Recipe for failure: Doing the same thing that you’ve always done

September 28, 2010

By Dan Rafter

The working world today is one of change. You can’t succeed if you don’t adapt to changing technology or business models. Commercial real estate is no exception.

Dave Petersen, chief operating officer of the property management division of Chicago’s NAI Hiffman, mentioned this to me earlier this week. We were talking about the recession and its slow recovery, of course. We were talking, too, about how important it is to keep clients happy in these rough economic times.

Petersen pointed to the ever-increasing speed of business. If he gets an e-mail from a client, that client expects an answer in minutes. It doesn’t matter if Petersen has to do some intensive research to find that answer: Anything longer than 30 minutes? That’s too long.

Petersen wasn’t complaining. He was stating a fact.

“If you are sitting around and saying that this is the way we have always done it, you are doomed to fail in this business,” Petersen said. “It’s a constant changing of how we are doing things. Today, it’s all about speed and communication.”

Source: REJournals.com

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Asset Management, Media Coverage 

NAI Hiffman hires office broker Jack Reardon

September 20, 2010

Jack Reardon, a veteran broker who specializes in representing office landlords in the northwest suburbs, has joined NAI Hiffman as a senior vice-president. Mr. Reardon, 47, spent more than a decade with CB Richard Ellis Inc. before jumping to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. in February. He was recruited to Cushman by Aaron Block, who was ousted as head of the Chicago region this spring after less than a year on the job. At Oakbrook Terrace-based NAI Hiffman, Mr. Reardon will focus on the north and northwest suburbs and the O’Hare market as part of a team led by NAI Hiffman Managing Director Michael Flynn. A local spokeswoman for Cushman declines to comment.

Link to the original article in Crain’s Chicago Business

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under General Business, Media Coverage, New Hires/Promotions, Office