How Success Breeds Success in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

The successes that you create in commercial real estate brokerage can be a foundation from which to expand your market share and client base. Every successful sales or lease transaction can be something to communicate back to the market, and share with interested parties such as business leaders and local investors. (NB – you can get plenty of successful stories in commercial real estate in our Snapshot Course right here)

Results are Interesting

Results in property activity breed further results or the opportunities of such.  In other words, one transaction can lead to another opportunity, providing you market yourself, your skills, and your recent results accordingly.  Many local property people and identities in a location, like to know about achieved prices, cap or yield rates, and rental trends; they like to know what has happened and what is happening from a property perspective.  Use the ‘results’ principle as a factor in your real estate business plan.

Promotional Strategies

Think about the following concepts:

• Any high-quality property listing recently released by your brokerage into the local property market should be communicated into the local area comprehensively and directly. That is a personal process for you to initiate and get involved with. The effectiveness and directness of the marketing campaign associated with quality properties in prime precincts can be of interest to other investors, developers, and business leaders. Top agents will usually grow their market share greatly from listing activity and communication.
• Some of your listings will have an image or an identity in the local area; use that ‘brand’ or identity in your marketing of the property, be it for sale or lease. Some of those listings may have a history or a heritage that may be of interest locally. Consider the history of your listings and local properties to see if there is a story that can be shared.
• Any recent listing should be directly marketed to adjacent property owners, local investors within 500 m radius, and all business owners. That promotional process can be through brochures and flyers, direct mail, telephone canvassing, door knocking, and meetings. Think about the location when it comes to every high-quality exclusive listing. Do more with the promotion of your quality properties and exclusive listings locally.
• Some property types are more ‘regional’ in coverage and are therefore of interest outside of your location and city. That is certainly the case with retail shopping centres, larger CBD office buildings and assets, and also the industrial parks.  If you have transacted a larger property in those categories, then look outside the zone to talk about the results with other property investors, sellers, buyers, and major tenants.
• Within your brokerage and database, you should have a select group of VIP clients or prospects that you have qualified and communicated with over time. In staying close to those people, you can understand property challenges, opportunities, needs, and activities. You can market many of your listings directly to those VIP clients and prospects at the right time and in the right way.

Strategic Plan using Local Information

So here are some strategies to help you build on the local successes that you are creating in commercial real estate brokerage:

1. Build your momentum from successful transactions. Every completed transaction is a good reason to connect with the local property market and all the property owners and business owners in the precinct. Create a program of contact involving success letters, brochures, telephone calls, and door-knocking.
2. Create stories from the local area. Investigate some of your listings for useful stories to be used in promotional campaigns. Some of the older buildings or locations may have a history that can feature in the editorial and article marketing initiatives for your location.
3. Signboard coverage always helps. Define a specific area of coverage, and then track the number of signs that you have in that location. Improve the number of signs locally through a direct and exclusive listing campaign.  Signs placed on open listings are a waste of time.
4. Internet marketing should be comprehensive. There are many different tools to be used online today when it comes to property marketing and personal promotion within commercial property sales, leasing, and property management
5. Get to know the local businesses thoroughly. Within your defined territory, connect with all the local business owners at least once every 90 days. Seek to understand their property position, requirements, and intentions. Understand the differences between their property ownership and their leasing activity.
6. Get to know the local property investors comprehensively. If you are working with exclusive listings in the local area, many of the property investors will make themselves known to you. Find out what they are thinking and needing into the future regards asset ownership, diversity, portfolio changes, and development.
7. Keep up the momentum. There are many challenges to work through as part of being a commercial real estate broker. Systems are required to achieve progress over time. As busy as you may be in each working day, do not neglect your prospecting and client contact time.

There are plenty of things to do here when it comes to building on the successes of a recent property transaction, listing, or outcome. Every successful transaction will be a source of new opportunity providing you work with the concept.