Real estate services firms are under threat from technology as never before.
How do you make sure you lead change rather than are rendered obsolete by it? Cushman & Wakefield has established a dedicated transformation team in Europe to make sure the company is not broadsided by the changes in society and technology that are altering the business of its clients.
Seven months in, the effects are already being seen.
“One reason that real estate services hasn’t changed much is that real estate doesn’t change much,” said Cushman & Wakefield international partner Toby Ogden, who leads the transformation team.
“That was the case before but it isn’t the case now. You have huge activity that is happening in and improving other industries. Our strategy needs to acknowledge the big thematic shifts that will impact our clients and the industry to make sure we have a relevant and sustainable business.”
Ogden said change in real estate services firms needs to come from “within and without”, hence staffing the team with internal appointments — he was previously an international partner in the Central London leasing team before working with EMEA Chief Executive John Forrester on the possibility of creating the team. Team colleague Lottie Tollman was previously in Cushman's valuations team and had also worked with Forrester on strategic initiatives.
Ogden said the transformation team works with other teams and individuals to “get them to think about challenging the way they do things to the benefit of clients and us”.
“We look at the areas where we think we add substantial benefit and run lots of little pilots, of technology or new business models, and see which gain momentum”.
A big part of the change affecting real estate services is the impact of technology, and Ogden points out that “what is happening to our clients in terms of the way technology affects their business will happen to us as service providers as well. We have to look at what will happen in the next 10 years and start to plan how we adapt now. You can’t stop the tide of technology, you have to embrace it.’
Valuation is consistently cited as being under a high threat of automation. Ogden argued that automation would be a benefit to both clients and valuers, and would change the nature of the role.
“In terms of automation the things we are looking at stem from the fact that we fundamentally believe that the value the client gets from us is about expertise and advice. If we can automate something like a valuation report so it takes 20 minutes to compile rather than multiple hours, we can shift from spending time compiling data, to delivering analysis and ultimately the insight the client needs.”
So how receptive have those working in the Cushman business been to a newly established team coming in and looking to challenge the way they do things?
“There are no climate change deniers at Cushman & Wakefield,” Tollman said. “People see it coming. Different sectors see it more clearly than others, but I think everyone can see the value in the way the industry is changing”.
The team might be mirrored in the U.S. and Asia. Change is stalking the real estate industry in every corner of the globe.
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