About the author:
Stefan Williamson has worked in the property industry as a specialist in letting systems for more than 15 years. As Head of Housing Industry, he is the direct point of contact for everything to do with the Immomio letting solution.
“Digitalisation means change. Change means stability.” It was easy to have this saying printed on a canvas, hang it on the office wall as a punchy guiding principle and quietly hope that coronavirus would do the rest to finally win the housing industry over to digitalisation. But then feeling how hard it was for me to allow change in my own life was both alarming and helpful. First of all, it prompted me to develop a greater degree of understanding for all the housing companies that I had not yet been able to persuade to digitalise their letting processes over the past 15 years.
My own unconscious choice of words, “allowing change”, reveals the root of the problem: we humans shy away from change! When there is genuinely enough pressure from outside, or even no alternative, well, then we allow it. But actively tackling change, seeing it as an opportunity and leaving your comfort zone of your own accord – that was indeed harder than I had imagined.
From this chastened perspective, I would like to offer you, as decision-makers in the housing industry, some food for thought on why and how you can embrace change. In doing so, we will face up to some perhaps uncomfortable truths, take different perspectives and also look at tried-and-tested processes from the point of view of your employees or your prospective tenants.
Over the coming weeks, you can look forward to several short articles on the following topics:
- Generation Z: how do your next tenants actually communicate?
- Digitalisation & humanity: how do they fit together?
- Digital processes require a digital identity – an outlook
Click here for the first article: Generation Z: how do your next tenants actually communicate?
I would also like to offer to accompany you personally with your thoughts and questions about digitalising your letting processes. Feel free to get in touch and let’s have a chat over a virtual cup of coffee.