Less stress, more impact: Immobel improved its customer guidance with Ziggu

Immobel is one of Belgium’s largest listed property developers, with projects reaching from Brussels to Paris and from Ostend to Frankfurt. A survey of its own buyers told Immobel that its communication fell short of its buildings. Since 2021, the residential advisory team has run that communication through Ziggu. More than 990 buyers follow their project in the customer portal.

• Sector: Property development, listed
• Country: Belgium, projects across Western Europe
• On Ziggu since: 2021
• Projects on Ziggu: 10
• Buyers in the portal: 990+
• Used for: Documents, Conversations, Decisions, Reports, Financials
• Connected to: Letsbuild

What did the buyer survey reveal?

Immobel’s buyers said the guidance was quieter than the work behind it. Valentine Van Malleghem, head of residential advisory, had sent out the survey to find out what buyers made of the process.

“Our communication with clients could be better,” she says. “Behind the scenes we were busy for our clients, but we hadn’t stopped to think that they couldn’t see any of it.”

That is the gap most developers have and few measure. The team is working. The buyer hears nothing and assumes nothing is happening.

Why did Immobel choose Ziggu over a CRM?

Immobel deliberately picked the narrower tool. “Ziggu is less broad than a CRM, and that is exactly the point,” Valentine says. “The focus is on communication with the client and guiding them. There is no ballast of features you don’t need.”

The residential advisory team rebuilt its procedure around that. One dossier per buyer, one place for plans and documents, one record of what was decided.

“Since we started working with Ziggu, we notice there is less stress in our team”

What changed for the team?

The mailbox emptied and the handovers got easier. “It’s the first thing I click in the morning and it stays open all day,” says Marie-Lise Moetwil, senior residential project advisor. “If a colleague is away, someone else can take over without working out what has been done and what hasn’t.”

Both describe the same effect: less stress. “We don’t have overflowing mailboxes any more, we have better processes, and we can work proactively by sending newsletters or creating FAQs,” Marie-Lise says. “Some things look small, but they have more impact.”

“If a colleague is away, someone else can take over without working out what has been done and what hasn’t”

What changed for the buyers?

Buyers stopped having to ask. A photo of the site, uploaded to the portal, does more than a paragraph explaining the delay.

“Uploading a site photo to Ziggu reassures our buyers,” Marie-Lise says. “They can see that it’s moving, that we’re on top of the follow-up.”

Asked whether the team could work without it now, Valentine laughs. “No. I don’t think my colleagues would thank me if I told them to carry on without Ziggu.”