Think of it like smartphones: in practice, people don’t use them much as phones any more. They e-mail, they Skype, they use social networks, they play games, they run a myriad of apps to make their life easier, more efficient or more fun. What they don’t do so much is make phone calls. In fact, in the US the average length of a call has halved since 1995 to 90 seconds. Which is why screen sizes are getting bigger. Used as a phone they look stupid, but as a portable computer screen, bigger is better.
And the same is coming to pass with commercial property. We’re just not using it in the same way. It’s no longer where our computer is, or where we can access our data. Or where we need to be for meetings. Or where we need to shop. In fact, what is it for?
And that is the point. The property industry needs to consider the possibility that its product isn’t fit for purpose any more. Or at least not the purpose it has been used for for the past 30 years.
Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen talks of “disruptive innovation”, where companies fail to meet customers’ unstated or future needs and new technology or business models arise that slowly, then rapidly, dislodge the market leaders. The property industry is largely tone-deaf to such innovation and persists in thinking that the way things have been is the way they will always be.
The property industry needs a new set of skills. It needs people who are attuned to the digital world. People whose mindset is rooted in service. Who believe everything can be done better, faster and cheaper than now. Who look at every touch point with their customers (all occupiers, not just the C suite) and think how they can interact in a more human, dynamic, relevant manner. Who look at technology not as IT but as the enabler of progress. For property (of all types) to remain relevant (and retain/grow in value), the industry needs to embrace this digital DNA.
So we need marketing people who tweet and blog, asset managers who monitor social networks, chief executives who drive digital adoption, finance directors who design new business models, operations people who embrace new technologies, and planners, architects and designers who create new, more appropriate spaces.
Because property is a long-term business, you need to understand the future. To paraphrase ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, you need to play where the puck is going, not where it is.
Antony Slumbers is founder and chief executive of software developer Estates Today
Five technologies that will change property
Five years ago no-one owned an iPad. Now children have them. And if you have one, you get to read EG well ahead of the traditionalists still waiting for that heavy thud on the doormat on a Saturday morning. Technology moves swiftly and can have a major effect on business. Here Knight Frank lists the top five technologies it believes will change property:
• Office robots – telepresence robots, where a remote worker can log into a droid, “wander” around the office and interact with colleagues, are already in production. We have robot cleaners and even a giant robot arm, called Baxter, that can do the job of scores of factory workers. This is not a piece of science fiction and property will have to respond appropriately.
• The internet of things – everyday appliances, linked to the internet and controlled remotely, will boost the rise in e-tailing and could lead to a reduced need for facilities management. Internet-linked machinery could enable smart buildings partially to manage themselves.
• Driverless cars – WiFi-enabled, driverless cars will improve traffic congestion and speed up commuting. More streets will be pedestrianised, increasing passing trade for retailers and improving air quality.
• 3D Printing – in 2013 a Dutch group started working on plans to 3D-print a house. This spring a Chinese company printed 10 of them.
• Drones – Amazon is already using them to deliver small items. Will industrial units become mini airports? And will agents no longer have to visit buildings they value, and instead send a drone to photograph and film the property?
Essential tech for property people: Twitter
Do you ever mutter “information overload”? Or wonder how you can keep up with everything going on around you? Are you inquisitive? Do you think you live in a “filter bubble” where everyone you meet is, well, just like you. Have you anything to say? Are you a giver or a receiver?
If any of the above is you, then you need Twitter. Simply put, Twitter is how you can filter the internet. It is how you can break out of your existing network – however big that might be – and discover something new, engaging, informative, stimulating, exciting and evocative. Every day.
With Twitter you are in control of what information you receive and who you want to engage with. Unlike Facebook, where they decide (on the unwritten orders of advertisers) what you get to see, with Twitter you decide whom you want to hear from. And no one filters your data feed. If someone is interesting you hear it all. If they are dull you just cast them aside.
In a personal capacity, you can become stupendously well informed – and subtly promote your own bona fides. In a business capacity, you can hear the unvarnished truth about your brand, as well as support, aid and inform your customers.
Not everyone on Twitter is interesting, but most interesting people are on Twitter. If you’re the latter but yet to dive in, do so now. It’s a fascinating place.
Follow Antony on Twitter @antonyslumbers
