Unique Properties, the leading commercial real estate brokerage in Colorado, was founded in 1974 by Marc Lippit. In 1990, Scott Shwayder joined as a partner. Three years later, Marc and Scott hired Unique Properties’ first broker, and since then, the brokerage has continued to grow into a thriving firm that is now equipped with 40 of the best brokers in the business.
As the brokerage started to scale, Unique Properties’ leaders noticed that each new broker was using their own methods for managing listings and creating marketing materials. The partners realized they needed a consistent, standardized brand and decided to take a hands-on, innovative approach that would improve their system for creating collateral and facilitate their continued growth. Their solution: Buildout.
As the brokerage grew and without strong protocols in place, the need for more consistency across marketing materials and efficiency in the document creation process became more apparent.
With only one marketing manager and a handful of administrators on staff to service more than 40 brokers, team members and leadership at Unique Properties all recognized an opportunity for improved systemization. And while the marketing team was working as quickly as they were able, the need for defined processes meant material development was not as efficient as was possible.
“Before Buildout, we had 40 brokers all doing different things and we wanted more protocol and continuity.” –Scott Shwayder, Co-Owner and Principal, Unique Properties
Unique Properties sought a tool that would solve their challenges and Buildout was the only one available that met their needs for marketing material automation and process simplification. Since the brokerage onboarded with Buildout, the team has streamlined the creation of marketing collateral and experienced an overall improvement in productivity, consistency and quality.
Through Buildout’s property forms, brokers and marketing staff can input and access information on all of their property listings in one place. From there, they can automatically create proposals, flyers, brochures, property websites, emails and offering memorandums using Unique Properties’ own specialized brand blueprints and customizable layouts.
“Buildout has streamlined my brokerage by putting a protocol in place for achieving continuity and professional collateral.” –Scott Shwayder, Co-Owner and Principal, Unique Properties
The uniform look of the pieces created in Buildout has allowed the brokerage to build brand equity, and the high-quality materials reinforce the positive reputation Unique Properties has earned over the years. And now that the team uses Buildout’s document automation to create materials, brokers have more time to focus on the quality and efficiency of the services they provide to clients.
Unique Properties’ internal processes have improved greatly since the brokerage implemented Buildout, but that’s not the only benefit they’ve realized. The firm’s brokers, marketers and leaders have also experienced an increasing confidence in their work since they began using Buildout. Scott and Marc are never concerned about the quality of the proposals and materials coming out of the brokerage because they’re confident in the standardized systems used to create them. And everyone on the team can now rest assured that the documents they are creating are consistent with the firm’s brand standards.
Brokers also have more opportunities to win listings, build relationships and ultimately close more deals thanks to the efficiency Buildout creates. As Unique Properties takes on additional work with brand standards and material creation systems in place, the brokerage won’t have to suffer through the typical growing pains that come with scaling a commercial real estate firm.
And since onboarding with Buildout, Unique Properties hasn’t just continued their pattern of growth––they’ve exceeded their own expectations.
As Unique Properties’ story proves, brand consistency is crucial for any commercial real estate brokerage that wants to scale. To learn more about CRE branding and how it affects your brokerage’s ability to grow, access our resource: “Achieve brand consistency and scale your brokerage.”