How to Have Your Commercial Real Estate Clients Trust in You and Your Property Ideas

Trust is one of the most important attributes that you should develop in commercial real estate brokerage and take with you through your career.

The trust that you can develop with your clients and prospects will be the foundation for respect and ongoing interaction. They are the clients and the prospects that are likely to remember you at the right time and in the right way. 

There are plenty of agents and brokers out there in the local property market in any town or city all chasing similar properties and similar clients. The top agents are those that market themselves comprehensively in a professional and direct way. They stand out.  That is how the levels of trust will evolve.

You can connect with your clients and prospects regularly and deeply. You can provide them with local property market information from recent transactions, listings, and case studies. Show some analysis in what you provide to those people. Show them what is happening and give them some property recommendations for the future. That is the clear recommendations based on proven facts and current market conditions.

Methods of Building Commercial Real Estate Trust

Here are some ideas to help you lift your professional profile as a trustworthy agent or broker:

1. Regular market updates on listings – whilst you can overstep the mark here with too many listing updates, provide the information based on research and quality listings. There is really no need to circulate information on poor quality listings and listings that have not been matched to your clients and prospects. Understand what they are looking for, and only connect with them regards those types of listings and property opportunities.
2. Case studies from recent sales or leases – any new sale or lease is worth talking about. Don’t overstep the boundaries of confidentiality, but do provide some interesting relevant information from the recent sales and leasing transactions that you have been involved with. Show that you have been the agent to make the deal happen in a timely and direct way.
3. Understand the client and show it – every client and every prospect will have certain property priorities and choices. Some of those clients will own properties locally and already have a number of buildings in their investment portfolios. Get to know your clients and understand their focus with buildings and locations. Show the client how you can improve their investment activities and property ownership challenges. Give them some evidence from the local market that matches into their commercial real estate portfolio focus.
4. Meetings and informal contact – stay in contact for the long term. It can take months if not years to convert a client to the next stage of property activity. Stay relevant and real as you connect with them about local property changes and challenges. Meet with them regularly so that the one-on-one contact process can be established firmly and professionally.
5. Portfolio updates – if the client owns a few buildings currently, then you have plenty of reasons to provide local property market updates and factors of research that could impact their property portfolio.
6. Local area reports – if you specialize in a particular area or location, then you can produce a monthly or quarterly report update specifically for the local area and certain property types within it. Talk about the trends relating to inquiry, time on market, property choices, and the target markets looking for fresh listings to purchase or lease areas to occupy.

Looking at the six factors mentioned, there are plenty of ways in which you can establish a trustworthy and professional business profile in commercial real estate brokerage. It is a deliberate marketing strategy to be actioned at a personal level, but the rewards are many for those agents and brokers that build their brand accordingly.