When you work as an agent in commercial or retail real estate, prospecting and cold calling are fundamental actions to take in growing your listings, lead generation, and market share. The problem is that many salespeople have trouble in locating and researching the prospects that they should talk to.
So who are the prospects that you should be contacting? This list will help:
- All the landlords that own an investment property in your area
- All the business owners that occupy the local property or rent property in your area
- All the tenants that occupy premises in investment property
- Solicitors and Accountants that serve people that own or occupy a property
- Property Developers that build property locally
- Bankers and property financiers
You need a planned and consistent approach to make this happen.
Broad-Based Research Plans
When you look at a list like this, you will understand that some groups will be harder to research than others. Most particularly the property investors that own property are the hardest to locate as they generally own the property in some form of family trust or company name. Researching that information is difficult and takes time; that is where the relationships that you create with solicitors and accountants become valuable. Invariably they are acting for clients that own property and they will know when those clients need help. This is a cross relationship that can be pursued when you are looking for high-value property investors.
Another cross relationship in the above list is drawn from the tenants or business proprietors that occupy investment property. It is easy to find them as they are in the business telephone book and they also have premises with business signage and contact detail. By talking to these groups you will find that they are comfortable telling you who the landlord and or property manager for the property is. From that information, you can make a call to speak to the property owner.
Commercial real estate sales and leasing are rewarding careers to undertake but expect some required research and ongoing questioning of key people. Soon you will understand how to tap into the information that lies hidden in the local property community.
Over time you can grow your database as a specialist real estate agent in the local area. When you get quality information or a lead regards investment property, leasing, tenants, or owners, capture the data for further research and keep digging. Over time you will find the right people and properties to move on.
