These days the benefits of new technology also bring potential complications. With so many software systems available to manage the various aspects of a business, actually managing them can become a task in itself.

Human error can give rise to repeated data entry resulting in duplication. A staff member entering contact and address information hundreds of times across and between software packages creates the likelihood of a mistake. Small mistakes can be devastating to a business.

For example a letting agent once told me that the company practice was to add reminders to a calendar from one system, based on dates from another system in order to generate documents from a third system.

The staff member miss-keyed a date for end of a tenancy, the function of the date was to remind the staff to issue a legal notice for end of tenancy. The notice expired, and as the tenants were unaware, the landlord lost out on a sale. The resultant cost to the agent’s indemnity insurance was in the thousands.

So with all these systems, the best and obvious strategy is to remove or reduce human error.

This can be done in a few ways. Check to see if any of your current software supports a data connection to another piece of your software arsenal. A common example from the property industry is uploading advertisement data that is automatically sent to property portals like Rightmove or Zoopla without the need to log in and duplicate the marketing content.

Another is to see, if your software provider has your data available as a CSV file. Can it be easily downloaded? For example Google Contacts allows you to export your contacts as a spreadsheet. This in turn can be uploaded to your software system. Similarly, our software system for lettings and sales agents, landmax.pro allows users to upload their data instantly. This is handy for complete migration from one system to another, or simply for uploading your weekly marketing list from your social media accounts.

Either way, think long term. Aim to reduce the human errors by automating part or all of the processes involved between systems. Or try to centralise to one main system. If you’re moving from one system to another, you will realise – if you’re not already aware – that an import data tool would be vital.

Want to see how an import data tool can benefit your Letting or Estate Agency – then sign up free to landmax.pro