What Vinyl Records, Cereal, and Real Estate Software Have in Common
I have no evidence, but I’m pretty sure my first New York landlord was a retired bridge troll who bought a building in Bed Stuy. No longer could he ask passers-by to solve a puzzle to get past him, instead he let go of his annoyances by making his tenants jump through the tires to pay their rent. He only accepted checks (no direct deposits or QuickPays) in a locker, which he only deposited in the hallway on the first of the month. And the box was. Never. In. The. The same thing. Place. As I later found out, his rationale was that no thief could steal the locker if he didn’t know where to look.
Ultimately, my old landlord was so paranoid about electronic payments or helpful management technologies that his tenants suffered as a result. Granted, my former bridge troll landlord was definitely an outlier, and luckily, he has never had anything to do with commercial buildings. But I imagine that it would have been a lot easier for me if he had offered an app or web portal where I could pay my rent directly (without a scavenger hunt), as many commercial property managers do now. But most of the builders or property managers who offer them don’t develop and program them themselves, they use white label software.
The vinyl border
There is an interesting story behind the white label concept: In the age of the disco, pre-artwork, promotional copies of records in a white sleeve were distributed to the press and radio stations to arouse consumer interest so that the manufacturer could better predict the right amount to make this record. This marketing strategy created a phenomenon of exclusivity: only the better-known disc jockeys had access to these empty test plates and ultimately made them worth more than the finished product with the album cover. And that’s how the term “white label” came about.
“White label” eventually became a term that denoted the permitted replication and renaming of an existing product. Like the blank record label, the name implies a blank board that can be filled with the marketer’s own branding. White label products include things like private label grocery brands (like Wal-Mart’s “Rice Crispers” version of Rice Krispies Granola or Kroger’s “Toasted Oats” version of Cheerios) or products that can be easily labeled, such as Stainless steel water bottles or tote bags.
White label software is a slightly different story, however. Just like applying a design to a physical product, white label software is software that a company purchases from a service provider who can then rename it as its own to personalize its digital services. Your logo, color scheme, company name, etc. In the end, the user will not be able to tell that it is not your own work. This allows the business owner to focus on growing and maintaining his portfolio. For this reason, property managers find white label software to be an attractive solution.
Most of the white label software comes from software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies that rent the rights to their software or charge a monthly fee. White Label is out of the box and easy to use, but most importantly, it gives a commercial real estate developer a chance to showcase their brand. Commercial real estate firms know that having a strong personal brand can help brokerage firms maintain a steady stream of customers while building their professional credibility. As a result, they often use white label software to streamline their administrative services so that the consumer can interact with them directly, not the software company.
Tenant of merit
A good tenant experience is enhanced by reinvesting in the property and its amenities. Invest in upkeep to keep the building safe and functional and tenants are more likely to renew their leases. The same goes for building equipment, and what else is real estate management software but attractive convenience?
Proptech companies dedicate their time to connecting with tenants through their smartphones in an increasingly mobile world. The real icing on the cake for the optimal tenant experience is access control via smartphone. Tenants may appreciate a mug with the “Weil” label on it, but they really just want a web portal or app with a single solution. “Ideally, these platforms should support the individuality of buildings,” says Gabby McMillan, CEO & co-founder of Equiem. Since white label software is usually fully customizable, it makes sense that it should become more and more popular in the real estate management sector.
The luxury of accessing building amenities such as paying a rent or making a maintenance request in one place is becoming the norm today. The same goes for building owners and property managers who want to book an available property, estimate the market rent, and do background checks of potential tenants using the same end-to-end solution. But if you really think two steps ahead, you will also understand the most important feature of white label software: branding.
“A commercial building wasn’t a consumer brand in the past, but it’s proven to be wrong today,” said Phil Mobley, director of US Occupier Insight at Avison Young. We are beginning to understand that buildings are no longer a passive asset, but an active contribution to the tenant experience. According to Mobley’s logic, the tenant experience is a brand experience for rental properties.
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Branding is what a company carries. White label property management software enables property managers to outsource professionally developed software that they can mark as their own. And just like off-brand cereals, white label products come from the same manufacturers as name brands, which means that the white label products are just as good as the recognized brands. Almost every time, customers can’t tell the difference.
Top shelf branding
Another reason white label software is useful for building owners and property managers is because the software scales as the portfolio grows as different buildings offer different amenities and different experience solutions. When you think about why property managers want white label software, it’s about building a brand for a desirable place to work or live. Depending on the developer, the building owner or property manager can develop the white label software without getting bogged down in product development and production.
The white label represented that his trademark was the lack of a trademark. A blank sheet of paper where an album cover should be. Each vinyl “test” record with a white label was often unique, which inspired the hype to get one. In the digital landscape, the best way to customize the tenant experience is with a mobile app, but most people in need of property management software don’t want to program their own.
Most of the tenants want something simple, regardless of the digital packaging (perhaps this is why white label cereals are more popular than branded cereals). The best tenant experience is one that is tailored to the tenant’s needs and expectations for the particular building they are in. As McMillan puts it, “Every building is a snowflake,” which is exactly why building owners and property managers want property management software that can reflect their individuality while maintaining its sophisticated framework.