Track2Realty Exclusive: Sachin Sandhir, Managing Director-South Asia of RICS and a vocal spokesperson of the realty reforms agrees there is an element of subjectivity and a fine line, when industry stakeholders organise awards – as it can lead to a conflict of interest. He, however, defends awards that are based on actual performance indicators and tangible evidence. Track2Realty probes for an insight—
Q. Do you think real estate awards add value to the developer’s project?
Ans. An award is a powerful tool which helps developers gain recognition for project performance and excellence. Acquiring a credible award helps aide developers in enhancing their reputation and credibility, generating growth and building their brand. At the same time awards support sales to some extent by acing as a pull mechanism. However, this is also dependent on the credibility of the awards itself.
Q. How far is an award a sales driver and to what extent is it a brand driver?
Ans. An award is more of a brand driver than a sales driver. Though it does help increase sales to some extent, as an award winning brand acts as a pull for consumers. RICS is supportive of real estate awards that are based on actual performance indicators and tangible evidence. Therefore, we believe that even projects even though they might be at the conceptual stage should be awarded on account of being a unique, path breaking or revolutionary idea. However, in order to award a project as ‘best in category’, only completed projects which have been evaluated by a credible jury on stringent parameters through a transparent and open process. Such awards will definitely add value and drive the brand of developers.
Q. How far does it bring confidence in the psyche of the buyers?
Ans. Winning an honour or award is beneficial at many levels. Not only does it boost the motivation of employees, but also generates interest and awareness through an independent acknowledgement of the value of a product or service that a developer is offering and thus provides reassurance to potential customers. A developer who has been felicitated by a credible and noteworthy award will be able to induce consumer confidence not only in the business, but new and upcoming projects as well. Awards help consumers perceive developers and their business/projects as being reliable and trustworthy. This is definitely an added advantage in a market like ours, where there are extremely limited tools and avenues available which help consumers ascertain the background, reputation and credibility of a developer.
Q. Most of the realty awards are organised by industry state holders only. Don’t you feel there is a need for independent awards as well?
Ans. There definitely is an element of subjectivity and a fine line, when industry stakeholders organise awards – as it can lead to a conflict of interest. The Zee Business RICS Real Estate Awards, therefore put together a transparent process, where thorough due diligence was conducted to avoid any conflict of interest. The jury comprised of all experienced members of the property and construction industry, however were carefully selected to ensure that none had an interest in promoting any project/s in particular. Therefore, the Zee RICS Awards stressed on an extremely stringent and transparent evaluation process during the jury rounds, which in turn ensured a neutral and unbiased evaluation, which was achieved through deliberations, debate and discussions amongst jury members, based on their area of expertise and credentials.
Q. Realty awards have often been accused for rigging. Your take on that?
Ans. There are some bad examples that exist, however in the long run such awards cannot remain sustainable and will find few takers. Only those awards that provide an equal opportunity to all competitors and contemporaries, which are based on stringent evaluation criteria and a transparent process and backed by a reputed and respected jury panel, will be able to make a long standing mark on the industry. Only such awards will instil trust, draw the respect of stakeholders and be valued by the industry and consumer alike.
