There’s a popular meme out there with a picture of a man, a wall and a bunch of ladders. The man, who is peering over a wall he obviously wants to climb, is standing on the pile of ladders instead of using them correctly. The caption? “It doesn’t matter how many resources you have… if you don’t know how to use them, it will never be enough.”
Large operations run the risk of doing the same thing when it comes to lease administration. Just because you can add to your workforce, does that mean you should? Specifically, is it more beneficial to hire dedicated lease administration help or add lease administration software to your workflow? Does the best answer fall somewhere in the middle?
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Lease Administrator
We’ve discussed outsourcing lease administration vs. adopting lease administration software, but what about hiring a lease administrator internally? The main benefit of doing this is having superior control of your leasing data, since it remains in-house. You can also have peace of mind knowing your data is as secure as the rest of the data in your company.
On the other hand, hiring a lease administrator tends to be more costly than either outsourcing lease administration or adopting lease administration software. Also, while you may trust that your data will be more accurate than if you outsourced it, it’s only as accurate as the lease administrator handling it. Human error is inevitable in any industry. Finally, you’re going to need to find the right person, which isn’t always easy. They must be organized, experienced and able to provide meaningful metrics and advice that adds value to your real estate. Add in development time for new processes, onboarding, training and strategy discussions and you’ll see that it’s a significant time and monetary investment to get started.
Pros and Cons of Adopting Lease Administration Software
Adopting lease administration software isn’t as costly — time-wise or financially. It will also save you in the long run, as it automates an abundance of clerical tasks, freeing up your staff to focus on more important areas and negating the need to hire additional personnel. Plus, the security benefits of a cloud-based system are just as good as any internal solution.
Imagine: lease administration software that gathers and organizes all of your leasing data into one secure, centralized, cloud-based system that you and your team can access from a variety of different devices. Now imagine that it also lets you track and monitor key dates and financial information, as well as sends you critical reminders you’d be remiss to forget. That’s just a taste of what you’ll get with the right lease administration software.
As for cons, the only perceived negative might be the fact that it’s a new process requiring some level of orientation, but it’s one your team will quickly get used to over time — and grow to appreciate due to the increased efficiencies in your workflow.
Why You Can Have Both
In the end, with certain lease administration tools like Quarem, you’ll get all the benefits of adopting a lease administration software, but with the added bonus of a lease administration team behind the scenes that will help ensure you’re getting as much out of the tool as possible. Quarem is a full-service solution that includes 24/7 tech support, personalized implementation, free upgrades and post-launch support. (You’re basically getting a free lease administrator on top of the software.)
Still unsure whether hiring a lease administrator or adopting lease administration software is right for your operation? Contact us today to chat about Quarem. We’d love to hear from you!
