How to Bust onto the Scene in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

It doesn’t matter where you work in commercial real estate today, the same rules apply when it comes to priorities and business focus. You simply need to understand how to focus on clients and listings and then take action.  A lot of agents and brokers struggle with that requirement.  You could say that they lack the momentum to make things work consistently.

(N.B. these ideas are also sent out to regularly to our friends in Commercial Real Estate Online Snapshot to help amplify brokerage results…. Get your access here)

Go Deeper in Local Property

Look into your area.  Identify the best clients in the location and the prospects to work for. Put them into your pipeline of contact so that you can reach out to them regularly in a direct way.   Relevance is the key to progress.

So who do you contact?  Some clients and prospects are better than others when it comes to new business opportunity. Make the right choices when it comes to working with these people. Differentiate your clients and prospects so you are working with those that can create a reasonable level of business with you.  Turn them into VIP’s within your database.

Property Type Specific

So you can extend this concept into particular property types and locations. Focus on the best properties for the location and then research the ownership detail, the tenancy mix activities, and the property trends that may be impacting the asset. When you have that information, you have something to work with when it comes to direct client contact.

Relevance is then the key to making your priorities work in commercial real estate brokerage. Set your targets and create your focus with both listings and clients. Research the advantages in each category and then refine your prospecting model accordingly.

Get Your System Right from the Start

Here are some ideas to help you set those correct priorities in your real estate sales and leasing business. See how your current activities compare to these specific strategies. Here they are:

• You will need a database that you can work to each and every day. That can be a challenge for many, because the disciplines behind the database and the data entry demands are significant. So what can you do here? You need to split the market up into segments, locations, prices, rentals, property types, and prospect categories.
• Talk to lots of people on a regular basis, with a bias towards new people and qualified contacts from the past. When you ask the right questions, you can categorise the people that you enter into your database.
• Be aware of the requirement to update your property data on a regular ongoing basis. The information that you entered into your client and prospect list six months ago may now be redundant or lacking. In establishing a property database for your growth of market share, take the time to keep the information up-to-date and as part of that contact all of the people in a regular ongoing way. Through simple and direct conversations, you can identify the right people to work with over time.
• Make your services special and real to the people that you believe are your ideal clients and prospects locally. There is no point in being ordinary and generic in commercial real estate today. Stand out as the agent of choice for the location and the property type. That means a good degree of direct marketing, online activities, local signage coverage, and cold calling. Your branding and your message needs to be integrated into your special and unique commercial real estate services. The process may sound simple, however many agents neglect the requirement to be involved in direct marketing each and every day. You control your diary, so ensure that your marketing efforts are incorporated into that diary.
• As you spend more time in the industry, you will get busier in a number of different ways. You can be busy on the things that matter, or you can be distracted on things that really have no benefit and support for you as a property specialist. Understand the differences between high value activities and low value administrative tasks. You may need some administrative support in your business to remove the redundant property activities from your diary. Focus on new business, client contact, and professional service. Only let the people that really matter to your property business take part of your diary and your time.

So there are some important issues to think about here when it comes to priorities and time commitment in commercial real estate brokerage. Understand your targets and your focus over time. Channel your resources into those particular issues directly and specifically each day.

I go back to the point that there is no point in being ordinary in commercial real estate brokerage today. Top agents are special and each and every way and they market themselves accordingly.