up with proptech firm Vaboo to offer letting agents a year of free membership

4 minute read

Jonathan Stein

Oct 21, 2020


Highlights

● flatfair launches new campaign with customer rewards platform Vaboo

● Up to 500 agents will have their year-long membership with Vaboo paid for free

● Agents need only sign up two tenancies to flatfair’s No Deposit scheme to be eligible

● Signing landlords up to flatfair’s newly launched Boost product also makes them eligible

20th October 2020 - Rental payments platform flatfair  has teamed up with customer rewards and engagement proptech firm Vaboo to provide up to 500 letting agencies a year of free access to the platform.

Agents who sign up two tenants to flatfair’s No Deposit solution each month — or those who sign two landlords up to flatfair Boost each month, or a combination of the two — will qualify for the offer, with flatfair paying their monthly membership fee of £50 for up to 12 months.

Vaboo allows agents to brand their own customer rewards platforms. The perks available for renters, landlords and staff include over 700 exclusive offers and discounts from most national retailers and regular prize draws — and even the chance to win one month’s rent for free.

Additionally, the rental payments platform will also pay for the first 50 agents to access to Vaboo’s premium service, covering up to 150 customers. The enhanced package provides agents with hundreds of more offers and discounts to offer their customers.

The company’s mission is to help build trust, loyalty and understanding between agents and their customers, whilst demonstrating a more compassionate approach to lettings to prospective landlords.

Vaboo agents want to show their customers that they care but often lack the time or expertise to engage effectively on a long-term basis, which is where the customised platform steps in.

Whether prospective landlords or new tenants, the platform automatically takes the customer through a consistent engagement journey, strengthening the relationship between the agent’s brand and their customer.

With Vaboo, agents can even engage with their communities by sourcing discounts from local retailers to offer to their tenants.

Through weekly engagement with more than 100,000 current users, the platform also incentivises and curates feedback from tenants, helping agencies to generate valuable insights about their service, uncover future opportunities as well as positive testimonials and reviews. The unique approach Vaboo takes to customer engagement means the platform generates up to ten times more feedback than many other reviews based services.

Clients are allocated their own dedicated Success Manager to help them get the most out of the platform which can be fully customised to promote other services and add-ons.

Vaboo, which only actively started selling to the sector fully at the beginning of 2019, has already helped more than 300 letting agent branches stand out from the crowd, improve relationships with tenants and, ultimately, enhance their renting experience.

The partnership comes after flatfair launched its Boost product, which provides landlords with up to 12 weeks of damage protection for an average of just £10 per month.

Agents can sign up tenants to flatfair’s No Deposit solution to be eligible for the Vaboo campaign offer, or sign landlords up for Boost.

Franz Doerr, CEO at flatfair, commented:

“This year has seen flatfair go from strength to strength as we continue to partner with some of the most innovative and exciting companies in the proptech world.

“Vaboo has quickly made a name for itself and shares the same values we embrace at flatfair, especially our commitment to improving the rental experience for everyone.

“We understand the integral role of letting agents in the renting process, so we are delighted to offer up to 500 agencies, who either sign up tenants to our No Deposit solution or Landlords to a Boost product, a year’s free membership with Vaboo.”

Jonathan Stein, CEO at Vaboo, commented:

“Flatfair is one of the leading voices in the proptech industry, so this partnership represents a key milestone for Vaboo in our mission to improve the image of the PRS.

“As the lettings market continues to grow even more crowded and competitive, agents need to go above and beyond if they want to stand out..

“Customer engagement can be a full time job for agents, and, building dialogue, trust and loyalty with their tenants is often a difficult task.

“Vaboo’s aim is to build a bridge between agents and their tenants, via our monthly prize giveaways, unique discounts and weekly engagement . Investing in customers, especially in this uncertain climate, drives positive brand engagement and demonstrates a compassionate approach to lettings to prospective landlords.”

-ENDS-

ABOUT FLATFAIR

flatfair is a payment technology company that offers a range of products across the living and rental sectors. The company raised $11m via Series A fundraising led by Index Ventures in summer 2019.

flatfair's business is founded upon making life easier for estate agents and landlords who are often caught up in deposit disputes around unpaid rent, damage or cleaning charges.

The company’s original no deposit solution protects landlords while giving tenants the ability to move into a property instantly by enabling them to forgo the need to pay an upfront deposit of 5 weeks’ rent. Instead of shelling out a full deposit, tenants pay a smaller fee (equal to a week’s rent plus VAT) and when the tenancy ends, any outstanding costs are calculated.

Agents or landlords notify tenants of the costs they propose using flatfair's platform and both parties can communicate on the amount flatfair easy to use platform - keeping things transparent. If they agree, the landlord becomes entitled to that amount (the “Established Charge”). If they can't agree, the dispute is referred to the government-approved independent adjudicator, “mydeposits”, which will decide the amount of the Established Charge.

ABOUT VABOO

Vaboo create and manage tenant reward and engagement platforms for letting agents.

They provide access to exclusive offers, national discounts and regular prize draws to help

agents build trust, stand out and collect insights.

In addition to providing 100’s of national offers and discounts, they manage agent-branded communications with customers around these benefits, asking the questions that matter and collecting valuable feedback to identify potential areas for growth and revenue generation.

With an added value service that achieves an unprecedented 50% open rates in weekly communications, they help drive positive brand engagement for agents and show

prospective landlords they care for and value their customers.

Customer engagement can be a full time job: Vaboo do it for you.

To find out more visit vaboo.co.uk/demo


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