SOUTHEAST: Why Buildings Owners Should Be Like Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs called it his “lock-in strategy”—an ecosystem of connected services that keeps you from ditching your iPhone for that fancy new Samsung. Can real estate capture the same loyalty? Transwestern senior managing director Bo Jackson tells us people stick with iPhones because they fear losing features and capabilities they rely on and have become experts at using. But locking tenants into office buildings goes beyond a multitude of services and amenities. Bo tells us the key is to look at office properties as more than physical structures and link tenants together to create business communities.

Bo says tenants are starved for this. Recently, his team conducted a focus group of multiple industries from different properties, but had to delay the meeting because the groups were too busy discovering ways their companies could work together. (The only time our building joins forces is when something is stuck in the vending machine.) Bo says tenant-centric property managers are knowledgeable about their tenants’ businesses and can find ways to facilitate their growth through new relationships.

Once tenants are locked in, people take notice—one of Transwestern’s 20-year old South Florida properties proved this. Recently, a FedEx deliverer told the property manager that the building "felt different, better, and more welcome" than any other buildings he delivers to. (We know what Brown can do for you, but it sounds like this building is doing things for the FedEx guy.)