9 Strategies to Keep You at The Top of Your Game in Brokerage

Everyone in commercial real estate brokerage should have a base plan of action that they work to.   It is, if you like, a basic ‘personal marketing plan’. 

Yes, it is hard to apply every day especially when you are busy, but it is essential.  Without it, progress with clients, listings and market share stalls.

When the process is applied effectively and personally, new business evolves and establishes itself quite easily.  That is what most agents and brokers want; so many struggle unnecessarily with their results for all the wrong reasons.

Discipline and control help the brokerage results and momentum for all.  Are you ready to ‘challenge yourself’ to set some new plans in place?

The opportunities are out there.  Get organised and follow this basic business model.

While this is logical, why is it so hard for many?  A ‘mindset’ is a key part of the process of acting on opportunities.  Believing in what you are doing and why that is the case will help you attract new business.  Control and ‘tune’ your thinking as you make calls, contact new people and create meetings.

Brokerage Momentum Plan

So, the key element to getting a commercial real estate career underway and growing is a personal ‘mindset’; it underpins everything else.  What you think will support or destroy your momentum.  Stay positive and keep that attitude aligned with your actions and efforts.  Get organised in making calls and connecting with people.

Here is a base plan to keep you at the ‘top of your game’ as a broker or agent selling or leasing property in your town or city.  Think about your properties, clients, and territory, and then follow these basic rules:

1. Start the day making outbound calls for new business – when you make calls at the beginning of the day, you find simple and new opportunities for connections, meetings, listings, and negotiations. Talk to new people at the start of the day and keep a tally of the numbers of calls made.  Around 40 calls will be a good number to target.  You won’t get through to 40 people, but you should reach at least 15 people in 3 hours.  From those 15 people, you will likely get a couple of meetings.  That is where the ‘relationships’ take over and listings are found.  As to those people that you couldn’t connect with today, they stay on your list for calls later or perhaps in a couple of weeks.
2. Move your meetings to the afternoon – this is a simple rule to follow, and it just takes some discipline to implement. Don’t let your meetings derail your outbound call and prospecting times.  You can in most cases move your meetings to the middle or later part of the day.
3. Review your database for opportunities and connections – given that we all should have some form of client list or database that we use; there will be times in the day where you can revisit early connections and conversations.
4. Repeat all contact calls at least once every 60 to 90 days – talking to the same people in a ‘repeating’ process will help you remain ‘top of mind’ to them when they need help with leasing or sales. Simple ‘date triggers’ in your database can help you remain in contact with people that you know will be future opportunities.  Shorten the contact cycle if you know that ‘action is imminent’.
5. Ask for referrals – every conversation can be extended or ended with a ‘referral question’. If you have a good conversation with someone, end it with a referral question.  Who do they know that might need property help in the future?  Who do they know that has an interest in a commercial investment property?
6. Match people and properties – scan through your contact list and look for people and property situations that can be expanded to a potential level of action. Matching people and properties are what we do.  We look for the linkages between what property people need or want, and what is out there in the market or on your listing books.
7. Talk to clients about listing enquiry and progress – when you have a listing, stay in touch for the long term, and do so at least a couple of times a week. The client wants to know about your progress and strategy; so, talk about both of those things.  Give the client some ‘listing momentum’, no matter how difficult the property or the market may be.
8. Progress negotiations and inspections – any inspections should be reviewed and followed-up. Keep the conversations and connections from an inspection moving ahead.  If a person needed to inspect or inquire about a property, then they are going to do something soon; you just don’t know when they will act and why.  Conversations keep things moving in the right direction.  Use your conversations as the basis of growing your real estate business.
9. End the day with researching contacts for the next day – you must set up the calls and contacts for the next day. That will always take some time; perhaps an hour or so.  Do your call research at the end of the day after other pressing matters are resolved and completed.  The research can be done conveniently at home on a laptop in preparation for the next day.

All these factors of action and focus will help you stay at the top of your game as a broker or agent.  Everyone needs a base ‘plan of action’.  These items will help you build your career faster and with ongoing momentum.  Stay on task and work hard.