Nick Romito, CEO of VTS.
The real estate industry has been historically slow to adopt technology, yet following the Covid-19 pandemic, the rate of technological adoption within the sector increased more than ever before.
I believe this inflection point within the industry highlights how the market winners were those who applied technology in the most suitable ways to their leasing strategies and operations.
According to VTS’ 2024 Global Landlord Report, 84% of landlords said their technology investments would increase over the next year, and LeaseUp reports that roughly 28% of CRE firms are using AI-powered technology in their operations. But for many, there’s still a learning curve to overcome when it comes to effectively implementing and deploying these proptech solutions.
Proptech As A Strategic Partner
Therefore, to drive the adoption of new technologies, I think it’s important for prop-tech companies to focus on becoming partners for their customers and act as technology consultants. By offering tailored recommendations and sharing best practices for leveraging it, we can provide immense value that goes well beyond the technology itself.
Here are some strategies for proptech providers to become an essential resource and partner for their clients who, more and more, are leaning on technology to optimize their operations and strategy.
The Imperative For True Tech Partnerships
Nearly five years after Covid-19, we are finally seeing renewed activity in the real estate market, impacting the industry’s technology adoption rate and scrutiny around whether their solution provides legitimate value to real estate companies that choose to deploy their solutions.
Proptech providers must, therefore, show demonstrable impact to stand out in the market and position themselves as long-term partners. To do this, we can align offerings with specific business goals and the challenges real estate owners are facing today. This will require a consultative approach that entails close collaboration with their customers on implementation strategies, training and continued performance evaluation.
Increased consolidation and M&A activity in proptech have raised the stakes in the sector, as owners are reassessing their tech stacks to ensure they have the best solutions in one place. Providers will need to be proactive in aligning with the needs of real estate owners and operators and adapt their offerings so they not only drive adoption but establish them as true partners rather than just another external vendor.
The Growing Importance Of Consultancy
Customer success has become a cornerstone for the proptech industry, and I think its importance will only grow as market dynamics change. We want to ensure that customers are successfully taken through the entire usage lifecycle, from onboarding to deployment, and that they receive the most benefits from their product as possible.
I have seen companies that make the mistake of solely focusing on sales rather than customer experience (CX). As more solutions come to market, I believe technology providers will need to differentiate themselves by having strong customer success teams to stand out, given it helps to develop strong customer relationships and build third-party validation.
Understanding Business Needs And Unlocking Novel Intelligence
I think that technology providers are uniquely positioned to fully understand their customers’ businesses and can unlock novel intelligence that they couldn’t uncover otherwise. To effectively demonstrate their ability to provide measurable ROI, we must take a proactive, data-driven approach. Toward this, setting KPIs and offering continuous customer support through regular assessments and training will be critical.
Still, the solution itself must be able to address the specific business goals of our customers. Furthermore, with the ability to aggregate key data on technology deployment and usage, providers can supply customers with various data sets to streamline processes and understand areas of opportunities and improvement.
Leverage direct insights into which aspects of your offering provide the most value, and refine your solutions to maximize cost-effectiveness and impact for customers. By doing so, you can directly influence real estate owners’ strategies, enabling them to make informed executive decisions that enhance their operations and overall business.
In this way, technology providers essentially become an extension of their customers’ businesses, acting as consultants on how to best leverage their technology for the highest level of ROI. We want to become critical drivers for our customers and the real estate industry holistically by enabling other companies to future-proof their operations in an ever-evolving market.
Conclusion
The age of tech consultancy in real estate is here and will only become more critical as the industry continues to recognize its need for technology solutions.
The use of technology and the market for solutions has grown exponentially, meaning service providers will need to find ways to differentiate themselves from others as real estate owners and operators continue to evaluate their tech stacks.
I think putting more emphasis on customer experience will be key as it will lay the foundation for the genuine and collaborative partnership real estate leaders seek in today’s market landscape.
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