Intro & Presentation
Pedro:
My name is Pedro Garcia. I have been working in the regional real estate market for 30 years and have been a partner and managing director of Garcia Immobilien in Attendorn for 25 years.
Lennart:
So that means you're a classic real estate agent for existing properties, or what exactly do you do?
Pedro:
Yes, we specialize in the distribution, rental, and sale of residential, commercial, and investment properties because we have developed successful marketing and distribution systems that help our customers fulfill their orders reliably.
Lennart:
Great, impressive. Do you do that on your own?
Pedro:
No, we have a team of seven employees with whom we are actively and successfully working here.
Lennart:
And are they all permanent employees or are they also freelancers?
Pedro:
No, they are all permanent employees.
Lennart:
Are you still at the forefront as a broker, or are you now more of a managing director who takes care of the structures behind the scenes?
Pedro:
No, no, in day-to-day business I am of course available to our customers – every day. But one of my main responsibilities, and something that is very important to me, is of course the further development of the company and also the development of our employees, so that we can offer our customers the same consistently high quality.
Situation before Ynfinite
Lennart:
You've had a Ynfinite website for several years now. Do you remember what the situation was like before you got the website from us?
Pedro:
Yes, of course, it's a bit hazy now, but before we switched, we noticed that the information and content on our website quickly became outdated. Maintaining and updating this content was an enormous amount of work for us, and that was a heavy burden because it didn't fit well with our commitment to be innovative, up-to-date, and transparent for our customers. That bothered us with the old technical solution.
Lennart:
Did you shop around, compare what was available on the market, or how did you find out about us?
Pedro:
Of course, we thought about how we could further develop our website so that it would meet the standards and requirements we had in mind. And yes—I don't know how, but in any case, we then, then also via... well, of course via our collaboration with our marketing agency Königspunkt, we came across this solution from Ynfinite. And I was immediately hooked by the possibilities that the technology already offered.
Decision-making process & selection
Lennart:
What was the decision-making process like at your company? Did you listen to it and then immediately say, "Let's do it" – or did you have to talk to other people or sleep on it?
Pedro:
Yes, of course you sleep on it for a night or two, although you don't really think about it anymore once you're asleep. But the idea and the concept and the direction of the Ynfinite website basically convinced me right away, because I felt that it was years ahead of what we had seen so far in terms of technology. And then, from the very beginning, it was an open, transparent, and constructive exchange, so that we finally got the team on board and basically all said together: let's do it, it's a good fit, and we're looking forward to it.
Lennart:
So in your case, the employees are really on board and they are asked if they think it's cool?
Pedro:
Yes, we do that. Of course, I bear the main responsibility for strategic development, but as a team, we want to be successful together. And there's nothing better than when the whole team is behind the decisions you make.
Lennart:
Were there any decisive criteria that you took into account when making your selection at the time?
Pedro:
Yes, one decisive factor, and I believe also a decisive, decisive benefit that Ynfinite brings, is this headless CMS system. The idea that you can manage all your content centrally in one place and then display it anywhere you want on the website in a dynamic way – we hadn't seen that before. On the old site, we had to maintain each piece of content individually on the respective page where it was displayed. Of course, the larger the site became, the more time-consuming this was. And that's no longer the case with Ynfinite.
Media & Content Management
Pedro:
We have all the information and content centrally located in one place in the administration and can then decide where we want to display it on the website.
Lennart:
Your website is also divided into three sections—even color-coded: residential, commercial, and investment. I think that's great and I like to show it to customers because it makes it easy to show what you actually do.
Pedro:
Our DNA is characterized by the fact that we are very customer-oriented. That's why it was important for us that the website allow us to provide our customers with the information they are really interested in. Commercial and investment, for example, only emerged as a result of this. With the Ynfinite website, we were able to present differentiated content to our customers very quickly.
Onboarding & Operation
Lennart:
How did the onboarding go? How long did it take?
Pedro:
I think it took at least six months before we could go live. When you decide to do something new, you also have to clear out the old, which delays things. I think it took a good 12 months before everything was in place. But we were live after six months.
Lennart:
Do you remember how long ago that was?
Pedro:
It must have been at least five or six years—maybe even seven.
Lennart:
Have you noticed any differences between then and now in terms of support?
Pedro:
Everything is much more routine and well-established now. Today, it's an everyday routine—I hardly have anything to do with it myself; it's handled by my employees. The operation is very intuitive.
Favorite features & everyday use
Lennart:
Do you have a favorite feature?
Pedro:
We've been using the automatic social media post generation for 1-2 years – it's a great feature. It's also fun to easily exchange employee photos: change them in one place and they are updated everywhere on the website. Relatively simple, but very effective.
Lennart:
How do your employees feel about working with the site?
Pedro:
Even though I don't operate it myself, I'm involved in every new publication. A lot of it runs fully automatically. That makes us more efficient, which means more time for our customers.
surprising advantages and successes
Lennart:
Have there been any surprising benefits for you?
Pedro:
Yes, I was impressed by the simplicity and intuitiveness. You only really understand a lot of things when you experience them for yourself.
Lennart:
Have there been any measurable successes?
Pedro:
Yes, definitely. We have significantly more visitors and leads via our website than via real estate portals. The leads via the website are at least twice as high. We really like that.
Lennart:
Seller leads too?
Pedro:
Yes – many owners use the contact form, look at content, use our online valuation, the buyer finder, or our guides, e.g., on inheritance or divorce.
Lennart:
Have you received any feedback from your real estate agents?
Pedro:
Yes. The real estate agents are proud of our website. It is often praised, even by clients who found and chose us because of the site.
Return on investment & recommendation
Lennart:
Have you ever measured that as ROI?
Pedro:
No. But I feel that it's absolutely fine – the added value is clearly recognizable.
Lennart:
Would you recommend us to others?
Pedro:
Yes—with one caveat: not to our competitors. (laughs) But yes, I would recommend you. Cool system.
Outlook & Future Plans
Lennart:
Do you have any future plans online or for the website?
Pedro:
Of course. We are guided by developments in customer behavior. 90–95% of traffic comes via mobile devices. Digitalization, convenience, and comfort are key issues for us.
Lennart:
What about AI and visibility with ChatGPT and the like?
Pedro:
Exciting. We are intensively engaged with AI and changes in user behavior. The task is to remain visible—there too.
Lennart:
Pedro, I'm super grateful that we were able to be here!
Pedro:
I would also like to express my sincere thanks for the collaboration so far. Things don't always run smoothly, but it's always very constructive and yields positive results. It was great to have you visit us.
Lennart:
I think there are construction sites everywhere. The question is: how do you deal with them? And I hope we're doing a good job.
Pedro:
In all developments with partners, it's about truly living the partnership. It's give and take. I never had the feeling that Ynfinite lacked interest – on the contrary. And that's how you overcome every obstacle.
Lennart:
Those were great closing words. Thank you!
Pedro:
Thank you too.
