How to Be a Client Services Specialist in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
In commercial real estate today there are different levels of client involvement and client service when it comes to any property challenge and or opportunity. Understand your clients for who they are and what they need and position yourself as the client services specialist they need for your location. Don’t be generic as an agent or broker; the competition is too fierce.
Do a client assessment and also the property assessment as part of moving on any new business opportunity. When you fully understand the client and the property, you can make the right promotional choices and provide some real solutions when it comes to the best method of sale or lease.
Get the Facts
In understanding the client and the property, it is easier for you to show confidence, commitment, and strategy as part of the listing process. It is also easier for the client to trust you as their agent of choice in resolving their property challenge.
Most listings and clients will be subjected to local a good degree of competition with other agents and brokers. You have to stand out as the agent with the best client solution. How can you do that in a relevant way? You must know your clients and their property comprehensively.
Client Focus
So you have different types of clients to consider and understand. Here is a summary to help you with that and also the points of focus that can apply with the different client types:
- DECISIONS: Many of the clients that you work with will hopefully have the ability to formulate a decision quickly and take the required action. They are the decision makers when it comes to property activity, and you will need to know who they are with each and every listing that you work on. Those decision makers will have different motivations and factors to fulfil as part of any sales or leasing activity. Get to know those decision makers directly and comprehensively as part of the listing process.
- THE KEY PERSON: In any company or corporation you may be dealing with a number of people within the same property transaction. Ultimately there will still be a decision maker behind the final negotiation and transaction. Things get somewhat confusing when you are dealing with a board of directors as part of a property sale or lease scenario. Understand who you are talking to and how they are involved in the property challenge and momentum. There will likely be issues to fulfil when you are working with a company or corporation with their property matters.
- WHAT MOTIVATES THEM: When you are working with clients that own and occupy their particular property, the motivations that exist when it comes to selling or leasing will be quite different and those of an investor. Generally owner occupiers are seeking to resolve a property challenge that is associated with a business challenge. They may have factors of expansion or contraction that are impacting their property pressure and challenge. They may need to relocate or exit a particular marketplace, and they will have time constraints in doing so. They will have particular targets to achieve in any sale or lease scenario to resolve their business challenge. When working with a client of this type, it is useful to inspect their property thoroughly and comprehensively whilst probing their business motivations and constraints. Soon you will understand why they need to move to a sale or lease scenario, and how realistic targets can be set when it comes to resolving matters for them. You can use a checklist that is property specific to identify and address all of the issues and problems that they want resolved.
- GROW OPPORTUNITY FOR CLIENTS: Some of your clients will be investors. They will need to address an investment challenge or establish an opportunity. When you work with property investors, is wise to qualify their levels of experience when it comes to local property, and determine their ability to act in a timely way when and if the right property solution is found.
So the message here is that you can and should recognize your property client and their issues. You can be the right solution they need in moving through their commercial property challenge. Are you matching yourself to your clients and their properties?