A Yorkshire-based property technology company has used April Fools’ Day to highlight ongoing frustrations with lengthy sales progression communications in the UK property sector.
ASAP, a Pontefract-based outsourced sales progression platform, announced what it called the ‘Voice Accelerator’ on 1st April, claiming to use artificial intelligence to compress lengthy property update calls into instant summaries. The company later confirmed the launch was a marketing stunt designed to draw attention to persistent communication inefficiencies between estate agents, solicitors and buyers.
Industry communication challenges
Richard Megson, Managing Director of ASAP, stated: “The industry loses a huge amount of time to chasing updates and repeated conversations.” He added that whilst the idea of compressing lengthy calls into seconds may sound appealing, “the reality is that there is sadly no shortcut to faster transactions”.
The platform, founded in 2014 by Megson and Tony Hill, is currently used by hundreds of estate agents across the UK. The company published an explanatory video to accompany the announcement, which revealed the April Fools’ nature of the product launch.
The stunt comes as property technology firms continue to explore ways to address transaction delays in the UK market. Recent developments in AI-powered property management platforms have targeted estate agents, though communication bottlenecks remain a persistent issue in the conveyancing process.
Company developments
ASAP recently appointed Kate Billany, former TwentyCI chief executive, as sales director. The appointment signals the company’s intention to expand its presence in the estate agency sector, where sales progression services aim to reduce transaction times.
The April Fools’ announcement reflects broader industry discussions about technology adoption in property transactions, as firms seek to address inefficiencies that affect transaction speeds. Whilst the Voice Accelerator itself was not genuine, the underlying issue of communication delays between conveyancing professionals and agents remains a recognised challenge in the UK property market.