Till a decade back such was the mad rush for raising money in the capital market that even the real estate companies with limited presence in select micro markets started launching projects across the country to showcase a pan-India presence. Significant increase in housing demand, organized retailing and liquidity boom from 2003 to 2008, led to huge increase in land prices and real estate values and most real estate companies had a great run.
When the market sentiments were bullish and foreign investors were testing the Indian realty market, many of the relatively not-so-polished developers started hiring these white collared professionals to negotiate with their global counterparts in a language that they understood. Problem started when this skilled workforce started colouring the vision of the promoter and hence driving the management decisions.
Functional Professionalism can be broadly defined as the strict adherence to courtesy, honesty, transparency and responsibility when dealing with individuals or other companies in the business environment. This trait often includes a high level of excellence going above and beyond basic requirements.
The joint venture, Krisumi Corporation Pvt Ltd, will develop large scale real estate projects across India beginning with ‘Krisumi City’, an 18-million sq ft development which will be developed with a cost in excess of US$2 billion. Both partners will hold 50:50 stake in this JV company.
Investing in relationship management to earn the trust & goodwill of the homebuyers is something that the Indian real estate has not adopted as an industry practice. CRM or Customer Relationship Management is something that every developer today boasts of, but this relationship hardly goes beyond attending phone calls of aggrieved buyers and online registration of grievances.
Some call it market intelligence and not due diligence where the focus should be more on the micro markets than general trends which could be misleading. However, there are many grey areas where in the absence of proper research and reliable data even the assessment of ground realities is not feasible.
One of the most critical aspects of in business is ‘Caring Factor’. Every business on the face value tells its customers and stakeholders, including the employees, that it cares. It cares about them; it cares for them. It wants to make them feel loved and appreciated.
An outside view on the Indian real estate market may get confused with the fact that mismatch in delivery and performance is lesser in luxury projects than even affordable housing. Isn’t it a fact that buyers in low income housing are more price conscious and more concerned to check & cross check than those nouveau riche who have enough money to splurge?
During the CREDAI national convention few years back, a miffed real estate seemed to settle scores with the then Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath. Displaying stiff opposition to the proposed real estate regulator, the builders’ body went critique to say it is not actually a regulator bill, but builders’ harassment and public amusement bill.
The developers are by and large living in denial. The deep rooted psyche is that once the market conditions improve the buyers have no choice but to run for an asset class that is not only need-based but also a business where the demand far exceeds the supply. This medieval thought process is in fact the biggest roadblock in the way of best practices gaining ground in the Indian real estate.