Founded by a group of developers and entrepreneurs facing similar challenges Ziggu is now changing the way people build and buy properties around Luxembourg and wider.
The successful startup, which was founded in 2018 and is present in eight different countries, helps developers sell to homebuyers ten times more efficiently than in the past.
“Most older readers will still remember a time when we needed to go to a physical bank office to make transactions, sign documents or check our account balance. Fast forward to today and every single bank worth its salt offers a digital application where we can do all these interactions from the comfort of our smartphone,” says Yannick Bontinckx, the CEO and co-founder of Ziggu, adding: “Ziggu offers a similar solution: An easy to use platform for property developers to interact with homebuyers and construction partners. Homebuyers are able to receive updates, ask questions or sign documents when it’s convenient for them and are engaged throughout the complete construction journey.”
The CEO adds that Ziggu can help property developers scale faster by saving time and resources, boosting profits and increasing customer satisfaction rates.
Bontinckx is a former property developer who realized the digital revolution was slow to benefit the sector.
“[…] we want to become the go to partner for property developers to service their complete customer journey.”
Yannick Bontinckx
“We all realised that a big leap in technological advancements was needed so that’s how the idea for Ziggu started. Our track record shows there’s a clear need for our solution and we’re looking forward to bringing Ziggu to many new markets soon. The real estate industry is catching up quickly by the way and we’re very proud to be part of the early wave of innovators in this space”, he says.
Ziggu has a unique set of guidelines known as the “Ziggu Way” to create a one-of-a-kind company culture. Bontinckx calls them “values to live by” and the “Ziggu Way” document is something everyone must read during the employment stage.
“The basis for how we work is called psychological safety. Everyone within the company must feel safe in order to propose new ideas or question existing ways of working. That only works when we have a culture of trust and transparency. We strongly believe in people taking ownership and responsibilities within Ziggu”, he explains.
Ziggu started growing internationally just as Covid hit, and with closed borders, new rules and no travel it was difficult. But by overcoming problems is how successful startups grow.
“Aside from the practical matters, in the first few weeks of the pandemic, we were helping out our customers on how to work remotely. Ziggu is a remote based company from the start, we have people working for Ziggu in different countries, so we had a lot of experience with how to manage these processes. We shared the lessons learned with our customers and helped them set up tools and best practices to continue working from home. All our customers were able to continue working on Ziggu and kept on informing their customers through our platform”, he explains, emphasizing an interesting idea about how society should function – “What we learned in general is that we really need a balanced approach in our society between physical, in person contact and technology. It might be a weird statement coming from a tech company, but we truly believe in this omnichannel approach”.
“Companies in general should be spending most of their time talking to their customers and users instead of talking to other companies.”
Yannick Bontinckx
One of the goals is, naturally, to grow and spread across Europe, and one day service half of all newly built homes on the continent.
“At the same time we want to become the go to partner for property developers to service their complete customer journey. From the very first contact you have with a potential homebuyer, up until the final touchpoint, Ziggu will help you create the digital experience for your customers and construction partners”, the CEO, who says he is “in love with real estate, web applications and urban development” points out.
During their rapid growth they have, apparently, learned something from every entrepreneur they came across, but much more from customers and Ziggu users.
“We drive over to their offices to spend the day, sit next to them and learn how they do their job and how they use Ziggu. We visit construction sites together. We plan feedback sessions, webinars and check-up calls. We go to events and seminars to learn about their world and challenges. The list goes on and on… Companies in general should be spending most of their time talking to their customers and users instead of talking to other companies”, concludes Bontinckx.
