The organization
BH Management Services is one of the largest multi-family real estate operator in the United States. BH Management has found its niche in a highly competitive industry by acting as minority investors, property developers, and managers.
challenges
BH Equities team members managed their deal flow pipeline primarily from memory and Excel spreadsheets. Team members struggled to access critical data remotely and information loss from overriding was a growing concern due to simultaneous activity. These practices could not keep up as the number of deals under development grew. More deals required more analysis and data collection became a pain point. BH needed a new system that would house large amounts of data and ultimately help them match the right investors to the right properties.
Solution
BH’s internal IT department explored the development of their own proprietary solution, but timeliness was a concern. A Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was determined to be the best solution due to Salesforce’s brand value and cloud accessibility. A solution solidified, BH enlisted Ascend Technologies as their implementation partner at the recommendation of Salesforce.
BH recognized that Salesforce was a “game-changer” but they needed an implementation partner. Ascend implemented Salesforce with custom objects and workflows to automate day-to-day task drivers, increasing efficiency. A grouping element was installed allowing users to link opportunities, sellers, and markets via vertical portfolios. Ascend also introduced a seamless integration between Outlook and Salesforce.
Outcome
BH Equities better serves partners thanks to a 360-degree view of projects. Salesforce is a one-stop shop, keeping track of BH’s negotiable deals pipeline, relevant historical data, and data trends on potential and purchased properties. Salesforce is easy to access from any mobile device during on-site property visits because of the solution’s cloud-based foundation.
Salesforce’s reporting feature and dashboard functionality allow leadership to track multiple benchmark figures for the first time including the number of units, properties, and acquisition fees gained per year. The acquisitions department is inclined to add staff and build more teams now that there is one central database in place to keep teams connected and in the loop on associates’ activities.
“Salesforce was clearly the platform of choice but BH Equities needed a partner to specifically design a system to help manage deal flow, match investors with potential deals, and mine historical data in a simple and easy way. [Ascend Technologies] provided hands-on guidance to build and implement a personalized product that satisfied all of our needs.”
-Mike Baker, Vice President of BH Equities