Network Space
Overview
Network Space is a major UK commercial property firm that creates and maintains industrial property fit for the future. The company currently owns and operates a portfolio of 45 properties across the North of England, offering commercial space from 1,000 to 50,000 square feet.
The challenge
As the business went from strength to strength, high levels of demand for sales and lettings at Network Space were putting significant strain on the company’s ability to process new clients and contracts. The existing labour-intensive, paper-based processes increased the likelihood of contractual errors, led to missed revenue opportunities, and caused delays in moving from the initial client enquiry to the creation of the lease document and issuing the first invoice.
Directors at Network Space were spending significant time and effort trawling through lease documentation, which was a distraction from revenue-generating activities. Equally, it was difficult and time-consuming to see exactly which properties were available and to match availability with client requirements.
The makepositive solution
To improve internal visibility, accelerate processes and bring on new clients faster, Network Space engaged makepositive, a Salesforce Platinum Partner, to completely overhaul its sales processes. makepositive built an entirely new sales front-end based on Salesforce technology, and worked with Network Space to optimise, automate and accelerate the underlying processes.
The makepositive solution included an expansive data model that enabled the management of properties, enquiries, viewings, customer accounts, leases, rental steps and breaks, deposits, rent reviews, keyholder information and more. makepositive migrated all of the customer, property, unit, lease, rental steps, rent review and breaks information into Salesforce.
makepositive also created a sophisticated property pricing model using Salesforce formulas and workflows to generate headline pricing information based on specified unit-per-square-foot fees, term and rent-free periods. This pricing and any chosen options are then automatically reflected on Heads of Terms documentation.
A new proposal approval process ensures that any proposals that fail to meet the standards specified against a particular property (for example: expected Budget Headline Rent, Service Charge Basis, Insurance Basis, Alarm Type, Payment Terms) are escalated to a manager for approval.
The makepositive solution simplifies and accelerates the management of charge type information at proposal and lease level, including utility charges, service charges, buildings insurance and alarm monitoring information. It also optimises the management of moving-in, post-completion and vacations tasks and information.
By integrating Salesforce with Conga Composer, makepositive has empowered Network Space to automatically generate Heads of Terms, FRI and IRI Leases and Completion Statements. The company can now output conditional clauses within generated documentation based on information specified within Salesforce, which are either suppressed or displayed depending on a number of criteria. Complex lease clause numbering is automatically maintained throughout leases.
The benefits
makepositive solution gives Network Space a single version of the truth on lease information: automation ensures that documentation matches the accurate information held within the system, eliminating the need for employees to hunt through lease documentation to find information or resolve errors. Salesforce Chatter provides additional administrative efficiency by accelerating communications between employees. It also preserves a full audit trail of all activity related to particular properties, units and leases.
The solution streamlines processes across:
- Enquiries and viewings
- Preparation of Heads of Terms, Completion Statements and lease documentation
- Moving in clients
- Completion of new leases
- Vacations and renewals
- Breaks and variations
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