VTS - A help to the growth of our leasing production
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
VTS is being used as the primary leasing tool for my Leasing Representatives (all of whom are in-house), and the primary management tool for me as the Director of Leasing. It is a key source of pipeline information for our executives, who can get real-time updates as well as daily email digests of deals that are active in the pipeline. Leasing is the only department that is adding data and updates to VTS, while other departments, such as Finance, Asset Management, and Business Management utilize VTS as an information source.
One of the largest business issues it addresses is speed of information throughout the organization. Rather than emails, calls, or meetings, I can see what is going on with active deals and available spaces from my desktop, phone, or tablet. My COO also looks to VTS for information on activity. It provides a single reference point for leasing deals, and brings transparency and awareness when there are snags,and when there are successes.
Pros
- Pipeline activity tracking - real time information at every user's fingertips.
- Deal analytics - provides quick computations on key deal metrics. If all of the data is entered in, the work that used to be done manually or not at all appears immediately, so assessments and adjustments can be made quickly.
- History of the deal - each note or proposal is stored in a single place, where it can be referenced, which can be a big help on deals that are complicated and have a great deal of back and forth. You don't have to search through emails in a folder.
- Tenant Relationship Manager puts all of the leases and deals with a given tenant on a single page, so you can quickly see information on your key tenants, when current leases expire, and what deals are in the pipeline.
Cons
- VTS is still growing in its features on retail properties. As a product that originated in the office and broker world, it has had a learning curve for shoppiong centers. It has made great progress in the 2+ years we've been on the system, and there is more to come.
- The defaults for the dashboards go into a longer time frame than how we look at production and leasing activity. We are year-to-date driven, and that view isn't readily available on the dashboards.
- We are still working on getting Deal Approval flow active in our organization. We have a two-round approval process, and VTS currently is structured for a single approval round. We are finding ways to make it work, but it's still a workaround.
Likelihood to Recommend
VTS is well suited for any leasing environment; we use it exclusively for our in-house team, but it is also very functional for brokers and outside agents. We have some people who travel extensively, and they are able to keep abreast of activity through the mobile functionality of VTS. It provides a good set of email digests and reports on key items such as lease expirations and daily activities.
