Concurrent contract signing drives efficiency and growth for ONCAMPUS
tenancies signed
in first year of operation
value of tenancies let
in first year of operation
to complete a booking
Since implementing Concurrent’s contract signing and management feature in February 2023, ONCAMPUS has modernised its processes, increased booking efficiency and better positioned its business model for growth.
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“Concurrent’s contract signing features have automated and streamlined many of our processes - it is the reason that we did not need to hire another team member.”
Bradley Derrick, Head of Accommodation & Operational Support, ONCAMPUS UK/EU
ONCAMPUS is a partnership between Cambridge Education Group and some of the world’s leading universities, with study centres on university campuses throughout the UK and Europe.
They teach pre-university programmes to help students progress to a wide range of undergraduate and Master’s degrees at top institutions.
Their programmes are particularly tailored to support international students who do not yet meet the requirements for direct entry to university in the UK and Europe.
Their unique business model means they value flexibility, efficiency, and availability in their property management solution, which is exactly why they turned to Concurrent.
The Problem
ONCAMPUS were utilising inefficient manual methods across their business: to advertise their properties, make offers, sign contracts and provide booking confirmation documents. This caused problems across the entire booking process.
- Significant time spent sending contracts manually and tracking booking statuses via spreadsheets
- Delays in progressing bookings due to late signatures or payments
- Inability to contact and notify tenants with an automated solution
- Inability to check which stage of the booking process a prospect was at without contacting them directly
- Delays in communication due to the time difference between the ONCAMPUS team and international students (a large proportion of their client base)
Why Did ONCAMPUS Choose Concurrent?
As a business committed to evolution, it was important for ONCAMPUS to choose a PMS that would allow them to scale their initiatives and support their future growth. However, they wanted the freedom to implement this growth at a pace that suited them. They were drawn to Concurrent as it does not force customers to be ‘all or nothing’ when choosing the features they use.
ONCAMPUS was able to take a ‘phased’ approach to implementing Concurrent’s features, beginning by just using the contract signing and management feature, Channel Manager (the ability to feed properties to 3rd party portals and agents), and marketing functions. As the business continues to scale, ONCAMPUS is considering implementing rent collection and reporting with Concurrent.
When choosing Concurrent, another crucial deciding factor was the sector knowledge of the team. StuRents Intelligence’s quarterly and annual reports and webinars have helped ONCAMPUS inform key business growth decisions and pricing strategies, including how aggressively to act in each city they operate in.
The Solution
Making the move to modern
- Concurrent has allowed ONCAMPUS to modernise their operations. The ability to advertise digitally has made them more flexible. They no longer circulate PDFs, meaning they can implement dynamic pricing, increasing rents to remain in line with market conditions and competitors, or decreasing prices to manage voids and minimise risk. They can also highlight changes to facilities, advertise flash sales, or emphasise any other key updates as needed.
Keep in control with Concurrent
- With Concurrent’s Book Now feature , ONCAMPUS can take bookings directly via their website, and maintain full control over how many rooms they list at a time. This gives them the flexibility to adapt their pricing strategies as the letting season progresses. ONCAMPUS can now easily mobilise to remove listings from the platform when stock is sold out, preventing students from booking.
Enhance efficiency, boost bookings
Book Now allows students to book rooms directly from the property listing without any unnecessary pre-application admin. ONCAMPUS no longer needs to send out contracts manually, which helps to speed up the booking process. Clicking Book Now triggers Concurrent’s digital contract signing functionality, so both tenants and guarantors can sign online. International students can now review and sign contracts outside of ONCAMPUS working hours as they don't need to communicate directly with staff, minimising delays due to time differences.
ONCAMPUS can track the status of enquiries, applications, and bookings without needing to chase prospective tenants. They are automatically alerted when contracts are ready for them to counter-sign. When sending out contracts manually, this was impossible.
“Concurrent has revolutionised how we run our business, ensuring we complete bookings in less time than ever before.”
Camilla Marchini, Accommodation & Operational Support Coordinator, ONCAMPUS UK/EU
The Results
Book Now removes time taken to process booking offers
Booking confirmation time reduced by 1/3
Eliminated mistakes in contracts
Before Concurrent, 1/10 documents contained a mistake
Digitising and automating contract management through Concurrent has enhanced the efficiency of bookings, improved employee time management, and greatly reduced administrative burdens for ONCAMPUS. They have also seen an impressive reduction in human error.
Before Concurrent, it could take between a week and two weeks for ONCAMPUS to complete a single booking as they were completely reliant on the proactivity of the prospective tenant.
With Concurrent, ONCAMPUS have found that most contracts are initiated and ready to countersign within 24 hours.
Since onboarding with Concurrent they have signed over 1000 tenancies in platform, equating to a tenancy value of over £10 million to date.
"The Concurrent system makes our workload more manageable and enjoyable."
- Bradley Derrick, Head of Accommodation & Operational Support, ONCAMPUS UK/EU
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