Anthony Trollope, Vice President of Marketing for Hartman REIT recently wrote a piece for the Houston Business Journal detailing how the pandemic was the tipping point of digital transformation for CRE firms. We gave it a read, and thought we’d go ahead and let you in on a few of our main takeaways.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit people, businesses and communities in a variety of different ways. One of the major constants we saw, though, was that businesses built on the strength of in-person relationships had to quickly pivot. The CRE industry is a fantastic example of exactly that type of business. Trollope explores this, and how when all the ways of doing business that you have been trained in for years are suddenly not viable, you have no choice but to turn to technology to reach people in new and different ways.
As lockdowns went into effect and curbside pickup became the norm, it became apparent that several spaces (CRE included) were much more behind the times than others.
In fact, the CRE industry didn’t really adopt any innovative new technologies – it just finally embraced existing ones that they hadn’t had a reliance on previously. For instance, FaceTime video calls replacing in-person tours.
But, like all industries, commercial real estate has customers with a certain set of expectations. And like most customers, they don’t want to wait.
It seems like the CRE industry might finally be catching up.
As the article says, “Today, with the competitive landscape of CRE and customer business on the line, many firms have taken considerable steps toward digitization.”
Smart technology that connects customers to the best available brokers in their area – in seconds – is the competitive edge that the anyone who wants to be successful in the commercial real estate industry needs in today’s fast-paced world.
To read more about the digital technology tipping point for CRE, read the full article here.
Let us demonstrate how smart technology works better for you and your buyers. Contact us today.