Discover how Wright Letting & Management has used Alto to scale from a standing start to more than 500 properties, all while running a 100% paperless, fully compliant operation that saves time and cuts admin.
Wright Letting & Management launched in 2019 with no office, no team and no portfolio. Back then, it was just Joanne Wright, her iPad and a fierce determination to rebuild her career after her previous agency collapsed out of the blue.
Six years later, the business is thriving, with a well-deserved reputation as Nantwich’s largest independent letting business. The portfolio has hundreds of managed properties and the team runs a smooth, fully paperless operation with the kind of efficiency you’d expect from a far bigger brand.
At the heart of it all is Alto, the dedicated CRM that’s powered wrightletting.co.uk from day one.
Starting from scratch
Joanne says: “When I got the phone call to say the company I worked for was going into administration, I panicked.
“I’d never done anything other than lettings and management, and I just thought ‘what am I going to do?’. I wasn’t keen on the company that ended up buying the agency out, so I decided to go out on my own.
“I thought it would be easy… It definitely wasn’t easy, but it has been worth it – and I’ve got Alto to thank for a lot of it.”
As the UK’s leading AI native CRM for estate agents, Alto is packed with dedicated features that make it easy for small, independent agents to get off the ground and grow rapidly.
Everything from marketing and client communication to accounting, compliance and document management is handled in one place, with time-saving automations and ready-made workflows built in.
Tasks are automated, information is centralised and the day-to-day becomes far easier to manage. For new agents finding their feet, Alto removes the complexity so they can focus on growing their portfolio and delivering a great service from day one.
As a cloud-based platform that runs from anywhere, Alto also gives start-ups a single, reliable system they can run the whole business from, which was good news for Joanne and her trusty iPad.
Joanne says: “Alto gave me the ability to be professional from day one… I wasn’t just Jo sat in her daughter’s playroom. I could list a property on the spot, send documents instantly and work from anywhere. It made me look like an established agency even when it was just me and I was still figuring things out.”
Growing from the ground up
As Wright Letting began to grow, Alto scaled with it.
In 2022, the agency went completely paperless, digitising every historical record and moving everything into Alto. Now every landlord and tenant uses Alto’s client portal PropertyFile to view agreements, certificates, statements and job sheets. It means comms are faster and fewer calls are required, which saves time.
Today, the system underpins every process, from e-signatures and rent reminders to inspection scheduling and daily communication.
As the UK’s first AI-native property CRM, Alto has intelligence built into every workflow to simplify and streamline the day-to-day for estate agents. By quietly automating repetitive tasks, it helps teams cut admin, stay compliant and scale with confidence while still working in a familiar, intuitive way.
For Wright Letting, that means having more than 500 properties without extra layers of software or unnecessary complexity, and doing it all with a seven-person team (not forgetting the two office dogs).
As Joanne puts it, “Alto is like having an eighth team member keeping everything running in the background.
“But it does more than any team member could. It’s the absolute heart of our business. First job of the day is always logging into Alto and every day I can log off knowing everything’s up to date and nothing’s been missed. That peace of mind is priceless.
“There isn’t any job we do that Alto doesn’t make easier and quicker. There’s no way we’d have grown as quickly and successfully as we have without it.”
A CRM that scales
As a flexible and futureproof CRM, Alto connects with more leading PropTech providers than any other platform, giving agents real choice over the tools they use and how they build their tech stack. Instead of locking agencies into a rigid all-in-one system, Alto focuses on doing the core jobs brilliantly and integrating seamlessly with the ‘best of the rest’.
For independents like Jo, this means they can run the whole business inside Alto and plug in specialist tools, as and when they need them. Everything stays connected and Alto sits at the centre, keeping the entire setup running smoothly as the business grows.
Joanne adds: “Alto’s accounting is excellent. I don’t need a separate system because it already does everything. We use so many of the built-in tools, but it’s also good to know we can still connect to other platforms when we want to. For example, we upload our listings straight to Rightmove and OnTheMarket through Alto, so there’s no switching between systems.”
Ready for reform
As the industry heads into a period of change – from rental reform and rising costs to economic uncertainty and ever-tightening compliance demands – many agents are bracing themselves for a difficult time, but Joanne isn’t one of them.
With Alto running the day-to-day and keeping every task, certificate and process on track, she feels prepared for whatever comes next.
Joanne says: “I feel like we’re already ahead of many of the changes coming our way, including the Renters’ Rights Act, because we’ve got Alto on our side.
“As the business grows and we bring new people in, training is the least of my worries. Alto is visual, intuitive and you can’t break it.
“I honestly can’t ever see us switching to another platform. Alto really does feel like the last CRM we’ll ever need.”
Wondering if Alto should be your next move? Book your free, no-obligation demo now.
