A recent press release from a CRE deal management software vendor announced a version of its product for investment sales and mortgage brokers. This new spin on the existing software is supposed to combine pipeline tracking, customer relationship management (CRM), market data management, and digital deal marketing for the first time in one bundle.

Is that really the first time all of these can be found in one integrated product? Maybe, or maybe not. There are so many software offerings in CRE that it's difficult to ascertain such claims. But give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment. Maybe it's so. If you started using the package, would you employ all the features, or even realize they are there?

Making thorough use of any software is a challenge. There have been estimates about the percentage of features people apply. One figure is an application of the Pareto principle, that 80% of users never get beyond 20% of a package's features. This may sound reasonable but more likely is a guess based on a common observation. Who tallied the number of features in multiple applications, observed actual use, and then calculated a percentage? Probably no one.