The Client

Closing the Gap From Manufacturing Plant to Doorstep  

The use of industrial property to fulfill last-mile deliveries has become a key growth engine for the real estate industry. As one of the leading owners of last-mile logistics real estate, this real estate firm is helping clients meet the needs of the modern supply chain. Through its nationwide footprint, they empower clients to meet its goals and objectives by positioning facilities in strategic locations that close the gap from factory to doorstep.

The Situation

Keeping Up With the Times 

With clients today wanting quick answers to their problems, leveraging a self-service portal solution can go a long way in attracting and retaining them in today’s digital economy. That's what this real estate firm was trying to accomplish as part of its overarching digital transformation initiative. 

The decision to develop a client portal for its real estate tenants was twofold. It would help them enhance their client experience while improving, automating, and streamlining back-end operations. 

Clients that needed to report an issue at their property — like replacing an HVAC unit or repairing a leak — could do so via the client portal application. Once the issue is submitted, it's automatically routed to the right vendor. The vendor would then go out to the property and complete the request. And through it all, the client could see the request's status within the same platform.

So what was holding the firm back from executing this initiative? They lacked human capital to dedicate to this strategically important project. 

The Solution

Professionalism and More 

Time was of the essence for the VP of Strategic Transformation. They needed to complete this process improvement project within three months. As they searched for an independent consultant to help with this initiative, they came across Graphite: a platform that provides seamless access to independent talent on demand. 

After careful review, they decided to connect with an account executive (AE) to discuss their needs. Once engaged, the SVP provided the criteria of the expert they needed for this project. They wanted someone with:  

• Deep expertise in process design and engineering 
• Proven leadership experience working closely with members of senior executive team
• Understanding of typical real estate workflows 

With the project scope on hand, the AE and the talent team worked together to source the right expert for the role. Three candidates were shortlisted and presented to the client of the fourteen experts invited to apply. 

The SVP then seamlessly conducted three rounds of interviews with each candidate via Graphite's meeting room capabilities. After completing the interviews, they decided to onboard a strategy and business transformation consultant with over 15 years of experience.

‍

‍

Results 

Documenting the Client Portal’s Future State

Initially, the expert was supposed to work with the firm's designated program manager. But after talking to the expert and realizing their depth of experience, the SVP decided to let the expert take ownership of the project and manage and execute it from start to finish. 

With the SVP's trust in their capabilities, the expert set out to document the firm's current state processes across accounting, finance, transactions, and property operations. 

As they parsed out each workflow across these departments, the expert set meetings with each department head to ideate ways to improve these processes. This would ensure that the firm can deliver the best customer experience while automating key business workflows to improve productivity and efficiency. 

After working with each department head, the expert pulled these findings together to develop the future state of the client portal. With that information on hand, the expert could work with the firm's development team to put into practice the new workflows, integrations, and more.

Throughout the engagement, Graphite worked with the SVP to get their feedback. Overall, the SVP's experience with the expert was a positive one. They felt they were in good hands, given the expert's extensive background. 

The SVP also enjoyed how easy Graphite made it to pay the expert and interact with them throughout the engagement. They have since extended the project with the expert to include additional projects as part of its organization-wide transformation initiatives.

‍

‍