Commercial Investment Real Estate November/December 2017 | Page 36

Mastering a New
How brokers can focus their mindset
on user experiences.
by Brandon Weber
Commercial
real estate is in the
midst of a technology revolution. Need proof? Just
look at all of the tech startups that have had success
in the industry over the last few years.
Market data providers like Compstak have carved
out a big niche by putting commercial real estate
data at professionals’ fingertips. Companies like
Convene and WeWork have grown exponentially by
giving their clients flexible office and meeting space.
And landlords and brokers have onboarded over 6
billion square feet of space onto the VTS platform
to streamline their leasing and asset management
processes. The list goes on and on.
Technology isn’t just making commercial real
estate more efficient; it’s changing tenant expecta-
tions. Meeting those new expectations will allow
industry players to thrive. To get there, commercial
real estate professionals need to adopt a user experi-
ence mindset — not just landlords, but brokers too.
Recognizing Flexibility
Technology has made customers more powerful in
nearly every industry by giving them the ability to
compare products, pay for them more flexibly, and
find solutions tailored to fit their needs. For example,
Airbnb allows people to access less expensive, short-
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November | December 2017
term accommodations, aided by a simple booking
process and friendly customer service.
This attitude has trickled into the business arena.
Enterprise tech sales reps used to be able to sell
products right to the CIO without worrying much
about the analyst who would actually be using it.
That’s not the case anymore. These days, com-
panies want products that not only solve problems,
but differentiate themselves by delighting their users.
Until now, commercial real estate has lagged
behind. Historically, landlords viewed their job
as building spaces in good locations and keeping
them as fully leased as possible. Likewise, they saw
their primary customer as the person who signed
the lease.
Now companies like WeWork, however,
are attracting tenants by giving them more flexi-
ble contracts and recognizing that their customers
are actually anyone who’s using their spaces
every day.
In other words, these landlords are winning
because they focus on the end-user experience. The
next generation of successful commercial real estate
professionals will be the ones who adopt that same
mindset, and recognize that anyone who works in
the spaces they lease is their customer.
COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE