Career Tips and Ideas for Commercial Real Estate Brokers and Agents

In commercial real estate brokerage there is a big difference between those industry professionals that make the money (commissions), versus those that earn money.  Some agents and brokers struggle with the fact that it is an industry of ‘income generation’.

There is a high degree of personal involvement and action required on the part of every agent working in commercial real estate, be they working in sales, leasing, or property management.

It’s a personal process

Here is a fact that should be respected and understood by all salespeople and professionals working in the industry:

‘The degree of success created in any commercial real estate brokerage today will be directly impacted by the personal action and involvement of each individual in the team’.

Finding the right people to work in a real estate team is a big challenge for many sales managers and brokerage principals.  The problem of team performance never really goes away.

If you take a team of 10 separate agents in one brokerage, the ‘average’ performance numbers get a bit scary.  Think about these numbers in an average real estate team:

• 5 members of the team of 10 will leave inside of 24 months in the industry
• 5 members of the 10 will make a 5 plus year career out of their endeavours
• 2 of the 10 will be top performing agents for well over 10 years

Results in commercial real estate brokerage come mainly to the agents that really try in an ongoing way to grow their business.  Certainly there are different segments of the market and our services that are approached uniquely, but that is up to the individual to get under control.

Luck doesn’t matter

Luck is sometimes present in a local property market when things are booming and when enquiry is up, but luck doesn’t sustain a property career for very long; the costs of being an agent in any location are quite high (in balance with the opportunity).  The good agents understand that property and market conditions will change a few times each year, and a few times in every 10 or so years.  So you have to be prepared for the ‘good times’ and the ‘bad times’.  A pipeline of property activity is required.

Here are some rules to live and work by in commercial real estate brokerage:

1. The top earners of the industry create their own client list and commission conversions through ongoing action every day of the week. The prospect for new business constantly.
2. There are plenty of properties to list if you delve into your location and work within a property speciality that has activity over time.
3. Your database will be your most important business tool so make sure that your list is growing in consistent and accurate ways. Get the best software package that you can afford and that is reasonably proven in the industry.

If you are struggling as an agent or broker to get traction in your property market place, have a look at what you are doing and what you are avoiding.  Work on your strengths as an agent and resolve your weaknesses.  Make the next 10 years in the commercial property industry highly successful.

You can get more career tips in commercial real estate brokerage in our eCourse right here.