Commercial Investment Real Estate Spring 2020 | Page 44

CRE INNOVATIONS
Daniel Levison, CCIM, and Turner Levison
STREAMLINING
ADOPTION
Properly introducing new technology to your organization
can improve buy-in, remove obstacles to implementation, and,
ultimately, benefit the bottom line.
W
hen deploying technology in a real estate
business, the first question is always, “Why
are we doing this?” One of the best answers
is to keep the organization profitable, productive,
and competitive. But it’s also important to realize
adoption is a two-way street — it will take every-
one’s acceptance to be successful, including buy-in
from managing brokers, principals, agents, and
back-office staff.
According to Steve Weikal, CRE tech lead at
the Real Estate Innovation Lab at the MIT Center for
Real Estate, more than 3,200 startups focus on com-
mercial real estate technology. A well-considered plan
is key to determine which technology platforms can
be the most beneficial to your business.
Here are four best practices for determining and
implementing new technology into your CRE business
to help boost success:
1. Conduct an analysis — with leadership, agents,
and back-office personnel — to address what
challenges and hurdles they encounter with their
current daily routines and how the company’s
current technologies cause difficulties and imped-
iments to productivity.
2. Clear and concise communication is paramount
to success. Show how adoption can address spe-
cific pain points. Also, understand that account-
ability starts at the top, meaning principals must
lead by example and embrace the new platform.
3. Involving all stakeholders is important to create
pride, accountability, and enthusiasm. Principals
should celebrate ambassadors and champions
as early adopters, who can then educate and
nurture colleagues.
4. Set realistic expectations on implementation.
Listen to and address concerns. Understanding
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COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE
Adoption is a
two-way street;
it will take
everyone’s
acceptance to
be successful,
including buy-in
from managing
brokers,
principals,
agents, and
back-office
staff.
resistance can allow leadership to be proactive
in their adoption strategy while maintaining
a strong commitment and focus to moving
forward with implementation.
An adoption plan for new technology buy-in
will vary depending on source of the initial sugges-
tion. If the idea for the technology came from the
front line, acceptance from the back-office support
staff can be challenging.
Back-office managers for a CRE brokerage firm
have likely developed “their way” of handling company
processes and procedures. Often, change can be
viewed as an existential threat. Make sure to address
this directly; let them know the technology is aimed
at helping them do more, not replacing them. Also,
encourage ownership of implementation by letting
them know it won’t work without them.
So, how can you get buy-in from your back office
if they resist? Here are a few additional approaches:
Make them the heroes. The back-office staff
often get the blame for everything. For example, if an
agent can’t figure out why their commission hasn’t
come in or why an invoice has not gone out, the back
office seems to take the heat. Encourage them to see
the technology as a tool that will ultimately make
them a star within the organization.
Hype efficiency. Back-office personnel typical-
ly think more analytically than salespeople. Appeal to
the productivity and time savings from the new tech-
nology. Talk to back-office executives about improved
key performance indicators and metrics.
Ask for a team effort. Appeal to loyalty and the
company’s best interest, particularly if an individual is
considering retirement in the next few years. Focus on
how implementing the new platform allows the company
to stay competitive and become more profitable.
SPRING 2020