Today’s property manager is remarkably busy. Keeping pace with the operational implications of constantly-changing technology, staying attuned to tenant needs, and juggling added responsibilities coming from above are just some of the challenges PMs face. Running a building is a complex and evolving business, and the leadership strategies needed to keep up with it all are evolving as well. The successful PM will need to think strategically to gain an edge and understand that as the market shifts priorities, so do expectations.
Know your Customers’ Business
Exceling at customer service might seem like a no a brainer, regardless of market conditions, but successful tenant relations today goes well beyond understanding your tenant’s needs, it’s also about understanding their business. Chris Lee, real estate futurist and President & Chief Executive Officer, of the Los Angeles-based CEL & Associates, Inc., sees this playing out in the shift from an asset-centric industry to a customer-centric industry and views the re-engineering and consolidation within Corporate America as pushing this shift. “As Corporate America consolidates and accelerates its transition to multi-markets you really have to be on top of your customer game to capture that growth and transition, not necessarily your asset game,” contends Lee. “It’s important to learn about the growth opportunities with these corporate tenants, and you can’t do that if you’re just watching the building.”
Commercial real estate firms that pay attention to what’s going on in the marketplace will have the opportunity to mine for future tenant opportunities as they follow the trends and movement of their current and prospective customers. This knowledge gives them a great tool for staking out new business opportunities, but Lee points out that there are also increasing expectations from tenants that property managers should understand their business so they can facilitate the improvements that might be helpful for their (the tenant’s) business. “In a challenging marketplace, you cannot neglect a tenant and you cannot afford to not retain a tenant,” says Lee, who believes that integrating the voice of the customer into business operations, taking steps to measure tenant satisfaction, and retraining property management and leasing staff to market the “business advantage of a building” versus the square feet or lease rate of a building, are among the critical steps to retaining tenants in today’s market.
As the daily contact and relationship manager for tenants, the property manager plays a vital role in this shift from asset focus to customer focus. “The property manager is the problem solver and facilitates the branding of the buildings,” remarks Lee. “They are also critical to the renewal process. If a tenant has been in a building for five or 10 years, if the property manager and building owner have created no reason to stay, it may become attractive to leave. Ultimately the Property Manager is responsible for tenant satisfaction and retention.”
Exactly what does it mean to understand your tenant’s business? Lee gives an example of a law firm in a commercial office building that the PM worked closely with to make sure they had evening and weekend services available while the firm was working on an important class-action lawsuit. When the firm was ultimately successful in their trial, building management hosted a breakfast for them to celebrate that success. This is one example of how understanding your customer’s business can lead to great customer service, and ultimately, a happy customer.
Leverage Technology
From the Internet to the smart phone to the “cloud,” the stampede of technology over the past 20 years has led to remarkable advancements and changes to business and industry in a relatively short period of time. Commercial real estate has certainly been a part of this wild ride. The implementation of sophisticated building automation systems and the rise of the mobile, always connected property professional are just two examples of how CRE has evolved.
Marc Fischer, senior vice president and director, management services at Transwestern, likes to use the “Gordon Gecko” example from the movie “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” to show just how much technology has changed in the past 20 years. “When Gordon Gecko was released from prison after 20 years, he got back his possessions, one of which was a clunky, archaic cell phone,” explains Fischer. “It was probably cutting-edge at the time, but it’s an anachronism of what has happened over the past 20 years. The person who was the most successful property manager 20 years ago was probably very successful operationally, but those operations have changed so much over time.”
For better or for worse, today’s PM is connected 24/7. That expectation of availability from owners, tenants and other stakeholders demands that efficient, smart systems be in place to allow PMs to juggle their responsibilities while meeting, and hopefully succeeding, expectations. Cloud computing, or being able to externally access servers from just about any location or device, is allowing property professionals to work smarter, wherever they are.
For many firms, the first step is simply organizing data into one logical file system that everyone can access. Transwestern recently unveiled a tool called “One Place” where all the documents for a building reside. “Every lease, every service agreement, every tenant file resides at OnePlace,” explains Fischer. “When a manager needs a service agreement, she goes to OnePlace and pick it up. It becomes very easy to share. It’s portable and efficient because we’re only storing one copy of that lease and not different copies all over the server.”
The next step is creating the platform to truly empower the increasingly mobile property professional on a variety of different devices, whether that’s a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. “We have a chief engineer who uses his iPad to dial into the building’s information systems,” says Fischer. “If he’s meeting with a tenant who has a complaint about the office temperature, he can open up his iPad and access the building automation system and show that tenant, graphically, exactly what is happening in that unit.”
The next big tool may be a customized dashboard that shows all of a building’s operational data in one place, giving thumbnail sketches of a building’s work ticket and A/R status, energy use, etc. — all in real time. The dashboard might be color-coded to give PMs a status on different systems and programs — green for “good” and red for “attention required,” for instance. “It would provide an amazing increase in efficiency for PMs to use a dashboard to manage their building,” says Fischer, who adds, “and the technology could even transfer to the asset manager or portfolio manager so they can easily keep tabs on the properties in their portfolio too.”
Think like an Enterprise Leader
As purse strings have tightened, the responsibilities of the property manager have also broadened, but beyond these fiscal pressures the role of the PM is changing as building management evolves. Lee believes the title of Property Manager, in many cases, may no longer be relevant as the needs of the marketplace change. “Business Leader or Enterprise Leader might be more appropriate titles,” explains Lee. “These individuals are managing far more than a building, and eventually the titles will change to recognize that. More and more they have to have the skillset of an asset manager, the communication skills of a good broker, the relationship skills of a good leader and the analytical skills of a Wall Street trader. The profession is becoming quite elevated in expectation, often the PM title really carries the expectation of multiple titles – head of security, sustainability, crisis management, vendor manager, accountant, coach, tenant relationship manager, and the list goes on. ”
Changes in titles and job description are not subject to PMs alone. As buildings become more automated and sophisticated, the role of the building engineer is also evolving. Fischer wonders if a mechanical engineering degree may eventually be a requirement for some building engineers and if Information Technology (IT) professionals will be part of the building management team. “If the backbone of a building becomes Internet based with building automation systems that run through the Internet, we may need additional staffers on the PM team with that technology component,” says Fischer. “It’s entirely possible that you’re going to see people in this business who have never been the classic “wrench-turner” engineer and they have an advanced degree in IT or mechanical engineering.”
Perhaps the best way to help today’s property professional attain the skills to be an effective “Enterprise Leader” or “Business Leader” is to properly set the stage for the modern era of property management. Notes Lee, “If we’re trying to make the industry attractive to people and show them that it’s not just about managing a building, but it’s also about being a business leader, we need to focus more on enterprise and business leadership and less on process and procedure.”
