Prioritizing Technology’s Future in the Industry

Technology within the commercial real estate industry has steadily advanced within recent years. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly progressed the adoption of new innovations across all areas of the industry. Throughout the crisis, commercial real estate professionals have increasingly embraced technology in order to ensure accuracy and improve efficiency. Companies and individuals alike are aiming to provide new products that maximize value and offer a competitive vantage.

According to a recent survey executed by Appfolio, 23% of property managers have increased dependence on technology since the beginning of the pandemic. Director and industry principal of Appfolio, Stacy Holden predicts, “In the post-COVID-19 future, remote work will continue to be a significant driver of technology adoption, and the level of convenience technology affords will be an expectation by property management professionals and renters alike, well into the future.”

In effort to offer guidance to the next generation of industry professionals, regarding the evolution and embrace of new technology within commercial real estate, we recently gathered input from four industry experts, whom were chosen for GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum’s 2020 Women of Influence series.

Principal analyst at Lightbox, Dianne Crocker tells GlobeSt.com, “Commercial real estate is at such an interesting stage of its development as it embraces technology and learns new ways to harness the treasure trove of property data to achieve unprecedented efficiencies and smarter decision-making.”

Crocker continues, “One offshoot of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it’s forced us to use every technology tool at our disposal to keep real estate transactions, leasing, refi’s and dispositions progressing, even if site access and face-to-face meetings are hampered.”

Jo-E Lopez, VP of Snyder Langston concurs; sharing that upon the onset of the pandemic, the contracting firm immediately formed an executive team of internal experts to specifically respond to and handle all of the evolving guidelines and protocols in relation to the crisis. Lopez suggests that as an essential business, Snyder Langston was forced to respond within much shorter timelines than usual, resulting in the implementation of added tools and technology.

“The impact of this crisis came quickly and it challenged our firm to also respond quickly,” Lopez states. “We have also embraced technology across the board to accommodate speed of decision making and work from home demands. I think this crisis has advanced the use of technology for the industry overall by at least five years.”

Crocker agreeingly furthers this notion. “We have literally seen about 15 years of advancement happen in the space of three months! And as a result, the pace of tech adoption will continue. Companies recognize the importance of IT investment and the strength of having teams continue to perform unencumbered even in the face of a sudden, severe shock like the one we saw in mid-March.”

While professionals continue to explore methods of technology in order to maintain efficiency and accuracy during this time, implemented innovations proved a significant driving factor among companies, prior to the pandemic as well.

VTS chief marketing officer, Amy Millard, notes that embracing technology and remaining data-driven in times of normalcy is crucial to staying ahead within the industry; as marketing strongly relies on outcomes and results through forward-thinking, technology practices.

Offering a piece of advice for the next generation embracing technology, Millard states, “The more you focus on the data and potential outcomes, the more successful you will be. A data-backed outcome is undeniable, regardless of who you are or what your gender is.”

That being said, this tech-forward insight does come at a time when technology is thriving and altering practices within industry that are easy to perceive. Considering pre-pandemic practices, when social distancing parameters were not yet in place and face-to-face communication was permitted, many professionals relied primarily on the traditional forms of deal-making and networking.

Claire Roberts, VP of Colliers MN, suggests that while today’s professionals benefit from technology’s various uses and innovations, it is still imperative to learn and utilize traditional practices and forms of communication; implying that technology isn’t everything.

“The next generation has so many more advantages than we had 25 years ago, but the one bit of advice that I would give young people is that while technology is amazing, sometimes you just have to sit face-to-face and have a meaningful conversation,” Roberts states. “All the data, information, charts and spreadsheets are wonderful, but there are still a lot of people who want to look you in the eye and know that they can trust you. Your honesty, integrity, personality and communications skills do matter. People want to work with people that they like and trust.”

While the next generation of industry professionals learn to execute varying practices and embrace new innovations alongside industry veterans, it is undeniable that technology will continue to evolve and alter the industry.

Referring to the rapid modifications and technology updates that her company implemented during the pandemic, Lopez predicts, “I also think that these changes and lessons learned will remain part of our firm going forward. People have learned to dive deep and fast when it comes to decision making and that is going to continue.”

Technology innovations will continue to prove imperative across all sectors and fields within the industry.

“We will also see the use of real estate change in significant ways,” Crocker says. “The reliance on e-commerce is creating unprecedented demand for warehouses, last-mile distribution centers, cold storage and data centers. Self-driving cars are making parking lots less of a necessity in commercial development. The list goes on and on. Our real estate will look much different than it does now and that opens up tremendous opportunity for people entering the profession.”

Click here to read more on this year’s Woman of Influence and have you joined our group ALM Young Professionals Network on LinkedIn/? We’re having powerful conversations that tackle the challenges many face early in their careers. Request to join here.