Commercial Real Estate Brokerage – Simple Yet Effective Database Rules

In commercial real estate brokerage, the database program that you use will be the basis for building your real estate business.  You have to connect with a lot of people and the only way you can do that is by tracking your contact processes with a database software package.

Database Rules

There are some rules to making this happen.  Here are some of the main ones to consider:

• Is it easily accessible for you to use at any time on multiple computer devices?
• Is it user friendly so you can track information across different people and property types?
• Can you access your information and download it into spreadsheets when you require?

It takes time to build a real estate business in any location.  The sooner that you get started in connecting with lots of people, the better.   In connecting you must think about how you can be professionally relevant each time, and not just another agent or broker making a telephone call.  If you push too hard for a connection, conversation, or meeting, the call opportunity will be terminated and you will never get another opportunity to connect.

CRM Facts

Here are some facts about the database process in commercial real estate and numbers of people that you should be connecting with every day:

• Call and meeting numbers are important as you must create momentum in a positive way. It is not sufficient to call or connect with just a few people; you must connect with many on a regular basis.  That momentum will be created if you set aside 3 hours per day for that purpose, then research regularly the best people in your location to approach.  The best time to make your calls will be first thing in the morning before you get distracted with other things.
• Group your prospects and clients separately. When you segment the people in your database, you can do different things with them and keep in contact in different ways across social media, email, and contact calls.  You should be logging every call and meeting, then capturing the right information about the person’s property interests and changes.  You are looking for change and then managing that change for each person you know.  The concept is called change management.
• Establish some administration procedures that keep your database clean and up to date. Old data can be a real drag on your real estate business.  Clients know when you are connecting with them from redundant information.
• Audit your contact information regularly so you can see how you are progressing with your client list. Look at the key indicators such as calls out, meetings created, listings created, and inbound calls from people that you already know.
• Protect your client list with cloud based storage. Given that you are putting a lot of effort into your contact management system, the data should be protected in the cloud with reliable and sufficient security levels to prevent unauthorized access.

If you want to get anywhere in commercial real estate, the client list and database program that you establish and shape over time will be the key element of business growth.  How is your database today?