Brandywine Realty Touts the Benefits of e-Tenants

Bonding with Your Tenants... Conversation is still the most efficient networking protocol that exists." That's a Microsoft quotation from an old PikeNet Dispatch (Oct 18, 1999). And I thought about it last week as I explored
e-Tenants, an online tenant communications service developed by Brandywine Realty Trust, with Barbara Yamarick of Brandywine and Jamie Palmer of e-Tenants. That's because it is crystal clear that the personal enthusiasm of real people is critical to the success of this technology initiative.

The principal "hook" of e-Tenants is the ability to process a service request online ("My office is too hot/cold"), and currently over 65 percent of all service requests are received by Brandywine online. E-tenants has three areas -- Facilities Management, Products & Services and a Resource Center. Popular features include Concierge Services (provided by VIPdesk), Business Providers (vetted by e-Tenants) and SmartMoves (discounted move management).

Yamarick claims that 98 percent of Brandywine's tenants use e-Tenants and that it is recognized as a competitive advantage in Brandywine's markets. Brandywine, which is headquartered in suburban Philadelphia, manages a portfolio of twenty million square feet in 300 buildings concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic region (DE, PA, NJ, NY, VA).

The message here is that people drive technology. (I know that it's not a new message!) Adoption is directly connected to human contact. So e-Tenants meets one-on-one with all Brandywine tenants to guide them through their initial usage. That's a huge challenge for any organization, particularly national operators.

So I'll be curious to hear Jim Whalen of Boston Properties, Scott Morey of Equity Office and Paul Quinn of Duke Realty describe their firms' tenant communications programs at the PikeNet Forum. (Yep, couldn't resist the plug.)

--Peter Pike