REdirect has a uniquely specialized team: our consultants have real estate software knowledge and experience working in the industry in many capacities such as CFO, Controller, and CPA. After so many years in business, we came to a clear conclusion that our clients needed better access to these uniquely mixed skillsets in order to properly align their processes to their software. After all, you made a big technology investment, it makes sense that your processes, procedures, and associated users might have to evolve in order to get the most out of your new (or newly updated/customized) technology. 

What is a Business Process Review?

Our Business Process Reviews (BPRs) are designed to evaluate specific business functions such as accounting, property management, leasing, and investment management. BPRs are usually performed by a dedicated consultant or two who have relevant experience with both the technology and business functions in question. 

Getting Started

Our BPR consultants conduct interviews with key client personnel to gain an understanding of the business, operational procedures, and pain points – many companies have some idea what the issues are, but haven’t taken the time to go through each one and aggregate the information in a formalized and structured way.  

Alongside the anecdotal review of the process (interviews), we also conduct a System Review to understand the current technology setup. Our consultants look for gaps in the setup, security concerns, and parts of the software that are being paid for but are underutilized. Since we know the full capabilities of the real estate software your team is using, our consultants will begin to connect the dots between the interviewee pain points and the functionality of the software and modules available. 

Aligning your vision

Most companies don’t actually have their processes, workflows, and operational standards in writing. Documenting your current state of operations and reviewing them for future use is how our consultants get the objective “bird’s eye view” of the functions they’re optimizing. It’s something that most companies won’t realize they need until it’s too late: when you experience significant knowledge loss from a team member leaving or are updating a process but don’t know every touchpoint or system used. While not the main goal or deliverable of the project, we frequently get feedback that this documentation is very valuable for companies down the line to look back on and for onboarding new employees at many different levels.

Roadmap for the future

At the end of the process and software review period, our team prepares and presents their recommendations in the form of a roadmap that addresses all issues uncovered during the BPR. This roadmap is the final deliverable and can include report recommendations, additional software whether in the MRI/Yardi universe or 3rd party, changes to processes including shifting responsibility, automation, or simplifying them where appropriate, and the introduction of new metrics or dashboards.

Benefits of a Business Process Review

We’ve worked with over 50 clients on process reviews and have gone on to help them make lasting changes to their operations and technology functionality. Identifying areas for improvement can help in setting your technology budget, prioritizing future projects, and understanding inefficiencies in employee responsibilities and workload – all toward a goal of maximizing the return on your technology investment.

Clarify Processes and Pain Points

BPR clients gain a better understanding of their current processes, workflows, and pain points and utilize this knowledge to operate more efficiently. Participating in a BPR gives you insight into what elements of your current processes are negatively (and sometimes positively) affecting your team, and with our recommendations roadmap you’ll know what changes to make and how to go about them to get the biggest impact. 

One area where we find many companies experience inefficiencies is in their reporting procedures. Common challenges include getting access to and combining data, internal communication of responsibilities, and formatting and distribution of reports. Through a Business Process Review, REdirect can identify whether your company can benefit from custom reporting, additional reporting tools (and the selection of which tools would be a best fit), and/or a change in operational responsibilities.  

Automation and Efficiency

Our BPR consulting team works to identify any processes that can be automated or addressed with additional software. Sometimes there is a native solution in the software you’ve already implemented but have not activated, are not aware of, or the team has not fully incorporated it into the existing processes. 

Any automation or conversion of manual processes into digital ones is going to increase your team’s efficiency and in some cases free up some time for the team to focus on more strategic tasks. 

Optimized software

The roadmap explaining how to optimize your system is perhaps the most valuable outcome of the Business Process Review. Making system updates, customizations, and using the most appropriate modules, reports, and functions makes all the difference in being able to operate as efficiently as possible.

We frequently find that companies are paying for software modules that the team doesn’t utilize, aren’t set up correctly, or haven’t even been implemented. Through a BPR, our consultants will identify modules that are being underused and propose a plan to optimize those modules or phase them out. Once you’re ready to take the next steps, our full team is available to collaborate and put our recommendations into action. 

A streamlined process with the right technology is a winning mix to help you move successfully into the future. Contact us if you’re ready to align your processes and technology with your business vision.