Commercial Real Estate Agents – Shifting Gears to Improve Personal Performance

As this is being written it is the middle of a year around the July period in 2014.  Commercial real estate has been growing in activity, and enquiries in both selling and leasing have been good.  Now I know that in some cities and towns things can be different, but generally speaking commercial real estate this year is improving on last year.  Landlords, property investors and business owners are all getting back into the market to do things and adjust their property use or activity.

Given the trends of the market, it is a good time to consider lifting performance and focus to achieve more results; it’s a bit like ‘changing gears’ to get more market traction and leverage.  I say that in the personal sense and particularly to my agent and broker friends around the world.  Now is a good time to get active.

Consider these facts:

• If you keep doing the same things you were doing last year, you can only expect to get last year’s results.
• There is always room at the top for another top agent. Strategy and effort can help get you there.
• You have to get though a good number of ‘no not today thanks’ to get to the ‘yes I would like to talk about that’.  The conversion ratio of action may even be 10 to 1, so be prepared for tracking results.
• As business shifts momentum, the decision makers in ownership or occupation of a property are thinking about next year’s requirements.  The decision of property change will be made 12 months out in most cases.
• Your client base and database will have latent opportunity waiting to be tapped.  Keep in close contact with the people in your database for that very reason.

Having worked in commercial real estate brokerage for many years, I have seen three major shifts in the property market; they are not the only shifts that we will see and there will be others in the future.  From every shift in the market there has been opportunity evolving; weaknesses in the market can be worked through and strengths can be compounded for better results.  There are also lead times and lag times as we move between a buyer’s market and a seller’s market; the same can be said for the movement between a tenants market to a landlords market.

Today I am seeing opportunity on the horizon for brokers and agents.  Now is a good time to consider moving up a gear in personal performance and effort.  What can you do from now on that will give you more traction and exposure as a top agent?