The Retail Strategy Optimizes Commission Management Amid Rapid Business Growth

The Company: The Retail Strategy

The Retail Strategy (TRS) is a full-service commercial real estate (CRE) platform focused on providing innovative solutions to retail clients across the U.S. The company is 100% committed to working with tenants only at all ends of the retail spectrum, including tenant representation, retail expansion strategy, franchise real estate and mapping and analytics. Prioritizing constant innovation and efficiency, the company has implemented CommercialEdge Commissions, a complete commission and back-office solution. 

The Challenge: Find a Scalable CRE Solution to Expand Operations

Founded in 2010 in Austin, Texas, TRS began its journey with only a handful of clients in the first year. Today, it serves more than 100 brands. Expanding quickly from a local tenant representation real estate firm into a national, full-service CRE platform, the company had to find a more efficient way to manage team commissions. 

TRS’ in-place method worked for a smaller team, having managed commissions for one or two brokers with a complex Excel spreadsheet. However, when they added more brokers and tried to manage commissions using this tool, issues quickly appeared. Moreover, a different person than the one managing the spreadsheet oversaw invoices, which further delayed the process. 

The Solution: Implement Efficiency, Scalability and Accuracy

TRS was in search of an automated commission management solution that could keep up with the company’s fast-paced growth. Consequently, the company implemented Commissions and, according to Paul Brunner, COO at The Retail Strategy, the tool “improved our whole commission tracking and invoicing process… It’s just much more efficient and robust.” 

“For anyone who has had to deal with the daunting task of tracking and paying commissions, I think this is an excellent solution to that problem. It’s easy to use, it’s accurate, it’s user-friendly and I would highly recommend it to anyone that has to deal with commission management.”

Paul Brunner, COO, The Retail Strategy

The Story: Optimize Commission Management Timelines and Increase Savings 

Since using Commissions as their commission management tool, TRS has recorded savings of at least $500 per month in the invoicing process alone, accruing additional savings in terms of running and reviewing reports.  

What’s more, running payroll is easier, and according to COO Paul Brunner, the company can rely on the accuracy of the data without spending a lot of time troubleshooting and second-guessing the numbers. TRS is now “using Commissions 100%, and all [of our] brokers are on board and [we] really have had positive feedback about the system. They are enjoying it and see the value in it… we haven’t looked back since implementing it,” he explained. 

Not only does Commissions bring efficiency and scalability to TRS’ brokerage operations, but it has also improved transparency. The system enables brokers to pull their own reports at their preferred pace and time, without having to put in requests for this information and then wait for someone to be available to compile and send out the reports. 

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Automated back-office workflows streamlined the operations of TRS and facilitated the company’s expansion while increasing savings and efficiency. At the same time, thanks to the intuitive and impactful features of Commissions, TRS is well positioned for further growth amid rapidly evolving market conditions in today’s CRE landscape.