How Real Estate Professionals Can Hit Their Goals with the Right KPIs
Will you and your company reach your targets this month? Do you have a clear picture of where you stand? Excuse the tough questions, but we have a point to make: if you truly want to succeed, you need both clear goals and the tools to track them. Here’s how you, working in the property sector, can work more effectively with the help of KPIs.
What Does KPI Mean?
KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator and it is a metric that measures your performance. KPIs are commonly used to track financial progress or evaluate the results of specific activities. They are always measured within a defined time period.
By tracking the right KPIs, you get a clear picture of whether you and your company are on track to reach your goals. KPIs can also help align your entire organisation around a shared direction.
The KPIs worth tracking depend on the nature of your business processes. Further down in this article, we’ll cover the metrics that tend to matter most for property professionals, particularly commercial property owners and residential developers.
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What You Gain by Measuring KPIs
By setting and measuring KPIs, you can:
1) Maximise your potential and reach your goals more easily
By setting KPIs for your occupancy rate or sales volume each month, it becomes straightforward to track whether your team is delivering in line with budget and to quickly adjust your strategy when needed.
2) Allocate your resources in the right places
Comparing your KPIs against each other makes it easier to take strategic decisions about where to focus your resources. For commercial property companies, this might mean identifying where vacant premises are costing the most. For residential developers, it’s about spotting which projects offer the greatest financial upside.
3) Help every individual perform at their best
Tracking performance at an individual level is something we consistently see improve results. Set clear KPI-based targets, review progress regularly, support those who are struggling, and recognise those who are succeeding.
4) Make smarter decisions that drive growth
With the right KPIs and reliable data, strategic decisions become much easier, whether that’s divesting an underperforming area, understanding how long a deal takes to close, or tracking vacancy rates relative to incoming leads.
5) Do more of what works and drop what doesn’t
The data you gather from your KPIs should translate into actionable insights for future projects. Make sure you draw clear conclusions from what your efforts actually deliver.
The Right KPIs Unite Your Organisation
Working with KPIs at department or company level is essential for long-term results. Embed your KPIs across the organisation so that everyone is moving towards a shared goal — even if the path looks different depending on role or department. To set the right KPIs, you need to start from your company’s overarching objectives and strategy.
That said, there are certain metrics that most commercial property owners and residential developers use to measure success. Let’s walk through them now.
Smart KPIs for the Property Sector
1) Set targets for increased annual rent per area
Assess how much you and your colleagues need to grow revenue, then pursue the actions that will get you there. That might mean renegotiating contracts, offering additional services to existing tenants, or making improvements to attract higher-value occupants.
2) Targets and won square metres per area
A useful tip here: track where your won square metres are coming from. Is growth coming from competitors, or from expansions by existing tenants? This is data you can easily tag in your CRM for a quick overview.
Tip! Points 1 and 2 are worth looking at together. Are revenues growing because you’re adding square metres, or because of other initiatives?
3) Targets and results for annual rent per employee
Individual KPIs are a great way to measure performance and create better opportunities to support your team members in different ways. You can also spot whether certain areas are generating more leads than others and consider what actions might help. Could the marketing team do more? Or is it time to increase outbound prospecting?
4) Number of leads per property
Seeing the level of interest in specific properties gives you an indication of how quickly you can expect to let them again. If interest is higher than expected, you may be able to charge more. If it’s low, it might be time to refresh the photos, market the property differently, or consider a refurbishment.
5) Number of general enquiries
If you have a number of properties about to become vacant in an area and general enquiries are low, action is needed to generate interest. Or perhaps it’s time to consider selling? Major strategic decisions are easier to make when you have the right data to back them up.
6) Hit rate for prospects becoming customers
Divide the number of deals won by the total number of contacts you’ve engaged with — that gives you your hit rate. This metric lets you calculate how many contacts you need to reach your letting or sales targets.
7) Average deal value
It’s tempting to go after the lowest-hanging fruit, but don’t forget to evaluate which deals carry the highest average value.
If you work in commercial property letting, you’re likely looking at net letting figures — typically calculated as the value of terminated contracts minus the revenue from new ones. Just remember to factor in the investment cost of acquiring a new tenant, which can include everything from marketing to fit-out works.
Total net letting, then, is the sum of terminated contracts, new contracts, and investment costs. By setting strategic KPIs, you can more easily ensure your focus stays on the activities most likely to deliver a positive result.
Individual Targets
Setting individual targets with clear KPIs helps you motivate each team member to perform at their best, identify those who need more support, and reward those who deliver.
Tip! Recognising your top performers and giving them the appreciation they deserve increases the likelihood they’ll stay rather than looking elsewhere. The cost of losing an experienced salesperson is always significantly greater than the cost of rewarding them.
Useful KPIs for measuring individual performance:
- Number of activities per month (meetings, calls, viewings)
- Number of new business conversations (self-generated)
- Number of properties sold or square metres let relative to annual rent
- Number of deals won, including their value and size
Making It Happen: Advanced BI in Lime CRM
Now you know what KPI stands for, why it matters, and which ones are most relevant for the property sector. But how do you get a clear, easy overview of your data and track your KPIs effectively?
We know this is critical, which is why we’ve built our own feature into Lime CRM. We call it Advanced BI — where BI stands for Business Intelligence. By combining qualitative and quantitative data drawn directly from your CRM, it gives you everything you need to make smart, informed decisions.
With Advanced BI, You Can:
- Define your KPIs directly within the CRM
- Track activities such as sales calls and viewings
- Build dashboards — for example, covering your pipeline or upcoming vacancies
- Measure the distribution of incoming leads per property or area
- Create tailored dashboards by individual, department, or company-wide
- Make data engaging and get the whole organisation on board
- Share data outside the CRM for instance, with leadership ahead of key decisions
Curious to See How This Works in Practice?
Whether you’re already using Lime CRM or simply exploring how you and your team can get better at working with KPIs and BI tools — get in touch with our property team. We’d love to have a chat!
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