How to Build a Trusted Reputation as a Top Commercial Real Estate Agent
To be trusted as the agent of choice locally in commercial real estate investment sales many things have to come together at a personal level. The level of competition in commercial real estate today is reasonably high in most locations; only the best agents will stand out as relevant and real in the property market.
Have you ever wondered why a prospective client would use your services? Do you have a solid point of difference that drives people towards you? Perhaps these are not an easy answers to come up with, however the answers are really important if you want to win new business.
Factors of Attraction
Top real estate agents have some personal factors of attraction that other agents lack or struggle with. Those factors are usually a combination of the following:
- Comprehensive market share
- Better database of local property owners and business leaders
- A track record of deals and leads in a property type and location
- Great product knowledge when it comes to the property type
- A real understanding of who will be needing property soon and why
- A knowledge of off market property opportunities for particular clients and situations
It takes a good degree of time to build this information and market presence; that is why it is really essential to start building your real estate business foundations the moment you start working in the industry. Good foundations in commercial real estate will take you through the toughest of markets in a positive and direct way.
Here are some ideas to help you do that:
- Specific property owners – Work with the property owners that are serious and understand how things work in commercial real estate. Research your local area constantly to find the VIP clients that you should work with. Be very selective when it comes to clients and how you serve them.
- Quality listings – Some properties will create a lot more interest than others. I am not saying that you should avoid listings, but make sure that you are marketing the good ones comprehensively. A good quality property will create a lot more enquiries and lead to other people in the local area.
- High quality marketing campaigns – Get away from the generic processes of marketing. Make every exclusive listing quite special with the strategies that stand out. Any high quality marketing campaign will require vendor paid funds, so learn how to pitch and present your promotional solutions in ways that attract vendor paid marketing.
- Direct marketing – Every exclusive listing should be directly marketed; by that I mean lifting the telephone and talking to lots of local property owners and business leaders. The direct marketing approach will help you connect with ongoing leads, referrals, and upcoming property changes.
- High conversion rates – Understand the things that people are looking for in property today. Merge their needs into your advertising copy and property message. Create some excitement and focus in your marketing efforts so you can lift your conversions from inbound calls to inspections. There should be a radical difference between levels of enquiry for open listings versus exclusive listings. That difference should be driven by your strategies and personal efforts.
- Online and offline promotions – Every time you market yourself and your listings, take the time to improve the process and build creativity into the marketing campaign. Avoid the generic marketing processes that so many other agents use. A small amount of extra time and creativity on your advertising copy will help greatly when it comes to attracting more enquiries and improving levels of inspections.
- Editorials and Articles – Any property with a story or an identity should feature as part of an editorial or an online article. Talk about the property in an interesting way. Local property investors and business owners will have an interest in local activity.
You can see from all of these specialised processes, that an agent can do many different things to build a trusted reputation. Personal effort and focus in an ongoing way will help set the foundations of relevance and trust with the clients that you serve.