Satisfaction Guaranteed... "We want to transform the service delivery process just as FedEx revolutionized the package delivery business." That's Rick Michaux, President of Corrigo, outlining his company's vision for moving real estate out of (my words) the Post Office Age. Last week Michaux and Hugh Morgan, Director of Business Development, WebEx'ed me through a demonstration of Corrigo, which means "to make right" in Latin.

Key to the success of their service is the use of multiple technologies -- web, e-mail, fax, cell phones, pagers, and PDAs -- to weave the various players together -- tenants, managers, building engineers, and vendors. Each party selects a preferred method of communication (primary and secondary). For example, Morgan entered an electrical problem via the web, and two minutes later that text request had been converted to voice and forwarded to my phone -- as if I were an engineer in the field. Cool.

The evolving status of all outstanding service requests is shown in real time on the web at the Dispatch Board. According to Michaux, one of Corrigo's customers, Highwoods Properties, a REIT specializing in suburban office and industrial properties in the Southeast, has re-branded Corrigo as "ServiceLink" and plans to prominently display the Dispatch Board, also re-branded, as "FlightControl," on a plasma screen in its corporate headquarters. Wow, talk about focusing the attention of your staff on customer service.

According to Michaux, Corrigo is now "cash flow positive" with 91 customers covering 4,000 sites totaling 500 million square feet -- primarily office, retail, and multifamily. And Corrigo claims a number of success stories. Duke REIT has reduced its call centers from 16 to 4. BRE Properties saw customer complaints drop by 38%. Simon Property has used Corrigo to generate a new income stream from existing tenants. All of these contribute to a growing Knowledge Base that builds intelligence and further improves Corrigo's response system.

--Peter Pike