■ Company Overview of Smart Support <9342>

3. Overview by Service

(1) "Smart Support Thank You Call"

The resident satisfaction survey service, "Smart Support Thank You Call," is a service that creates opportunities for property management companies that have not had contact with new residents to build a continuous relationship with them. It carries out thank-you calls at the time of moving in and conducts satisfaction surveys while also providing information on various essential life line supports. Specifically, property management companies provide residents' information to the company with the resident's consent, and the company carries out greetings on behalf of the property management company, conducting surveys on the service and atmosphere of the brokerage staff. Based on the feedback from surveyed residents, it provides information on services necessary for new life, such as new electrical utilities, internet connections, and water servers, and serves as an intermediary for the service providers.

The company pays compensation for the resident information provided by property management companies while receiving introduction fees from external contractors such as sellers and subcontractors, as well as various product and service provision companies. The fees received are recorded as revenue, while the compensation paid to the property management company is recorded as cost of sales.

(2) "totono"

The resident app "totono" is a smart phone application that digitizes communication between property management companies and residents. Specifically, processes such as "move-in inspections," "applications for parking lot/bicycle parking contracts, renewals, and move-outs," and "consultations about neighborhood troubles" that were previously conducted via paper, phone, or fax can now be digitized through "totono."

By linking with the core system, property management companies can eliminate the hassle of inputting various information formerly received by phone, and since communications such as "water outage notices" that were previously posted on bulletin boards can now be delivered directly to residents, it leads to improved work efficiency. Residents also benefit from the ease of making various applications and consulting on troubles. For example, residents can use a list of over 350 Q&A items to solve issues in their rooms independently, and for those that are not resolved, they can upload images in the app's chat to accurately convey the situation, leading to early resolution of troubles. Regarding chat responses, a chat center that replies to chats on behalf of property management companies with insufficient resources operates to assist.

"Totono" charges an initial setup fee and a monthly usage fee from the real estate management companies using its services. This fee accounts for the revenue, and the main cost of sales consists of personnel costs and outsourcing costs involved in developing the app's features.

(3) "SKB"

The Sumasapo preview service "SKB (Sumasapo Key Box)" is a key box that streamlines key management during property viewings for long term rentals. Previously, real estate brokerage companies needed to pick up the keys from the real estate management companies before a viewing, and it was mandatory to return them afterward, making key management extremely complicated. "SKB" stores the viewing keys in a key box installed on the vacant Car Door, and it can be opened and closed via an app, eliminating the need for key management. The key box can only be opened by approval from the real estate management company, enhancing security. Additionally, viewing history is maintained, allowing identification of which room was opened or closed by whom and when, enabling real estate management companies to utilize this data for strengthening leasing activities. Revenue is accounted for through the device fees collected from the real estate management companies at the time of installation and the monthly service fees.

(4) Rent Guarantee Service "Sumai Guarantee"

The rent guarantee service "Sumai Guarantee" is a service that acts as a co-signer for tenants. For tenants, it eliminates the need to establish a co-signer by paying a guarantee fee, and for the real estate management companies, it allows for the reimbursement of overdue rent and unrecovered costs for restoring the property within defined guarantees. Revenue is accounted for through the guarantee fees collected from tenants.

4. Competition and Strengths

Among the company's major services, the "Sumasapo Thank You Call" faces competition from distributors such as Last One Mile <9252> and Libero <9245>, while "Totono" competes with companies like Japan Information Create <4054> and GMO TECH <6026> which are subsidiaries of GMO ReTech Co., Ltd. focusing on IT systems and app development for real estate management.

In Japan, many companies operate in related fields like electrical utilities and internet services as well as IT system development, but the company's strength lies in leveraging unique insights from the real estate management industry and the accumulated know-how regarding improving clients' operational efficiency. There is a significant disparity in information literacy among real estate management companies, necessitating tailored solutions and meticulous follow-up based on each company's realities and challenges. However, without an understanding of the field's practicalities, companies cannot propose customer-centric solutions. In this regard, the management team was established with a background from a real estate management company, offering a deep understanding of the clients' field situations and capable of consulting, operational improvements, and proposal activities until revenue enhancement is achieved. The company has a competitive advantage by providing both the analog service "Sumasapo Thank You Call" and the digital transformation that realizes operational improvements and revenue increases through "Totono" seamlessly.

(Written by: Fisco Guest Analyst Takuma Jilin)