It’s 2016 and you need a digital strategy. Without one, you will not make the most of the skills you have, and will be competing with at least one hand tied behind your back.
You might not come up against competition that does have a digital strategy in place, but if you do – unless you have a genuinely unique skill – you will probably lose the fight for new business. Human plus tech beats human alone.
The devil is in the detail, but the broad principles listed on the right are what you need to start thinking about. Because, in reality, this is not about having a digital strategy, it is about becoming a digital company. Only then will you be able to take full advantage of those soft, human skills for which the property world is so famous.
What constitutes a digital strategy? Here are 20 starting points
- Digital strategy is not about IT. Digital should not be an add-on to your business; it needs to be part of your DNA.
- Don’t digitise the past. Rethink your processes to take advantage of new technologies.
- Think: “How can I do this 10 times faster, cheaper, better?” Wherever there is friction, seek to remove it.
- If you were your customer, what would you want? Are there digital tools that could deliver this?
- Update your technology. Everyone must have a great phone, laptop and broadband.
- Educate yourself. Read technology-focused business books. Listen to podcasts. Send your staff on the Google Squared Online Marketing course.
- Rethink your partners. In a digital world, it is easy to collaborate with more people. Who could you work with to bring an extra edge to your business?
- Rethink your customers. Can you service different markets? Does digital enable new business models?
- Move your technology to the Cloud. Google Docs, Office 365, Dropbox – once in the cloud, everyone has access to everything they need whenever and wherever they are.
- Think data, think analytics. What data do you have access to? Have you ever analysed it?
- Eliminate weekly/monthly reporting. In a digital world, information should be real-time.
- Automate everything you can. Embrace the robots.
- The smartphone is your friend. Think mobile first, starting with your website.
- Think: How would you outcompete yourself with digital tools?
- Market for the year you are in. You may like print, but if your market prefers Instagram…
- Rework your internal teams. No silos. Mix up people with different skills.
- Get social. Digital networking works. Tweet, blog, share. Talk with, not at.
- Learn about agile and lean business methodologies. They are not just for software companies. Likewise, design, service and systems thinking. Then revisit item two.
- Technology. Look at what everyone else has. What are the stakes and what sets you apart?
- Think about ‘the digital layer’ that sits atop all real estate. Merging the virtual and physical worlds is a key value enhancer.
Essential tech for property people: mobile websites
Those who follow me on Twitter know that websites that are not mobile-friendly are my personal bugbear. They make me seethe with irritation.
And it seems the property industry is culprit number one in this regard. A new report by Flashbulb and SoftForge has found that “nearly two-thirds of the websites belonging to property agents and surveyors in the UK are not mobile-friendly”.
The report adds: “Despite 52% of internet users reporting that smartphones and tablets are now their preferred device for getting online, a large proportion of the UK’s property industry has yet to embrace the realities of the digital economy, with a third of the websites belonging to the 75 largest property firms, developers, agents and housebuilders failing the mobile-friendly test.”
Agency and surveying firms were the worst, with 48% of them failing the test, followed by 32% of the top 25 developers.
It is hard to know why this is. Are these companies ignorant, lazy or contemptuous of their customers? Or are their customers mainly as backward and luddite as they are? Or is it that the current property market, especially in London, is just so bullish that none of these companies really have to try very hard, and so can get away with not bothering to keep up with modern business practices?
I suspect two things will occur over the next few years. Firstly, those that do engage with the mobile world (and digital in general) will increasingly outcompete those that don’t, and secondly, when the market turns, those stuck in the analogue world will be wiped out at a speed never seen before.
Antony Slumbers is founder and chief executive of software developer Estates Today. Interact with him on Twitter @antonyslumbers
