6 Ways to Boost Your Leasing Results in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
The leasing part of the commercial real estate industry is quite special in a number of different ways. You can work with the tenants, landlords, investors, and or large business owners. The leasing side of what we do will have an impact on all stakeholders. It is up to you to decide exactly who and how you can service the leasing needs professionally and comprehensively.
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There are a number of different things that will impact your successes as a leasing specialist. The size of the transaction, the quality of the property, the size of the leased area, and the agreed percentage of commission will all have an impact on your financial results.
Do a personal assessment of the leasing market as it exists today for you. Look at your strengths and weaknesses as a leasing specialist and see how you can improve your strategies and processes for the next 12 months. Consider the following questions:
- Are you negotiating your commissions on the basis of competing locally? In setting your fees, are you considering the quality of service that you provide? Discounted commissions do nothing to help the process of leasing, the market coverage, and the outcomes for either the tenant or the landlord.
- Do you have the relative experience? A quality lease requires both experience and expertise, and both of those things should be supported by a reasonable level of commission. If the client expects or is demanding a discounted fee, then they really do not understand the extra value that you are to be adding to their vacancy challenge. It is quite likely that they are seeing you as an ordinary agent with no obvious factors of added value. Revisit your listing presentation so that it is targeted and specific to each and every property that you work on.
- Are you leasing the better buildings in the better locations? A good quality vacancy in a well located building will always produce better levels of inquiry. It is better to have a small number of good quality listings for lease, vs. a large number of poor quality vacancies in the location. Get to know the owners of the better buildings in your location and help them remember you at the right time when it comes to solving an occupancy issue. Focus on quality and size when it comes to attracting new leasing opportunities.
- Are most of your vacancies for lease listed exclusively? If not, they should be. As a general rule, most of your listing and vacancy stock should be listed exclusively. Any quality listing should be listed exclusively. A top agent will control and their market through the exclusivity process. Refine your listing processes to convert more exclusive listings.
Given these three points, the following strategies work very well in boosting leasing results:
- Tenant coverage – Get to know all of the tenants in your location by business type, lease duration, and building type. Track their lease requirements as part of an ongoing contact process.
- Business types – Some businesses will be under pressure to change location, expand, contract, or improve conditions of occupancy. Ask questions as you probe business types for future occupancy changes. Involve the local business community in your marketing efforts.
- Local area – What can you tell local tenants about upcoming lease opportunities, rents, and property availability? Local information will help you create interest with those tenants.
- Landlord contact – Identify the best landlords locally and build the relationships so that they remember you when they have a vacancy or occupancy pressure.
- Database growth – The size and coverage of your tenant database will be of value to local landlords. Market your leasing services to landlords off a base of tenant coverage.
- Rental and Vacancy strategies – When you win the listing, implement some rent and marketing strategies that solve the vacancy quickly. Be prepared to give solid recommendations about the rentals locally and how they should be considered relative to the existing property.
These 6 simple strategies will help position you for attracting better leasing commissions in commercial real estate brokerage.