A recent report from Building Engines, a commercial real estate (CRE) property management innovation company, identifies nine key conclusions about the links between benchmarking and asset value, as well as other important operational practices.
Building Engines’ research identifies why high-performing properties perform differently than their peers, explains the organization’s Head of Research, Phil Mobley. The results identify benchmarking practices that provide a sustainable advantage compared to facilities that do not enact them.
Over 900 CRE professionals participated in the study, and the resulting report identifies best practices in seven categories: customer service and tenant satisfaction, financial efficiency, communications and marketing, maintenance, amenities, security and risk management, and certifications and awards. The study also identifies the outlook of CRE professionals about their roles and priorities.
The report’s key findings include:
1) High-performing CRE organizations are 1.6 times more likely than their under-performing peers to track performance against lease service level agreements. This is the most consistently differentiating tenant service practice.
2) Tenant satisfaction is the top priority of CRE owners/asset managers and front-line operations staff. Property managers are especially attuned to satisfying tenants.
3) Property staff at high-performing properties are more proactive, expect more change in their jobs and have a less rigid prioritization of goals. They also have a more holistic view of their responsibilities than those at properties characterized as “laggards.”
4) High performers are 1.3 times more likely to benchmark operating expenses to internal sources and 1.7 times more likely to benchmark to external sources.
5) High performers do not staff more generously than laggards within the same property type and class, indicating their competitive advantage is not due to a larger workforce.
6) High performers are more likely to employ broadcast messaging systems, digital signs and screens, and traditional newsletters throughout facilities, using more channels to get information to tenants.
7) High performers use technology to digitize content like equipment images and manuals more frequently than laggards.
8) Amenities differentiate high performers most clearly in the hyper-competitive Class A sector.
9) ENERGY STAR certification is table stakes in 2017 at the top of the commercial office market. Over 70% of trophy assets and 51% of Class A properties in this study are ENERGY STAR certified.
To read the report in its entirety, visit www.buildingengines.com.
