The CRE market is saturated with a complex network of financial and contractual arrangements between landlords and their tenants. Each arrangement being unique and different from the previous or future. Whether the negotiations are handled via a CRE broker or through the owners and managers, a final arrangement must be made that appeals to both sides. How much easier would it be to have access to the tenant's needs and wants and truly harness that information into your design and renovation of tenant space? It's about serving your tenants in this new consumer world and not just the old way of worrying about how many parking spaces they need.Besides being organized, knowing what type of tenant you want, and networking with outside experts, a good CRE landlord should be treating tenants as customers. The landlord-tenant relationship is truly unique and unlike any other business relationship. It’s about finding and meeting your customer's needs. Communicating is key and when you lose sight of that, it can cause more problems in the long run.

So how do we keep the lines of communication open while servicing the needs of our tenants? Let's talk about a new and exciting concept that connects owners and tenants of a large commercial space with thousands of other surrounding professionals. By using an online platform to connect the two, the owner along with their tenants can post information or promotional "must know/must see" events to engage surrounding people.

People live half their lives at work and as building owners, we are not taking full advantage of their needs and wants. Owners should be offering an environment that serves the needs of their tenants by offering a communication platform for all things relevant both inside and around your office building. Thousands sit in their office and shop and order delivery everyday. How can you take advantage of this and make it easier for them?

The power of tenant harnessing is all about what you’re able to provide to your tenants that other people aren’t thinking about offering. It’s about giving them opportunities to get more, whether it’s inside the building or the surrounding area. That could mean discounts, promotions, delivery services, dry cleaning services, and so on. The opportunities are limitless. Think about creating the same consumer environment that you would see from shopping online or through apps, and bring this concept into the CRE landlord-tenant relationship.

For example, would these professionals benefit if you were to approach your local delicatessen and struck a deal where they receive 10% off their order just by being a tenant in your building? Sure they would! Not only are you offering a discount to them, but also promoting a local business happy to reach out to new consumers.

Now imagine these discounts, promotions or invites to special events as a part of their everyday and each person in your building, regardless of what company they work for can access these through a communication platform directly from their devices. In turn, they are also able to promote their events on the same platform, giving them access to the thousands of people within their building and the surrounding area. This concept was unheard of previously, but now it’s time.

Tenant harnessing has so much to do with communication, knowing what your tenants want and being able to provide a reason why they should choose you. It’s time to bring more to the tenant experience. It’s like you’re providing a concierge service to the people in your building and they’re going to love it!Would love to hear your thoughts on the topic; how do you leverage tenant harnessing? If you would like to discuss this further or gain insights as to how we offer these services at Onyx, email me at jschultz@onyxequities.com.