When it comes to managing CRE projects, both agents and brokers often find themselves faced with many challenges. The sales pipeline, deal Management — these are intricate subjects that require multiple layers of advanced project management. Sophisticated commercial real estate (CRE) solutions designed for project management help address the challenges that real estate agents commonly face. In addition, they’re also a great way to improve property deals.

Thanks to the accumulation of volumes of data and growing customer expectations, the real estate market is rapidly heading towards an automated model. At the forefront of this evolution is CRE project management. When it comes to adopting new technology to ease job-related stress and meet customer demands, this project Management Software is leading the charge. In fact, the global property management software market is estimated to be worth $2.58 billion by 2027. 

How project management software has transformed the CRE industry

In recent years, the real estate industry has actively begun embracing automation and technology. Ultimately, innovative solutions allow real estate professionals to establish an effective workflow complete with reduced manual operations and increased insight — all within an integrated data environment. As a result, project management software for the real estate industry consists of a vast variety of tools, technologies, and software solutions all geared toward improving CRE project management. 

Essentially, the main purpose of modern project management software tools is to enable real-time collaboration and provide users with a centralized hub for all data sources. Featuring a scalable platform that is adaptable to new tools and features, this software utilizes technology like AI, VR, cloud computing, and learning algorithms, to enable data-driven business decisions. A platform complete with robust data centralization and visualization capabilities across multiple devices provides real estate agents with more control when it comes to managing deals and providing customers with superior service. 

Thanks to this software, brokers now have access to robust tools that cover virtually every aspect of the complex CRE project life cycle, while clients benefit from personalized offers, better financial reporting, and an overall higher level of satisfaction thanks to seamless communication.

5 ways technology improves CRE project management

Sophisticated project management software for the real estate industry was created to solve the potential challenges linked to a project’s life cycle. With so many intricate aspects involved in this process, CRE solutions are designed to provide unmatched benefits in specific key areas. 

Data centralization

Data is like gold to the commercial real estate industry. Eddy Wagoner, global CIO of corporate solutions at commercial real estate corporation JLL, states “There’s a coming seismic shift in the way that we use data and technology inside real estate.” Today, roughly 70% of the world’s leading companies spend a quarter of their budget on data analytics — the real estate industry is no exception. There’s no denying it: in recent years, big data has become an essential asset for the commercial real estate sector.

One of the primary benefits of CRE project management software is its integration capabilities with other systems and technologies in order to create an accessible and centralized data landscape. This software facilitates data sharing and enables real-time analytics by collecting information from multiple sources. This includes transactional data, historical data, customer records, documentation and permits, GIS data, etc. Apart from simply centralizing this information, CRE management tools sort, visualize, and organize layers of data, and can even create reports and forecasts based on it. Furthermore, they provide users with a data infrastructure that sorts valuable insights and allows users to store their findings in various categories.

Streamlined communication

A single commercial real estate project involves multiple stakeholders, brokers, subcontractors, vendors, and customers. As there are numerous communication channels and participants involved, it is crucial to have a centralized tool for messages, calls, and emails across a project. A sophisticated cloud-based CRE project management solution ensures all communication takes place in a single vein, keeping things transparent and straightforward. Streamlined communication between project stakeholders facilitates the management process by allowing all participants to converse in real-time. As a result, the margin for error via miscommunication is greatly reduced. 

Task automation

Keeping track of all tabs and tasks across an entire project is crucial. As such, reliable project management software needs to be able to reduce manual administrative tasks as much as possible in order to optimize workflows. In order to meet deadlines on time, reminders, follow-up responses, automated alerts, and suggestions all work together to help real estate agents and brokers remain in the loop regarding all processes.

Document management 

It’s no secret that the real estate industry is saturated with all sorts of documentation. For this reason, it’s no wonder that proper document management is a well-known pain point for CRE project managers. As agents need to collect and manage paperwork from numerous third parties, keeping track of piles of information can quickly become a challenge. Instead of constantly chasing down tenants and contractors for documentation, project management software allows users to automate this process with default requests and follow-ups. This way, agents are able to receive, store, and manage all necessary paperwork in a timely and organized manner. 

Integration

Real estate project management covers a wide variety of business sectors, including marketing, finance, operations, construction, communication, etc. The number of software tools and systems used to manage all of these sectors can hardly be summed up. As a centralization tool, smart CRE project management software should be capable of integrating with as many external systems as possible. Seamless integration facilitates the process of sharing data which in turn simplifies collaboration and makes the overall project management flow more productive. 

How to choose CRE project management software

Regardless of the size and complexity of a commercial real estate project, smart software systems are an absolute must-have item when it comes to the modern business environment. With many options available on the market, choosing between a customized in-house software solution and a ready-made solution can be a difficult decision. However you choose to proceed, a solution should meet a number of basic requirements to be considered tangible for a business. Whether you’re interested in developing or buying commercial real estate project management software, consider the following functionality and features:

• Task tracking and automation. The capability to reduce manual administrative tasks and assign tasks to others is a crucial feature when it comes to workflow optimization. The ability to track progress and make changes to assigned tasks is also extremely valuable.
  
• Reporting & analytics. To score points with your customer base, in-depth and well-presented reports are essential when it comes to describing the progress of a project.
  
• Customizable workflow. Every project is different — having the ability to tailor a project’s pipeline is a huge bonus.
  
• Notifications, follow-ups, alerts. Streamlined and automated communication facilitates collaboration and enables transparency.
  
• Integration with external tools and systems. This enables data centralization and creates a highly flexible, useful tool.
  
• Document management. This includes sending automated requests and collecting and storing important documentation.
  
• Payments and transactions. A built-in payment system or integration with an external one is essential.
  
• Cloud storage. Collaboration in the cloud makes it possible for all stakeholders to participate, both online and offline.
  
• Hierarchies and access management. This includes setting permissions and assigning or limiting access to different stakeholders. 

CRE Project Management Software Development with Glorium

Glorium is a software development company specializing in sophisticated software solutions for the commercial real estate sector. With more than 10 years of industry expertise, Glorium assists startups, helping them get to market quickly and stay ahead of the competition with superior service and tailored solutions. By nurturing your ideas from concept to launch, our dedicated team helps bring your ideas to life. 
At Glorium, we can help develop your CRE project management solutions in a way that will exceed the expectations of your real estate customers. With in-depth experience creating tech solutions for the commercial real estate industry, Glorium is a name you can trust. Learn more about our real estate software and application development solutions today!