Colliers Wisconsin Replaces Spreadsheets with Smartsheet, Gains Competitive Advantage

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Colliers chooses Smartsheet's collaborative work management tool

To win business because of an online collaboration tool – well that’s pretty incredible.

Bellevue, WA (PRWEB) August 20, 2014

Smartsheet, the collaborative work management tool used by nearly 50,000 paying organizations and millions of users worldwide, today announced that Colliers International | Wisconsin, the largest full-service commercial and residential real estate firm in Wisconsin, has deployed its spreadsheet-inspired tool across the organization. With Smartsheet as the hub of their collaborative work involving property portfolios, client coordination and vendor resources, Colliers has won more business, improved communication, especially with its mobile workforce, and created a culture of accountability and transparency.

Leading analyst firm IDC recently published a Buyer’s Guide Case Study on the company’s use and benefits from Smartsheet, entitled “The Role of Cloud and Mobile Collaboration in Commercial Real Estate: Smartsheet Drives Competitive Advantage at Colliers International | Wisconsin” (available free to download here).

Colliers International | Wisconsin manages more than 10 million square feet of real estate - from large commercial banks to residential subdivisions and strip malls, thousands of tenants and hundreds of owners. The team struggled with emailing Excel files to coordinate the fluid commercial real estate portfolio; details were quickly out of date and valuation reports necessary for client management and industry compliance weren’t easily accessible.

In 2012 Kristin Komassa, Team Coordinator and Database Administrator of Colliers Wisconsin, recognized the need to improve project management as she set out to help one of the firm's larger commercial clients, whose portfolio included 600 properties spread throughout the state. “The last thing they needed was a static Excel file,” she said. “Plus, I had 15 other colleagues working with me on this account, and stakeholders in two different states.” Smartsheet’s intuitive spreadsheet interface, real-time collaboration capabilities, file sharing, permissions control, and mobile apps made it the obvious choice for Komassa and her team.

Adoption Grows Virally, Firm Buys Android Tablets for Field Employees
As employees “share sheets” with others, Smartsheet usage has spread virally throughout the company. While initially starting with Komassa’s portfolio services team, today Smartsheet is used to:
-- capture and track property work orders via web forms
-- compile vendor assets (contacts, ratings, pricing) in one centralized location
-- manage individual portfolio of properties and all the details associated with them, including property type, location, valuation fluctuations, length of ownership
-- snap photos of site issues from mobile devices and attach files to rows in Smartsheet for accurate record keeping (ex: flood damage, broken signage)
-- alert site managers of upcoming site visits
-- run monthly reports for clients for real-time portfolio (inventory) status
-- track individual and team tasks
-- show new clients collaboration tool as a differentiator

Colliers International | Wisconsin purchased Android tablets for their property managers, specifically to be able to access and update site information in Smartsheet while on the road. “Now, when property managers head out on a site visit, they use a web form on their tablet, or smartphone, to instantly update the status of their site,” adds Komassa.

Efficiency is Competitive Advantage
In its sales proposals, the team touts Smartsheet as a key differentiator in its ability to be efficient. “We show them how to use web forms, what happens to the information on the back-end of the system, and how it all connects into a streamlined process. Clients are impressed with the system we’ve put together with Smartsheet.”

As a result of having the work management tool as a competitive advantage, Colliers International | Wisconsin has landed three additional large commercial accounts and added more than 150 new properties to the firm’s management portfolio. “To win business because of an online collaboration tool – well that’s pretty incredible,” Komassa adds.

Smartsheet is deployed in a broad range of customer environments, including many of the world’s industry-leading organizations such as Google, Netflix, Cisco, Bayer, Groupon, Pearson, Unisource, HomeAway, McGraw-Hill Education, DHL, ESPN, Sony Music, and MetLife.

About Smartsheet
Smartsheet, a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) company, offers businesses an intuitive collaboration and work management tool. The ease of use of the familiar spreadsheet-like interface, coupled with file sharing, work automation and Gantt chart features, have made it a popular and highly functional collaboration and project management tool. Customers include construction companies, consulting firms, schools and universities, utility firms, government entities, healthcare organizations, high-tech firms, non-profits, manufacturing and law firms, among others. Additionally, Smartsheet offers mobile apps, pre-built templates and integrations with leading cloud apps such as Box, Dropbox, Salesforce, Google Drive and Zapier to ensure users are up and running quickly. Visit http://www.smartsheet.com for more details.

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