Fuelling Your Real Estate Pipeline

Fueling your pipeline as a real estate agent is all about building a robust listing portfolio through smart prospecting and communication.

Pipeline activity in commercial real estate is all about agents and brokers creating market share growth. It will help you quickly build a brokerage or agency with people and listings.

A commercial real estate pipeline of people and properties is a smart business strategy for agents in this property cycle and into the future. Here is how.

Defining a Pipeline

So, what is a pipeline for a real estate agent, and how can you make it work for you? Simply put, it is how you approach people and property situations over time. You will find opportunities to list properties by repeating specific strategies and facts.

So, what is the challenge here? It is about getting the system that works for you up and running. There are variations in how the system can be set up, but the critical element that cannot change is regular contact with local property-related or interested people.

What Makes a Successful Pipeline?

It is a challenging question for some, yet the answer is simple. A successful commercial real estate lead pipeline is based on consistency and improvement. As you talk to people, you will see things and understand how to improve your conversations and the following connections.

Some, if not most, agents struggle with the ‘pipeline’ process because they find consistency challenging. Habits are so important in commercial real estate today.

Habits are the foundation of real estate consistency and success. Your new habits will build your real estate business faster than anything else.

So, you want to fuel your pipeline of leads and new business at your location. You want to fill it with selected people and properties. Here are some ideas to help you do that.

1. Quality People

You will talk to many people in your location and community. Some will be better than others regarding property activity and interest.

Many people will be happy to take some of your time, but are they really of value to you? Set yourself some qualification factors so you can ‘weed out’ the good clients and contacts from everyone else.

2. Selected Properties

Choose your property types based on the knowledge and experience that you have locally. The presentation or conversation goes exceptionally well when you work on properties or styles of properties you are already familiar with.

3. Preferred Precincts

Break down your local area and territory into precincts. Then split those precincts into priorities, A, B, C. Spend most of your time in the A and B precincts. Get to know all the properties, the owners, and the competing listings. Don’t take on too many properties at once when working with property precincts.

4. Continuing Conversations

How do you know what was said in the last conversation with your contacts? It is a question worth considering, given that you talk to many people weekly about different property requirements and situations.

When you can speak from a base of information or the previous conversation, your chances of going further into the following discussion are significant. Our clients and prospects appreciate agents who show respect, professionalism, and attention to detail regarding ongoing real estate connections and conversations.

5. Rewarding Relationships

The listings you seek will come from ongoing connections and rewarding relationships. Those relationships can be enhanced with property information and updates so that when the client or the prospect needs help with property activity, they will remember you.

The concept behind a commercial real estate pipeline of action is centred on strengthening relationships. What can you say and do daily with the people you connect with? Help them with their property challenges and opportunities when the time is right.

As people begin to trust you, they will share more information and seek guidance when the time is right. You’ll generate plenty of property leads and opportunities over time from a base of trust.

6. Exclusivity Matters Always

When you see a need or an opportunity for a listing, the next question will be centred on the listing type and the pitch or presentation. The best agents generally will not list a property openly. They will seek exclusivity to control the listing stock and provide the best service for the client.

Open listings are a waste of time for you, the agent, and the client. If the client is serious about listing the property, they should see the advantages of an exclusive listing in getting a timely result at the best possible price or rental.

Fueling your real estate pipeline is about connecting regularly and continuously with selected people. That is the secret to success in commercial real estate today, and the process will give you, as an agent, plenty of leads to work with in the future in your location.

Timelines for Pipelines

One final question common today for most agents is, ‘How long does the pipeline process take to establish?’ The answer is about three months. And beyond that time, providing an agent maintains the activity, the leads will flow nicely in any property cycle or business economy.

In summary, I go back to the earlier statement that consistency and habit-building processes in real estate are vital to achieving any results today. Use the habit cycles to build your business and the habits to support you over time as a top agent in your location.