At Preferred Office Network, we primarily work directly with Fortune 1000 companies to help place their workforce across the vast number of markets that they serve in.
With today’s ever-changing work environment, the need to re-locate employees to and from multiple markets at a moment’s notice, has become even more important.
But, PON also works with a variety of commercial real estate brokers – which is a much different relationship than that of PON and a Fortune 1000 company.
To drill deeper into what a PON-broker relationship looks like, we caught up with Tom Fuge, PON’s Managing Director of Real Estate.
Q: So, Tom, let’s start on a broader level. Can you give me a quick lowdown on what a relationship between PON and a broker might look like?
Tom: PON works as an extension of the broker’s sales and operations team. Once a broker has a client need, we survey our network of over 700 locations and return options that fit the specific requirements of their client. If a member within our network is chosen, we handle all the administrative tasks from the agreement, even to move-in details. Once all of this is done, we share the fee earned with the broker – a win-win for both parties.
Q: Got it, so overall, working as an extension of the broker’s team. How then does PON help a broker to better serve their clients?
Tom: I would say the main two words we focus on are transparency and efficiency – this is what we strive for. Using these two focus words, we help brokers place clients in coworking spaces so they can focus on higher commission activities, while keeping them at the forefront of their relationship with their client.
Q: Got it, it seems like PON is very beneficial for a typical broker.
Tom: Yeah. Our goal is to make the broker look amazing in the eyes of their client, complete the transaction, and get the broker paid.
Q: Earlier you mentioned PON’s network of over 700 locations which is a main feature of the YESpace product. In turn then, how is YESpace so compelling for the clients of brokers?
Tom: Good question. I’d say mainly because of YESpace’s ease of access and flexibility. We have a master agreement with all our members. This means a broker’s client can be in multiple locations, across multiple operators – yet only have one agreement and one point of contact for billing from PON. We also offer a 60-day cancellation period, in turn, doing away with longer terms and keeping our agreements inherently flexible.
Q: Makes sense. So, let’s then discuss the emergence of the flex space model which has emerged as a new alternative for companies since the COVID-19 pandemic. How do you think this trend may evolve over the next few months?
Tom: We have had several clients ask us to re-evaluate their traditional office locations over the last six months. They want to know where they could gain efficiencies and reduce their costs if they transitioned to what you to alluded to – a more aggressive flex model.
Q: So, are you alluding to the fact that the traditional office model might be a thing of the past?
Tom: Not necessarily. The traditional office is not going away, but everything we have seen from a research and data standpoint, shows that companies are increasing their flex requirements.
Q: Then, let’s bring it full circle. How can a broker that hasn’t worked with PON before, kick off a partnership?
Tom: It’s as simple as giving us a call. We can walk through how the process works in more detail and discuss how we share in the fees earned from our members.
