How to Build a Rewarding Career in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

Commercial real estate brokerage is very rewarding as a career for those agents that work hard and with a system of focus.  There are many things to do and learn as part of building market presence; a ‘plan of attack’ is required.

Here are some ideas to help you with building your market share as an agent or as a broker:

1. Commit to the process of marketing and negotiating.  This will require focus and practice.  Every week in commercial real estate you will come across something new and different.  Share your findings and challenges in your sales team.  As a group of people you can build on the findings of the market and then improve your skills in response.
2. Segment your market into zones so you can track sales, leasing, and new property developments.  This also helps when it comes to prospecting and researching market trends.  The rents and prices by zone will be individual and different.  In a city or large town these figures are even more critical to track.
3. Brand yourself as a specialist in a property type and prospect with that theme in mind.  Get plenty of marketing material ready for sending out and dropping off to clients and prospects as part of your prospecting model.  A consistent message should carry across all prospecting channels.
4. Define your speciality by zone and by property size.  Always track the larger property ownerships and quality listings.  Over time you will always get more leads and enquiries from quality listings.
5. Define your market geographically.  There should be enough leads and opportunities coming from that zone to tap into and provide you with a good income.  How many properties exist in your ‘sales territory’?  How many deals have been done in that zone?  How do you think that will change over coming years?
6. Connect with more clients and prospects every day.  Make it a target to talk to a certain number of people each day.  Over time that simple rule will help you with market share and commissions.
7. Build a database on a personal level.  This says that you should be personally responsible for making the entries and changing them in your database as required.  Every day talk to more people and set up a series of contacts that will allow you to keep the door open for more sales and leasing opportunities.  Protect your database as it is the main thing that will help you with listing opportunity.
8. Top agents tend to set goals relating to income and listing growth.  You can do that and merge the figures into your database.  Those figures can also feature in a business plan at a personal level.  Always track your progress from prospecting, listings, inspections, and commissions, so you know how things are improving.  The commercial property market changes throughout the year and a change of strategy may be necessary in marketing and prospecting.

These strategies will help you with your growth of commercial real estate listings and commissions.  Diligence and persistence is required to take your listing conversions to the top of the market.  Determine your plan of approach and start working hard at your market.