Innovation Health Factors in Commercial Property Management

Creative control is an essential part of commercial and retail property management.  Basically, elements of innovation are part of that day to day property management process as you strive to attract and serve high level clients with your tenant and asset performance services.

Think about what you are doing now with your clients and consider how things can be improved in the management and performance of an investment property.  Review specific clients and their property needs.  Can you do things better for the fees earned?  The answer is usually ‘Yes’.  (NB – you can get plenty of commercial and retail property management ideas in our Snapshot program right here – its free)

Quality First with Clients and Buildings Managed

Before I go too far here, I will say that ‘quality’ is an important factor of client and property selection from a brokerage perspective.  Choose the better buildings and clients to work for with your property management services.

Look at the ways you can improve things across the tenant mix, income, and investment elements of the property.  There are always things that can be improved; ultimately, improvements can lead to growth of portfolio activity and client coverage for a commercial and retail property brokerage.

Here are some valuable ways to build more momentum in property management innovation:

1. New methods of tenant service and support – in many locations the leasing and tenant market is ‘slow’, and on that basis existing tenants should be encouraged to remain in occupancy if they are a good match for a property. So, what is a good tenant match for a property?  Stability of occupancy is a priority in that the tenant can demonstrate and pay rent consistently and regularly.  Once you get part that basic fact, you can look at other issues, like business type, matching your activities into the tenant mix of the property, sensible property usage, and good business profile for the asset.  Show the landlords that you serve, how proactive you are in tenant selection, management, and control.
2. Modernization of your landlord reporting systems – there are a few elements of property performance that can be optimized from an asset reporting sense. What are the important elements of reporting?  Try these for starters:
   1. Income gathered and budgeted given tenant occupancies
   2. Vacancy factors and methods of resolve
   3. Projected cash flow factors for both income and expenditure
   4. Lease controls and documentation
   5. Critical and forward dates
   6. Maintenance activities and capital works planning
   7. Expenditure budgeting knowing the requirements and improvements in the property
3. Reform of the property performance processes – look at the elements of the property as it is today, with a focus on income, expenditure, maintenance, leasing, and tenants. How can you improve things?  How can the reporting or the results be improved?
4. Progress in lease optimisation – leases underpin property performance, so review the leases, establish a ‘standard lease’ logic, and then work to the landlord’s investment targets with the lease documentation.
5. Proven procedures for property maintenance – you will have factors to consider here with essential plant and equipment. There will also be factors with contracts of repair and maintenance to a budget.  How can you control the day to day management of maintenance issues more specifically?
6. Planned risk reduction processes – with any managed property there will be risk; leases, tenants, vacancies, and maintenance events create risk. All those things can be controlled with a risk management plan.  That risk management plan can be inside or incorporated into the business plan for the asset.

Simple ideas like these allow you to build some innovation into your commercial and retail property management processes.   Look towards the ways you can be competitively better than other people in your industry.  That’s the message.