Commercial Real Estate Brokerage – How to Be a Proven Leader
Property clients like to work with ‘top agents’, or at least those agents that command a good share of the market and know a great deal about the property type for the location. Commercial real estate is not an ‘experiment’ in investment, but it is a specific asset type that requires agent knowledge and coverage, particularly so if something positive is to come from investment, ownership, acquisition, or lease. (NB – you can get more leadership tips in commercial real estate right here in our ‘Snapshot’ program – its free)
The clear message here is that brokers and agents should position themselves professionally and market themselves comprehensively. It’s a personal thing that grows over time.
Every day you can take steps to build your profile locally in several ways both physically and indirectly; you can use online and offline marketing methods to connect with chosen ‘high quality’ clients and prospects. You can talk to plenty of people over time and consolidate your canvassing processes using a good database software program.
Client Attraction Factors
So how can you win more customers and clients in the industry? It doesn’t matter whether you work in sales, leasing, or property management, the similar rules apply for growth of brokerage business. Here are some proven ideas:
- Report about local issues in the market. Express your skills and knowledge with comprehensive relevant local property information. Show your market updates at client meetings and property presentations. Align yourself to the location. Use a variety of business tools, such as graphs, statistics, advertising layouts, testimonials and editorials, to display that knowledge. With the powerful technology tools that we have at our disposal today, that shouldn’t be too hard to do. Remember that you are selling your ideas and skills to the client but you are focusing on the client’s property. Everything you say must be relevant and connected to the client’s property. Make a few logical connections in the meeting or presentation. Show the client why you are the best solution to resolving their property pain.
- Tell the locals about the recent property activities. Build your recommendations on local and proven property evidence. You will be making specific statements about the client’s property, talking to the strengths and weaknesses as you know them. Look around the precinct to see what other properties can be used as evidence. Get some photos of those properties, and build a few stories to support your ideas. Preparation is the key to winning new business.
- Interpret the client’s situation at a deeper level. Confirm the clients position and requirements before you go too far. Go deeper into the client’s property facts and situation. Learn what you can in advance about the client’s property challenge; research the known factors and the precinct. Focus on timing, best outcomes, strengths of the asset, and weaknesses of the market that could frustrate the property challenge or process for the client.
- Create plenty of local contacts. Get ‘face to face’ with your clients and prospects so they can remember you as the ‘solution provider’ in local property. Given that your property market is likely to be saturated with agents chasing the same property business and clients, how can you stand out? Far too many agents market themselves around generic statements such as ‘We are experienced’, ‘We have the best team to help you’, ‘We have been in the area working on property for many years’. The generic approach today doesn’t work. Attract the client’s attention using local property knowledge, stories from the location, and facts. That approach will help you build a solid rapport with the people that need your services.
So, there are quite a few good things that you can do here with this approach. Put yourself and your skills in front of more prospects and clients every day. You don’t need to pitch your services with people; just create a good conversation that is ‘client focused’.
