Crank Out Your Commercial Property Listings

Now is the time to crank out your property listings in commercial real estate brokerage.  As you start a new year of property activity, investors and business owners are thinking about just what they need to do with their property, and when they will do it.  Attracting them should be a priority as you start the New Year.  Find new people to talk to; that’s the rule.

Consider these big motivators for sellers, investors, tenants and buyers of property:

• Leases will be coming to an end in the next twelve months
• Some businesses need to expand or contract business operations
• Investors are looking at improving rental returns and or off-loading redundant investments
• Re-development and new developments are now more possible given buoyancy in the property market

The start of a calendar year is a good time to chase down these groups of property people.  The direct approach is the way to do it.

Consider just what you have done in the last twelve months regards commercial real estate listing and marketing, and then reflect on how you can improve that; there are always improvements that can be created when it comes to prospecting, marketing, and negotiation.

To help you crank out more property listings at the start of the year, here are some strategies that will be of benefit to most agents and brokers:

1. Check out all the clients and prospects in your database.  Talk to all of them to see what their intentions are in property ownership or change in the next twelve months.  Are they ready to buy?  Are they ready to sell?  What is their equity position and how much money can they borrow in today’s property market?
2. Help your clients and prospects understand the local property market, and the recent sales and leasing activity.
3. Get into your sales and leasing territory personally every day.  Make it a target to talk to 10 business owners per day by dropping in to their premises and leaving a business card.  You will get plenty of tips when you do that; most business owners know a lot about the local area and will share facts with you.
4. Cross reference property locations with property owners.  Every day find 2 or 3 property investors to talk to about property changes and needs.  As the local agent or broker you have plenty of valuable information that will help them.  Start a conversation and see where it goes.
5. Look back in local property sales records for the last 5 years.  Those people that have purchased a property in that time are likely to be doing something again soon.  A direct approach is the only way to find out what they are doing.

I have said it many times before and I will repeat it here; exclusive listings are critical to help you build market share.  When you list exclusively you control the property, the marketing, the inspections, and the client.  Improve your prospecting conversions on exclusive listings by practice and self-improvement with sales pitches and presentations.  Devise a checklist that can be used in any listing pitch that will help your clients see the importance of the exclusive listing and marketing process.