Gmaven’s commercial real estate (CRE) clients range from the big to the boutique, from brokers to property owners. Business is about relationships, and every business has a story. Here is 121 Corporate Real Estate‘s.
I skate to where the puck is going to be
Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player – probably the greatest team sports player in history
Today, you get fast turnarounds and great options with most buying decisions. Think about the convenience and ease of:
So why, as a CRE client, should it be different with your high value CRE decisions? Why should your CRE decisions, based on data, come with doubts about completeness of options, about where the market is priced, about the competence of your trusted advisor.
Why, when you are under business pressure to act fast, should you have to wait?
To put it another way:
Improved customer service and speed is “where the puck is going to be”. In the mind of the customer, speed equals service. And those CRE advisors who can deliver complete options, fast, should win in the highly competitive space of CRE.
Is this all theory? Let’s how this translates into reality…
121 Corporate Real Estate, a boutique, but SA-wide CRE brokerage, servicing office and industrial needs, was founded by the deeply-experienced, well-networked duo of Roddy Watson and Angus Alexander in early 2021. Made up of only four team members, they punch far above their weight.
But it wasn’t always like this…
Starting off, 121 CRE were frustrated by the following industry problems:
Hands-on, high quality service to clients is how 121 CRE differentiates, and turnaround speed is key to their service experience. As Angus relates:
To “play to where the puck is”, they needed a better system. Eventually a brave strategic call was made to invest in and bet on technology.
When 121 CRE went live with Gmaven in February 2022, the system came pre-loaded with all office and industrial public vacancies, from across South Africa.
The team is now focused on doing deals. And, building from the hard work of 2021, 2022 is turning into a bumper year! For a dive down into 121 CRE’s experience, numbers and feedback from a client, see the CRE brokerage white paper here (slide show):
This CRE speed is hard to beat. “Gmaven saves us hours because we no longer have to update our database all the time”. This is handled via the Gmaven vacancy feed – which taps into the 8M sqm of public vacancies from the country’s best property funds. Watson continues:
This business’s success talks to a very clear application of the theory of opportunity cost – industry-specifics here. While deal making time generates high revenues, admin time does not. Time spent on admin, is time lost to deals.
PropTech’s job is to automate away admin time, making humans in CRE more efficient, and businesses more profitable.
In theory, provided extra time realised by PropTech efficiencies is used for customer service and deals, the business should see a major uplift.
In 121 CRE’s case, nothing is theoretical. Their fast-growing numbers show indisputably where that extra time is going. And reinforce how their brave bet on technology is paying off – for them, and their clients.
This is a key number in South African commercial real estate (CRE). After a lot of hard work, we are able to deliver a firm, defensible value to SA – relevant to businesses (who almost all operate out of CRE), policy makers and the industry itself.
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Apple, one of the most profitable businesses in the world, is the king of outsourcing. Its brains reside in California, while its grunt work is spread to specialists all over the world. Is CRE missing a trick? Like the strategic minds at Apple, can it farm back office services to cheaper, specialist hands – and drive greater profitability?
