Pam Golding Properties scoops top global awards.
As Pam Golding Properties continues to grow its presence in Africa and globally, the group has once again been recognised as Best in South Africa and indeed in Africa at the recent International Property Awards 2016 (IPA) held in Dubai. Apart from being judged the best real estate agency on the continent, the group won awards for Best Real Estate Agency, Best Real Estate Agency Marketing and Best Real Estate Agency Website in South Africa.
The group now goes on to compete as the international nominee for Africa against top winners from around the planet in the 2016 International Property Awards ‘World’s Best’ to be announced in London in December.
Over the past 11 years Pam Golding Properties has become South Africa’s most awarded real estate company, achieving Best Estate Agency in South Africa nine times since 2005 and Best Estate Agency in Africa five times since 2011 at the International Property Awards.
The group received Gold at the Overseas Property Professional Awards for Best Real Estate Agency for three consecutive years since 2012 and was awarded Best Global Estate Agency in 2012 and 2014.
Dr Andrew Golding, CE of the Pam Golding Property group says: “The recognition at the International Property Awards 2016 is flattering as it endorses and reaffirms the fact that we provide a world-class standard of differentiated residential property service. It is also further recognition of our leadership role and achievements in the property industry in South Africa.
“Family values remain at the core of the Pam Golding Properties brand, which to this day still carries our founder’s passion for property and culture of service excellence. We believe in constantly raising industry standards through innovative marketing, IT and other initiatives, coupled with the highest level of professionalism.
“Notably, the agent-client interaction and relationship remains extremely important, as this is where the knowledge, skill, intuition and expertise of the individual agent comes to the fore in a genuinely value-adding service offering.”
Launched in 1995 and judged according to stringent criteria by a panel of over 50 industry experts, the International Property Awards celebrate the highest level of achievements by companies from around the globe operating in all sectors of the property and real estate industry.
As entry for the Best Real Estate Agency category is required to be based on one selected office within the organisation, this year Pam Golding Properties focused on its high-performing Western Cape Atlantic Seaboard office in a region which has sustained a high demand and sound returns for residential property among buyers and investors from around South Africa, the rest of the continent and abroad.
In the category for Best Real Estate Agency Marketing, the company was acknowledged for the excellence of the innovative ‘I am Pam’ campaign which focused consumer attention on their agents, those who are committed to upholding the very same values of professionalism and integrity as Pam Golding herself.
Says group marketing director Anthony Stroebel: “In this 40th year of our business it was apt that our brand promise was literally voiced by our agents as a celebration in terms of their having not only adopted these values but also having the full expertise of the group’s four decades of experience and knowledge behind them.
“In the real estate business people play a key role and our agents continue Pam’s legacy and that of the group. Very often residential property purchases have a strong emotional component to them and the role of the estate agent worldwide continues to add value to individual property transactions by providing critical components which include local expertise, wise property opinion, credible experience and negotiating skills to name but a few.”
Regarding winning the Best Real Estate Website award, Dr Golding says: “With global online audiences growing exponentially Pam Golding Properties’ digital marketing assets have increasingly become a key focus for the business. Working across a number of platforms including our website and our mobile platform, as well as our CRM (customer relationship management) platform Alchemy, we ensure an integrated approach to our marketing towards ensuring very efficient reach of qualified buyers.”
Designed to ensure that the buying journey is intuitive, providing multiple search options, results displays and alerts, the group’s website achieved more than 3.5 million visits and over 1.8 million unique visitors during the period from 10 June 2015 to 9 June 2016. Fifty percent of these were new visitors and approximately 23 percent were visitors outside South Africa.
Adds Dr Golding: “As is the case in almost every industry, the internet and technology and the digital environment in general have substantially altered the landscape for the South African residential real estate industry from both a client as well as an agent perspective, with many if not most of the innovations seen globally in this space adopted locally.
“As the search process by today’s tech-savvy consumers becomes more refined in what is an increasingly competitive trading environment, gaining the attention of web browsers looking for property has become a web-based battleground with the resultant requirement to provide user friendly, fast, efficient apps to enhance the user experience.
“Web experiences are needing to be constantly refreshed and enhanced and in the case of the PGP website, great care and attention has been given to ensure that the user experience is both a pleasurable, time-efficient and compelling journey to view a specific selection of properties on the market. This includes a range of technical innovations which include, for example, draw search, school search and a pinboard which enables you to compile your own personal selection of your favourite properties and immediately share these with family and friends.”
In addition to the above awards, in 2015 Pam Golding Properties’ ‘Imagine’ magazine received the Best External Publication award at the African Excellence Awards, along with earning Superbrands Status for four consecutive years.