The modern commercial real estate (CRE) market has gone through an unprecedented digital transformation. As more and more property teams and tenants alike try to determine what makes a good property management company, this digital shift is impacting how we view all aspects of property maintenance. For example, the traditional property management model used to be solely focused on building management (security/safety, utilities/energy, reception, and building certifications) and property-level administration (rent collection, ensuring compliance with lease terms, and CapEx administration).
Now, the modern function of property management for offices includes a significant role in tenant retention. Essentially, in order to generate value for building tenants and investors, they need to improve the tenant experience. Such responsibilities include all the aspects of a traditional property management model, as well as amenity management (parking, catering, food/beverage, transportation), services management (concierge, networking, programming, health and fitness), and technology services (apps, internet connection, data collection, content generation).
These combined efforts have a huge impact on the performance of an asset. For example, according to CBRE data, 88% of tenants say that the quality of property management has a strong to very strong impact on their decision to renew a lease. Additionally, 87% of tenants say that good building management plays an important or very important role in employee retention. Increasing this customer retention by just 5% alone can increase overall profits by 25 to 95%.
In today’s world, when it comes to what to look for in a property management company, tenants will want to work with someone who can combine the more antiquated property management duties and responsibilities with those that are customer-centric and tech-enabled. Though the modern role of a property manager is certainly challenging, it can produce great value and ensure the success of modern commercial real estate portfolios.
If you’re looking to outsource such services, below are just four examples of best-in-class property management companies that can help you with modern property management needs:
- CBRE: CBRE Group, Inc. is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services, and development services.
- Colliers International: Colliers is a Canada-based diversified professional services and investment management company. From traditional asset classes — including office, retail, and industrial — to highly specialized properties — like hotels, multifamily buildings, and healthcare facilities — their expertise helps teams get the most out of commercial property. For clients looking to buy, sell, or develop land, their land services experts can also ensure success.
- JLL: JLL, or Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., s a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom. They buy, build, occupy, and invest in a variety of assets including industrial, commercial, retail, residential, and hotel real estate. From tech startups to global firms, their clients span industries including banking, energy, healthcare, law, life sciences, manufacturing, and technology.
- Cushman & Wakefield: Cushman & Wakefield is a global commercial real estate services firm. Their services include ensuring a seamless transition into their management portfolio, delivering accurate and timely financial reports, enhancing building system life and reliability, optimizing building operational performance, creating engaging workplace experiences, leveraging key technology, and more.
If you have the capability and bandwidth, you may also decide to keep your property management services in-house. If you do, then you will need the right tools to help you with your office’s day-to-day operations. Since your property management services might include everything from being in charge of supervising and coordinating building maintenance and work orders, to collecting and depositing rent, to resolving tenant concerns, you will modern property maintenance functionalities that can range from marketing one’s portfolio, to lease management, to measuring and maintaining portfolio performance, and to tenant retention and customer satisfaction.
In today’s world, property management companies need to automate these processes to keep up with rapid changes to the commercial real estate industry. Fortunately, property management software — provided by proptech companies such as Angus Systems, Building Engines, Join Digital, and Jones — has been around for the past several years. Property management software ensures that owners, managers, and operators can succeed in the evolving markets, by helping them gather meaningful data about their buildings and end-users to strengthen their connections with tenants, refine their asset strategies, and automate building processes to help create modern, frictionless workplace experiences.
To learn more about managing and aggregating these software needs for your assets — whether you’re a property management company or a property manager working in-house — check out an entire Marketplace of technology partners today.
