Best Practices


<p>Your commercial real estate (CRE) deal management software needs to go through a job interview. It&#8217;s important to know which features your firm needs from its deal management software. Getting the right answers starts with the right questions. Use this handy checklist to vet CRE software before making a decision!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What Is the Compatibility with Other Platforms (Outlook, Box, Excel, and More)?</h3>



<p>CRE investors don&#8217;t have time to jump between multiple platforms. Integration with all core business-management software is essential for ensuring that your CRE platform can help to speed up deal flow. When you&#8217;re pulling data and documentation from silos, you&#8217;re running a disjointed process that is more likely to be less efficient, prone to compliance errors, and bad for the customer experience.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What Does the CRE Deal Management Implementation/Onboarding Process Look Like?</h3>



<p>Know exactly what you&#8217;re signing up for! The onboarding process affects every team’s ability to be productive and responsive. Your software provider needs to be able to provide clear timelines and expectations regarding what you can expect for deal-making interruptions and access restriction during the switch. If you&#8217;re unable to communicate a clear plan for how the change will be implemented then expect to get panicked feedback from your teammates. It&#8217;s also imperative to ask about the support level provided during onboarding. Will your software provider act as a consultant to help make the process as painless as possible?</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How Does Collaborating with People Outside of Your Firm Work?</h3>



<p>A well designed CRE deal management software should fling open the gates instead of locking you in. Robust security features with various permission levels make sharing and collaborating within the platform possible with people inside and outside of your company. When having conversations with software vendors, the focus should be on how acquisitions teams are able to share progress with partners, vendors, and various other stakeholders. It&#8217;s also wise to ask about sharing data off the platform. In some cases, software is a walled garden that doesn&#8217;t permit outside access. Other platforms actually allow users to distribute paid licenses for external users. It&#8217;s imperative to verify that you won&#8217;t be paying out of pocket every time a new role is added.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What Other Similar Companies Use Your Platform?</h3>



<p>Your software choice is part of your positioning strategy. Getting an understanding of how companies in your category are successfully using the same platform allows you to decide if it&#8217;s suitable for your needs at your current scale. While large corporations may be using specific platforms with high name recognition, it&#8217;s essential to understand that the developers behind those platforms are designing features for the giants. Trying to fit into the large footprint of major enterprises may not be the best idea. Shift the focus to platforms that prioritize scope-appropriate features for companies at your level.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Is Data Entry Automated? What is the Origin of the Data Entry into the CRE Deal Management platform?</h3>



<p>Accuracy and security are on the line when a CRE deal management software platform handles automated data entry poorly. Companies using offshore data entry as a service don&#8217;t always provide visibility and awareness about data origin. You need to know who has access to your data. In addition, transparency over the data-automation process allows you to get accurate estimates for how long it takes for your data to become available and usable for your staff. If a software platform is offering AI-driven data entry, ask about accuracy rates. Your software provider should also be able to quantify the data points covered.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s also a secret in the software industry that you should be privy to when selecting software. In the debate between human-driven and AI-driven data entry, the answer is actually both. The ideal solution is an <a href="https://atlasx.co/blog/atlasx-ai-for-commercial-real-estate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AI-driven system that loops in human intervention</a>. Don&#8217;t accept the substitute of a vague “data-entry script” that are sometimes used in place of high-quality artificial intelligence.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Where is the Pricing Coming From?</h3>



<p>Ask for specificity about pricing models to ensure that you&#8217;re not spending money on features your company doesn&#8217;t need. Software solutions are often bloated. When getting a quote for implementation, ask about scaling down to shed features that you don&#8217;t need to achieve your business goals. It&#8217;s also vital to inquire about user price tiers. Are the power user roles such as an analyst priced the same as a passive user role like an executive?</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How Will the CRE Deal Management Platform Grow with Your Team?</h3>



<p>While you don&#8217;t want to sign up for CRE deal management software that&#8217;s &#8220;too big&#8221; for your company, you also don&#8217;t want to get stuck with software that can&#8217;t grow with your goals. You need to purchase software for the company you <em>want to be</em> to at least some degree. These are the questions to ask:</p>



<ul><li>Will the software support a growing team without high per-user costs?</li><li>Does adding more users slow down performance?</li><li>Will the software support growth in deal flow?</li><li>Can interfaces and data prioritization change as the business focus changes?</li><li>Will the software vendor regularly assist with reevaluating software fit?</li><li>Will the software vendor provide solutions for refining features to fit evolving needs?</li></ul>



<p>Investing in software you&#8217;ll outgrow in a year, five years, or 10 years is costly. It&#8217;s not just about paying for a new program. Firms lose untold amounts of productivity when employees have to switch away from the platforms they&#8217;ve become proficient in after years of integrating system-specific features into their workflow processes.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How Are New Features Rolled Out?</h3>



