How to Write a Top Proposal in Commercial Real Estate Today
When it comes to pitching and presenting your services as a commercial real estate agent to a client, there are two sides to the equation.
Firstly you will be selling yourself personally as an expert of relevance and confidence. Secondly, you will be selling your business services and the strategies that you can provide to the client.
The ‘strategic’ side of the equation is about 50 percent of what you need to do. You will need a good proposal to help you with those strategies.
So to win a sales pitch or a presentation, your success will be based on your personality, confidence, relevance, and strategy. A proposal will be required to assist you in convincing the client to use your services.
High-Quality Proposals in Brokerage
So here are some ideas to help you construct a high-quality new business proposal as it applies to commercial real estate sales or leasing. See how your proposal structure today sits within these concepts:
- At the front of your proposal document, there should be an ‘executive summary’ that brings together all of the high-value factors and important issues in marketing the property. That summary cannot be constructed until you have completed the overall document. That executive summary should not extend beyond two pages. In the summary, you should feature the key issues as a series of dot points. Make it easy for the client or prospect to read the document and go further into it.
- Immediately behind the summary, you should have a client brief and a property brief. In this way, you can show the client that you fully understand their requirements, and that you are defining the property correctly as it exists today. In defining the property you can also build on the opportunities and selling features that will be incorporated into your marketing.
- The next stage of the document should be a summary of the existing property market. Tell the client how their property sits in the prevailing market conditions. Tell the client how you would recommend taking their property to the market and what your expectations may be when it comes to an inquiry, price, and rental.
- Your inspection of the property should have identified the features of the property which will then lead you to select a target market. Explain to the client exactly what the target market looks like, its size, and how you will attract it the marketing campaign. Tell the client what the target market will be looking for and how much they are likely to pay in price or rent.
- The marketing information and recommendations that you make should be quite specific to the property assuming that you will get an exclusive listing. The dedicated hard work that is required to promote the property will only be achievable through an exclusive listing for a lengthy period of time. Make your recommendations in this regard and stick to them.
- The fees that you charge should be somewhat in parity with the local market however discounts should not be offered. If you are to provide the best service and the best strategy to solve the client’s problem, discounts are not part of the process. If you sell your services correctly and fully, the fact of a discount will not even be mentioned.
- As a basic rule, every proposal that you do should be about the property and the client in almost every respect. The back of the document can be reserved for details about your staff and your office. At least 75% of your proposal should be about the client and the property.
- Every proposal document should feature quality visuals, graphs, and market information. Get away from using too many words, given that most clients will not read the document in its entirety. Photographs, graphs, and illustrations will take the clients attention through the document more effectively.
Over time you can develop a separate proposal that relates individually to sales, leasing, and property management.
It is also appropriate to design a proposal specific to retail property. In this way, you can talk to the issues of the property type in your territory.
