Commercial real estate’s industrial market is performing formidably across the country right now.

Tailoring your product to fit your customer needs is not a new concept. By having absolute clarity on who are my customers, their daily desires and pain points, I can sell my products to them in the most effective way.

Industrial commercial real estate has experienced a great run over the last few years, and its performance didn’t slow down during the first half of 2018.

Having arrived in property via the traditional route of a property degree and the subsequent RICS qualification, I consider myself to be relatively typical of people working in our industry – I have little-to-no experience in developing, building, buying, or specifying software solutions. However, like many of my peers, I am fascinated by PropTech and how it will change our industry and the built environment.

Transformation is underway in commercial real estate with data fast becoming the most important competitive differentiator for today’s landlords and brokers. In an industry long dominated by people being successful doing things the way they’ve always done them, there has been little motivation to adapt. Today’s decision, however, is clear – if you don’t position your business to capture critical insights and act on them, your success will be limited.

Traditionally, the commercial real estate industry has focused on aspects of the physical property to make money. You buy a well-located asset, renovate the lobby and touch up the elevators. Your tenant (whom you haven’t spoken a great deal to since the lease was signed a few years ago) is presumably happy, and you end up disposing of the asset and making a significant return. Happy days.

Mike Fransen is COO of Parkway Properties Investments, LLC, which owns and operates high-quality office buildings in the Sunbelt. Fransen, who oversees a nearly 9 million-square-foot portfolio, leads the charge in adapting strategies to meet the rapidly changing needs of today’s tenants. Parkway understands that space today is more about the experience, and data is critical to understanding what their tenants want. They operate their properties with one goal in mind – to make customers more profitable and productive.

Recreational marijuana is now legal in nine states, 30 allow it medicinally and more are likely to do the same. As a result, there has been an impact on the retail sector of commercial real estate, due to a demand for space. But the brokerage process for these stores is complicated for several reasons.

VTS Innovators Spotlight is a VTS blog series that profiles the leading minds in commercial real estate, showcasing how they are transforming their organizations through technology and innovation.

When one thinks of an Ikea store, the last thing that likely comes to mind is small.