<p>You need to know how tumultuous new product rollouts will be for your company. Software companies are constantly expanding their features. However, not all of them are experts at gentle rollouts that create as little user disruption as possible. Ask for a blueprint for how software updates will look in real time that answers these questions:</p>



<ul><li>How does a software vendor prioritize adding new features?</li><li>Do your product suggestions update the product roadmap?</li><li>Does your current pricing include the latest features? Will you be faced with an upsell for new features?</li></ul>



<p>It&#8217;s critical to grasp the business model of the CRE deal management vendor you&#8217;re vetting. Some software companies base their business models on upsells. As a result, they&#8217;re incentivized to roll out premium paid features that are necessary in order for your basic edition to function.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How Does the Platform Align With Your Team?</h3>



<p>Software isn&#8217;t universal. If a vendor is trying to sell you a flat platform that isn&#8217;t customizable for your industry, you&#8217;ll lose opportunities for building insights with user-specified screens and inputs. Generic &#8220;business&#8221; software can&#8217;t address the complexities of data entry from OMs, CRE specific workflow, underwriting, and other steps required for real estate.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How Flexible Is the CRE Deal Management Platform? Can It Go Beyond Acquisitions?</h3>



<p>Many CRE deal management platforms are focused entirely on acquisitions. While the software can be helpful for getting the deal done in the moment, it offers no analytical benefits for better future performance. That means you&#8217;ll need to design a different solution for the task of automating the look back of &#8220;actuals versus projected&#8221; financials to help with future decision making. In addition, a platform should be able to help you work through refinancings, dispositions, and more.</p>



<p>Many CRE platforms fall short because they don&#8217;t combine cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions with the customizable features small and medium-sized CRE firms need to thrive. It shouldn&#8217;t feel like your team is fighting against your software! Make sure your CRE vendor is able to offer a platform that positions your firm with the tools and insights needed to lead in your category.</p>


Top Questions to Ask When Evaluating CRE Deal Management Software


<p><em>Clunky</em>. It&#8217;s the only way to describe how far too many property firms are running things. Commercial real estate (CRE) acquisitions pipeline software connects investors and transaction parties like nothing else. However, something inexplicable has been happening in the CRE world that is just now getting the correction it deserves. CRE has been <em>one of the last</em> industries to embrace leading-edge technology. Most firms are still using software tools from <em>20 years ago</em>. That means that they&#8217;re competing in today&#8217;s million-mile-an-hour market with tech that&#8217;s two decades old. It also means that firms are dealing with tangles of spreadsheets,  disjointed workflows, and generic customer relationship management (CRM) software that&#8217;s slowing them down during a time when being the fastest has never been more important.</p>



<p>In the real world, firms need tools for complex data management that tie together capital sources, deal makers, brokers, banks, and other core intel assets. Managing a complex pipeline doesn&#8217;t have to be complex enough to require a rigorous infrastructure. Modern CRE pipeline software provides automated data collection for sharp analytical capabilities that help to augment the decision-making process right out of the box. The result? Firms are able to <em>outcompete</em> for deal flow, track relationships, and rocket through closing processes. That&#8217;s precisely why so many firms are adopting AtlasX for expert pipeline management. Take a look at what the transition means for your firm.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Creating Success From Within: The Importance of Centralized Deal Management</h2>



<p>CRE teams are nomadic by nature. While real assets aren&#8217;t centralized in CRE, data needs to be. That&#8217;s why cloud software is so compatible with the needs of a CRE firm. With cloud-based data management, materials are available for all members of the firm. Employees can access data on demand when they are in the office, at home, or out at property tours. There&#8217;s no need to search through emails, network drives, spreadsheets, documents, and complex file paths just to pull up essential information. There&#8217;s also a strong sharing aspect that makes cloud-based data management so essential.</p>



<p>Cloud-based software allows for seamless internal sharing. It also allows for managed, protected sharing outside the organization. Users enjoy a 360-degree view of the pipeline to prevent duplicated efforts and communication blind spots that waste time. This validation of data allows decision makers to trust a centralized source of information regarding deals and properties.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Cloud-Based CRE Acquisitions Pipeline Software Builds Workplace Efficiency</h2>



<p>It&#8217;s time for CRE firms to think beyond the spreadsheet when developing workflows. Spreadsheets can&#8217;t handle the massive troves of data that need to be handled by firms on a daily basis. They also require manual intervention to function. In addition to taking up time and energy, the need for spreadsheets to be manually updated creates a situation where any attempt at real-time data analysis is impossible. That means that spreadsheets are only as good as the amount of time a staff is willing to put into them. What&#8217;s more, they don&#8217;t offer a secure platform for updating, storing, and sharing data. It&#8217;s very easy for a spreadsheet to get exposed &#8220;out in the wild&#8221; with a single share.</p>



