“PayProp is a time-saving system that eliminates stress and frees me up to concentrate on other priorities,” he says.
Interview with
Early days
In the beginning, Charles Knight Estate Agents’ sole focus was tenant-find services. However, three years ago, the agency changed direction and focused on providing a full-service property management offering.
Initially, says Neil, he spent an enormous amount of time doing admin, from checking on landlords’ management to rent collection. Then, nearly two years ago, he came across PayProp, soon realising how much better it was at handling the same workload far better and quicker.
The difference
Neil says PayProp enables him to get on with urgent matters rather than getting tied up in the tedious details of statements, bank account monitoring and various other small administrative tasks.
Using the PayProp system also makes it unnecessary to dedicate staff to doing incoming payments, commissions and other low-value-add, although critically important, admin.
Specifically, it saves them having to manually log into a bank account to monitor incoming payments, ensure that money is going to the right landlords, and manage commissions.
Previously, employees would spend up to two hours per day preparing statements and making sure monies were correctly allocated. Now, says Neil, PayProp saves the business around 1.5 weeks per month, which can be spent doing more important tasks.
"It might seem like a small thing that PayProp makes invoicing easier, but actually, if you get that wrong, you could be facing a massive lawsuit. Landlords need to do their tax returns. It’s a heavy task. But now I can concentrate on the things I need to. If you’re doing it all manually, you’re often physically having to do it until 11 or 12 o’clock every night trying to pay landlords, double- and triple-checking to make sure the money is actually going into their bank accounts. What PayProp has done is effectively eliminate that stress. For a man with a family, no money in the world can replace that precious time with them." Neil Raja, Broker-owner Charles Knight Estate Agents
It just works
As a business owner who provides a high-end service to clients, Neil believes the most important thing is to make sure everything runs perfectly, and PayProp takes care of that.
“Once the system of payments, bank accounts and invoices etcetera is set up, very rarely do things have to be changed unless mistakes happen on our end. And if that happens, I just call PayProp for help.”
Neil says every time Charles Knight Estate Agents calls PayProp, the staff are always very professional and helpful – not a given for a technology provider. “What needs to be done is always explained carefully and, occasionally, they just execute an operation on our behalf.”
"The aftercare is very important to us. I can’t remember a time when PayProp staff haven’t been helpful. Someone is always there if we are in trouble, and we have never had an issue in that regard." Neil Raja, Broker-owner Charles Knight Estate Agents
The playmaker midfielder
Using the analogy of players in a football match, Neil likens PayProp to a central defensive midfielder, or CDM. “The job of PayProp is to get the ball and pass it along and do the hard graft while you work on other things.”
In a word of advice to other business owners who are also looking at PayProp, he says while there are costs involved, these have to be balanced against significant gains. “We have looked at, and tried, other systems which were high on promises but low on delivery. PayProp is a system that does things on the pitch that I don’t want to have to do myself.”
A ‘lifesaver’
Ultimately for Neil, it’s all about getting new business, speaking to clients and getting referrals. “PayProp has not only made it easier to build a team, but also enables me to concentrate on acquiring more business as well as training staff to grow the business.”
"If you’re someone looking to expand and grow your business, and you want to have systems in place to make it easy for you, PayProp is a lifesaver!" Neil Raja, Broker-owner Charles Knight Estate Agents
