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CARLSBAD, CA—Commercial real estate brokerage companies continue to integrate best-in-class technology solutions to better conduct business, empower organizational leadership and provide clients with the tools and insight they require to make better informed decisions, Real Capital Markets principals tell GlobeSt.com. Following the release of CBRE Deal Flow, a new online platform for buying and selling commercial real estate that's powered by a customized version of RCM's technology, we spoke exclusively with RCM's executive managing director Steve Shanahan and COO Tina Lichens about what brokerage firms stand to gain from implementing firm-level capital markets technology, how to choose the right technology partner and how to integrate these programs into brokerages' businesses. 

GlobeSt.com: Why do brokerage firms need integrated capital markets technology as part of their business platforms?

Shanahan: First and foremost, they need it so they can conduct their business, which is selling, recapitalizing and financing real estate. The right capital markets technology is a mission-critical component for brokers. They need to be able to reach the entire investor universe, deliver a world-class presentation, give their clients access to due diligence documents, and manage the sales process, while providing for strict control and data security—all of which happen online using RCM. Successful execution of this process means increased efficiency, added transparency and optimal demand for the asset, which naturally increases the likelihood of the broker being awarded another assignment. In addition to the obvious broker advantages, brokerage companies are embracing capital markets technology as a competitive advantage—both for the firm and for their clients.

Lichens: At the corporate level, it's all about access to making better informed decisions by capturing and harnessing data. Many, if not most, in our industry are suffering with disconnected technology and manual processes that inhibit data capture and market visibility. Organizing and sharing data across business lines has always been an objective for firms, but several emerging imperatives now make harnessing real-time data a requirement for meeting clients' more complex information needs. Until recently, brokerage leadership has traditionally had a tough time getting their sales force talking to each other, sharing information and getting reports from them in order to understand what they have on the market real-time. It's a lot of manual effort otherwise, but if everyone on the team is using the same technology to conduct business, management can roll-up the data and use it to convey market trends and make better informed decisions.

GlobeSt.com: What is the best way to implement capital markets technology into brokerages' businesses?

Lichens: One deal at a time, which means firms need buy-in from their sales teams. Brokers must embrace the technology system and sit firmly behind it, during its selection, implementation and day-to-day use. The entire investment sales process used to be offline just 15 years ago. Since then, all the blue-chip companies have used RCM, where nearly 20,000 brokers have brought approximately 40,000 commercial assets to market. We attribute much of this adoption to being inclusive in the development of our solution—their collective feedback has shaped our technology so that it delivers what's most important to them and their clients.

Shanahan:  Likewise, it's important for business decision makers to be a part of the implementation process and be true evangelists of the technology. The right strategic decisions on standards, resource sharing and technology management is key. The clients who are most successful at integrating technology into their world have a mandate to do it in a big way, but realize the importance of a measured, inclusive approach. At the end of the day, the technology needs to be one cohesive platform that everybody is using and from which everybody is deriving value.

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GlobeSt.com: How can your firm help with this integration?

Lichens:  Of course, choosing the right technology partner is vital. If they don't live, eat and breathe commercial real estate, they probably aren't going to be able to add much value. It's also important that the technology partner have a track record of successfully maneuvering through market cycles. We've been helping firms integrate their capital markets technology for over a decade. In this time, we've seen it all. One of our greatest contributions during the integration process is being able to advise our clients and offer counsel that's based on real-world experience. It's like getting Ernst & Young-level advice on the industry, while getting the best technology at the same time.

Shanahan:  It's a fact that 60% of all technology initiatives—not just brokerage companies'—just fail; they don't even get launched. Technology development is hard to do, harder to do it right and nearly impossible to do it spot-on, so all the things Tina mentioned create that scenario of great success. You're meeting everybody's needs, but not at the expense of anyone else.

 Additionally, connectivity of systems is really important. Everybody uses Salesforce or some version of that technology, and the more that technologies can talk to each other, the less redundant data entry is. With our fully matured API—how the system talks to other systems—we can quickly create connectivity between systems.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this topic?

Lichens: This isn't going away. It's a very important topic for everybody in the space. The ability to leverage technology to market, sell and finance commercial real estate is only going to get more important.

Shanahan: If you walked into a traditional real estate shop today and looked at how many brokers run their business, it's a lot of guys looking at spreadsheets and sending emails. Technology hasn't been leveraged in our industry to the extent it has in others. It will take time, but we think technology will continue to create efficiencies in the real estate marketplace, and we're solidly positioned as the clear leader for providing capital markets technology.