<p>Modern CRE workflow needs have outgrown spreadsheets. Firms must replace manual input errors with best-in-class AI for data they can feel confident about using. A big perk of AI-based CRE pipeline software is that employees no longer have to spend time manually copying and pasting from offering memorandums (OMs) and emails into workflow databases. AI tools automatically assemble pipelines in seconds by standardizing unstructured data in emails and documents as part of the blueprint for the pipeline database.</p>



<p>This doesn&#8217;t just save time. It also establishes clarity. With this added visibility, the entire team is on the same page when it comes to goals and deadlines. Employees are able to move forward in unison toward closing without confusion over deadlines. In fact, features that automate action plans ensure that wires aren&#8217;t crossed during deliberation because metrics are selected based on intensive analytics and reporting features that update automatically on user dashboards. In addition, the pipeline extends to include accounting teams, asset management teams, and other auxiliary groups that need to access information regarding closing dates, deposits, due diligence, post-closing actions, and other key aspects that impact their pipeline subsets.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Staying in Control of the Deal: CRE Acquisitions Pipeline Software Only Work If It&#8217;s Customizable</h2>



<p>It&#8217;s essential that firms have capabilities for customizing pipeline software to meet their distinctive objectives. While older software created static templates that forced a specific workflow, cutting-edge CRE software now creates malleable workflow options that allow firms to customize settings to suit their goals and investment strategies. Firms are capable of becoming more flexible and adaptive based on their own or investors needs using dashboards that are customizable regardless of the asset class or position in the capital stack.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Workflow Software Should Provide Insights: The Importance of Analysis</h2>



<p>Many firms fall into the trap of stockpiling spreadsheets. The problem with this is that these spreadsheets can&#8217;t &#8220;work for you&#8221; unless they&#8217;re actively being worked on by employees. The beauty of dynamic CRE pipeline software is that it doesn&#8217;t just stockpile massive amounts of data. While this software&#8217;s storage capabilities are essentially unlimited, the reality is that storage is really just a &#8220;bonus&#8221; that comes in addition to constant real-time and historical data analysis that generates instant, meaningful insights. Firms can leverage the insights that are created using their own pure data to make use of proprietary knowledge for better investment outcomes by utilizing historical sales comps, rent comps, expense line items, and much more. However, it’s not just historical data to leverage, but firms also get the benefits of active deal summary reports that allow them to dissect opportunities during every stage of a deal. In addition to getting the advantage that comes from mining data for leverage, firms also get the benefits of active deal summary reports that allow them to dissect opportunities during every stage of a deal.</p>



<p>Modern CRE pipeline software also builds in risk-management analysis based on incoming data to mitigate conflicts during the then lifecycle of a deal. In addition to tracking the progress of every step of an investment, this software also creates a visual model for employees and clients to reference for the ultimate syncing of expectations and investment mandates. Good CRE pipeline software never forgets the critical next steps. While some systems simply collect and store data, AtlasX turns your enterprise&#8217;s invaluable proprietary data into usable decision-making assets. This includes data tied to comparable sales tracking, historical data tied to cap rates and market rents, and proprietary data that can be interweaved with public data to create more accurate trend charts.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology Should Nurture Human Relationships</h2>



<p>Spreadsheets can feel like walls that keep people and data compartmentalized. It&#8217;s very important for CRE software to help connect the dots between brokers, investors, partners, and service providers instead of creating &#8220;walls of data&#8221; that keep different participants segmented. Communication, transparency, and collaboration are the ultimate goals of this form of technology. However, good data builds in a &#8220;trust factor&#8221; by providing highly controlled settings that ensure the right data is shared with the right people.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Final Thoughts: Creating the Professional Presence That Wows Investors Starts With Your Pipeline</h2>



<p>LP investors want to know that a firm is managing their internal insights impeccably. After all, the insights you&#8217;re generating are dictating the decisions that can make or break an investment. That&#8217;s precisely why AtlasX has worked in easy to make customized reporting for delivery to potential investors and partners. Insights are delivered based on both open and closed deals to provide a full-circle approach to nurturing referrals and relationships. Outdated software keeps CRE firms stuck. AtlasX (CRE) acquisitions pipeline software propels them toward a future built by AI-generated insights created in real time using both proprietary and global data. There&#8217;s no better way to stay organized from within while projecting a professional presence outward.</p>



<p>Want to learn more about why so many firms are growing with help from AtlasX? <a href="https://atlasx.co/request-demo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scheduling a demo</a> is easy! Simply contact AtlasX to learn more.</p>


Blog

Category: Best Practices