The person behind Chapps: a conversation with Dietrich Bruckmann

Choosing a software partner also means choosing the people you will work with. This time, we turn the spotlight on Dietrich Bruckmann, our Director of Operations. What motivates him? What does he ask customers? And why does he believe a good conversation about digitalisation starts with an ordinary working day?

Dietrich, beyond your job title, who are you at work?

“I’m someone who likes to understand how things work. Especially why people do things a certain way. What steps do they follow? Where do they get stuck? What have they already tried?

That makes me curious in conversations. When someone says, ‘This is how we’ve always done it,’ I want to understand the reasoning behind it. Often, that way of working developed for perfectly sensible reasons. But circumstances may have changed. I enjoy figuring out together what could work better today.”

What appeals to you about property management?

“It’s a very tangible world. A property needs to be handed over, an inspection completed, an issue followed up. Behind every file are people waiting for clear information.

That also makes it easy to see whether technology is helping. Can someone work efficiently on site? Can a colleague understand afterwards what was recorded? Is the next step clear? That connection between software and everyday work is what appeals to me.”

Imagine I’m a prospective customer and we’re meeting for the first time. What would you want to know?

“Walk me through a typical working day. That often tells me more than starting with a list of desired features.

How do you prepare for a property inspection or handover? What happens on site? What still needs to be done afterwards? And who needs that information next?

I’m particularly interested in the moments when you think: why does this take so much time? For me, that’s where a useful conversation begins.”

What makes you impatient?

“Unnecessary duplication. People having to enter the same information twice, piece together photographs or call someone to track down a missing detail.

What strikes me is how easily we start accepting these things as normal. ‘It’s just part of the job,’ we say. But a small detour repeated every day costs a team a lot of time. I like finding out whether that detour is still necessary.”

Customers can be reluctant to change how they work. How do you approach that?

“By taking that reluctance seriously. People already have their day-to-day responsibilities. Learning a new application initially adds to their workload. It’s entirely reasonable to ask: what will this actually improve for me?

You need to be able to give a clear answer. And you need to involve the people who will use the software. They can often spot straight away where a proposed approach might cause difficulties in practice.”

How do you recognise a good software partner?

“By the quality of their questions and the honesty of their answers.

Do they understand how your organisation works? Do they ask follow-up questions when something is unclear? Are they comfortable saying that a particular requirement needs further investigation?

A demonstration can show you a lot. For me, trust grows when you discuss a concrete situation together, including the difficult exceptions.”

What question would you like prospective customers to ask more often?

“‘What will it take from us to make this a success?’

I think that’s an excellent question. Introducing software also requires decisions within your organisation. Who takes ownership of the process? What standards will you agree on for recording information? Who will get colleagues involved?

Discussing those things beforehand helps you get started with a clearer focus. It also makes expectations on both sides more explicit.”

And what can existing customers expect from you?

“That I’ll stay interested in how they work. Organisations change: new colleagues join, responsibilities shift and new needs emerge.

That’s why I think it’s valuable to keep discussing how things are going. What is genuinely helping? Where is there still friction? What could be simpler? That conversation can be every bit as interesting as the first meeting.”

When do you consider a working day successful?

“When a conversation has made something clearer. Sometimes someone starts with a very broad question about digitalisation, and we finish with one specific problem we can address.

I find that rewarding. You don’t have to solve everything at once to make progress. A clear first step can get a lot moving.”

Finally, what advice would you give someone considering a conversation with Chapps?

“Bring an example from your everyday work. A property inspection that requires too much admin afterwards, an inspection where information gets lost, or a follow-up process that isn’t running smoothly.

Tell us how it works today and what you would like to improve. Then we can look together, in practical terms, at where Chapps could help.”