How to Track the Important Things in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
You have to track the important things in commercial real estate brokerage. They are the things that will have an impact on your business and the commissions and or the listings that you are requiring.
(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)
Know Your Facts
If you can’t or don’t track your numbers and results, then you will not know what is going on in your market place; you can’t then adjust to the right changes and facts.
Each year there are changes going on that you can’t do much about. Pressures and influences on the economy will shift business sentiment and when that happens you have fluctuations in sales and leasing activity.
Here are the things to watch for and monitor in commercial real estate brokerage. The list may seem extensive and detailed, however the items in the list really do have an impact on your market share and conversions as an agent or broker:
- The level of inquiry – Keep a simple exercise book or spreadsheet where you can list the inquiry numbers at the end of each day. Over time you can graph that inquiry to see seasonal results and trends. If the telephone and inbound inquiry rate is slow or slowing, then you must look for reasons. Perhaps you should lift your prospecting rates.
- The source of inquiry – How are the inquiries from tenants, buyers, sellers, and investors reaching you? Look for the channels of inquiry that are working and understand if that can be improved.
- The types of property required – The buyers and the tenants looking for properties will have preferences. Are you getting a predominance of property inquiries for warehouses, offices, or retail? Can you service that inquiry?
- The locations – Where do buyers and tenants want to purchase or rent? Your prospecting efforts should be directed into the precincts that are popular and high on the agenda for businesses and investors.
- The rent and price expectations – The tenants and the buyers that you work with will have expectations on price and rent; some of those expectations may be realistic and others not so. Understand the real market factors and trends so you can counter the false offers and incorrect price and rent comments.
- The successful marketing and media channels – Where are the best inquiries coming from as you market your listings and properties? Improve your marketing so that it is not generic and it is effective.
- Listing types – There are major differences to understand in the marketing of open listings versus exclusive listings. Most of your results should be in exclusive listings; on that basis you should be able to show your clients how that happens and why they should list with you exclusively.
- Your competition – Understand who the competition is in your location and what their listings are doing. Some agents will always be better than others and you will have to position your listings and marketing efforts to ‘compete’ in a relevant way.
- Time on market – What is the time factor in achieving a successful sale or lease? Look at the averages across the market and differentiate between open and exclusive listings. Quality listings always pull in the inquiry better than the ‘ordinary’ listings. You have a choice as to the properties that you should work on.
If you are watching all of these things, you will understand how to pull in more results from your prospecting, marketing, and negotiating. Through the year you will find plenty of reasons to refine your business approach as the commercial property sentiment shifts between sellers, buyers, tenants, and landlords.
(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)
