South African businesses and property managers routinely deal with a maintenance problem that can be easy to overlook: properties require many different types of services, but the need for each specialist may be occasional.
A building might need cleaning one day, plumbing the next, electrical work later in the month and a handyman, painter, landscaper or roofing specialist at another point. For businesses managing multiple properties, the challenge becomes even greater. Finding suitable providers, requesting quotations, checking availability, coordinating work and following up can turn a relatively simple maintenance requirement into an ongoing administrative task.
South African startup Xperoc is developing a service-ordering marketplace aimed at making that process simpler.
Rather than requiring businesses and property teams to search for a new service provider every time something needs to be done, Xperoc allows them to submit a service requirement through one platform. Customers can explain what they need, provide the location, preferred timing and budget where applicable, and upload photographs or other information when a problem is difficult to describe.
The platform is designed to help identify suitable service providers and coordinate the process from the initial request through to completion.
The approach could also change how businesses think about maintaining specialist capacity.
A company may not need to permanently employ or retain a specialist for every possible maintenance requirement it encounters. An organisation may have an internal team for certain tasks while occasionally requiring outside expertise or additional capacity. Instead of maintaining access to every specialist regardless of how often their services are required, an on-demand model allows businesses to source particular services when the need arises.
This is particularly relevant to property management, where maintenance requirements can vary considerably between properties and from one month to the next.
The range of requirements can extend well beyond traditional repairs. Cleaning, plumbing, electrical work, handyman services, painting, landscaping, roofing, security, renovations and general property maintenance can all require different providers, equipment and expertise.
Xperoc is attempting to bring these requirements into a single service-ordering process.
The concept is similar to the shift that has taken place in other industries, where consumers have become accustomed to requesting a service digitally rather than independently sourcing a provider. Instead of searching for a specialist first and figuring out how to communicate the requirement afterwards, the customer starts with the problem or service they need.
For example, a property manager who discovers water damage may not know whether the problem requires a plumber, roofer or another specialist. Rather than needing to identify the correct trade before making an enquiry, the customer can explain what is happening and provide photographs or other information to help determine what type of service is required.
Xperoc’s model also separates the customer from the platform’s provider commission. Businesses and property teams using the marketplace are not charged a platform commission for submitting service requests. Xperoc instead generates revenue through commissions charged to participating service providers when orders are completed.
The company currently applies a 7.5% commission to orders below R1,000 and a 15% commission to orders of R1,000 or more.
For service businesses, the marketplace represents another potential route to customers who are already looking for services. Providers can list the services they offer and the areas they cover, allowing them to receive relevant opportunities rather than relying entirely on traditional advertising, referrals or their existing customer base.
Thabiso Mntshali, founder of Xperoc, says the company’s focus is on changing the way people think about obtaining services.
“Property maintenance shouldn’t always require a business to maintain specialist capacity for every possible problem it might encounter,” says Mntshali. “If a service is only needed when a particular problem occurs, there should be a simpler way to order it when it is actually needed.”
The company is initially focused on building its network of service providers and customers in South Africa, with the broader objective of making service procurement more accessible and less administratively demanding.
For businesses managing properties, the proposition is straightforward: maintain the teams and providers that make sense for the organisation, while having another option when additional capacity, a specialist service or an unexpected maintenance requirement arises.
Xperoc is positioning this as a move away from the traditional process of repeatedly searching, calling and coordinating providers towards a more structured way of ordering services when they are needed.
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Author: Thabiso Mtshali from Xperoc on behalf of Xperoc.
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