Commercial Property Agents – Things to Do Before the Listing Presentation
When you work as a commercial real estate agent, it is tempting to take ‘shortcuts’ when it comes to preparing for and attending a listing appointment; this is especially the case if you are being invited to list properties regularly and frequently.
The fact of the matter is that you should prepare well for each listing meeting with clients. Relevance is everything when it comes to property presentations and pitching.
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Presentation Ideas that Work
To improve your conversions with clients, gather real and relevant information from the property and the local area. Prepare your presentation and pitch around that information. Here are some tips to help that process:
- Inspect the property yourself before you meet with the client. In this way, you can form an opinion about the advantages and challenges that the property presents. From this process, you can also identify the right target market for the property and from that, you can determine the right way to market the property.
- Comparable sales and rents will always come in handy with client discussions. Most clients think they know what the sale price or rent should be for their property, but they have little local evidence in support of their opinion. As we know, the asking rents and prices for other property on the market today are not the determining factors in setting pricing or renting benchmarks. Results of actual deals are the things that mean much more.
- Know the region comprehensively and the reasons people are looking at certain property for sale or rent locally. The current enquiry rate will help you understand that fact. Tell your client about the current levels of enquiry and why it is coming in. Matching the listing to that enquiry is really important.
- Competing properties will exist locally. Tell the client about those properties and how they are being marketed today. Your marketing campaign will need to be equal to or better than everything else that is going on today.
- Other agent’s listings in the immediate vicinity of the clients listing will be seen by buyers and sellers that come to you from any specific marketing effort. Why is your property better than the rest? Can you promote that property to a greater advantage?
- Marketing trends will change throughout the year. Be prepared for that change and optimise the upside of the cycle. Typically commercial real estate marketing activity is focused in a 10 month period of the year; everything else is a diversion of business holidays and festive seasons. When the market is active, do something with it.
- Give the client some real choices when it comes to marketing their property. 3 choices will suffice but they must be specific to the target market. Tell the client how you are going to get personally involved in the marketing campaign and give specific feedback that will allow you to ‘tweak’ the promotional program if and when it is required.
- Tell the client about some stories and challenges that other clients have resolved with your assistance locally. Give real solutions to the client’s challenge today and tell them how you will take them forward. Use PERT and GANTT models to show the client how that will be done.
- Time on the market will vary by property, location, and property type. Do you know what is selling or renting now and why that is the case? This information will be fundamental to capturing the right property enquiry today. Know your area, the location, the people and the properties. Soon you will see the time on market factors.
So these are some factors that will help your client connection and conversion of listings. Plan your processes by getting all the facts before you meet with the client. Preparation and focus is key.