How You Can Cash In On Your Commercial Real Estate Client List
In commercial real estate brokerage, there will always be plenty of clients to connect with, providing you do the required research and put in the communication effort. There are people needing help with sales, leasing, and property management. Know your town or city and the pressures of the local market.
By referring to ‘help,’ I am talking about the specialized processes and not just the ‘generic stuff’ that every agent can do; reserve the ‘generic stuff’ to those people that give you open listings. Special clients need special help. Exclusivity in the agency process should be part of that with any client that wants some real and specific, timely results.
New business prospecting processes are part of what we do; systems are important. If you are struggling with things currently, look at your list and assess its size, relevance, accuracy, and growth. They are all important things when considering commercial real estate opportunities.
Know the People – First Step
You may know plenty of people now in your town or your city, but you do need to know more in an ongoing way given that the various property stakeholders and industry players come and go from the property market. The cycle of property ownership and occupancy can be relatively long, and on that basis, the frequency of activity and interest for some clients may be years apart. That is why you must know plenty of people, and your client list should be refreshing every day.
So, you need to find people so you can boost your market share and deal dominance. The concept of research can be a bit difficult for many commercial real estate brokers and agents to consistently sustain, given that the degree of personal work required to find the right people, the time involved in doing so, and then the right approach to create the connection.
Get Organised – Second Step
An organized approach is important, and ‘relevancy’ is at the top of the list as you reach out to new people. See through the property obstacles, and look at the opportunities. The rewards are large for those of us that build a client list in a regular and ongoing way. I go back to the point that systems should happen at a personal level.
So, you can and should ‘cash in on the value’ in your client list, providing you understand the quality of the people you connect with, selectively communicate with them in a relevant way, and build some real contact momentum over a long period so that the levels of trust can be established. Digg for the opportunities in the property market; qualify the people that you connect with and select the properties that you want to work with.
Don’t commit time to a person or property unless you know there are things that you can help with. Your time is worth good money, so work to the rules about ‘time commitment.’
Build Your System – Third Step
Here are some of the proven ways that you can ‘cash in’ on your client list:
- Split your list up into VIP contacts, and then separate that group from everyone else. Set some special and unique criteria that apply to a typical VIP client, so you know who they are or what they look like from a business perspective when they connect or when you find them. The VIP clients that you work with will be those that can bring you repeat business or high-value business over time. Specialist services will be required to connect with these people.
- In many respects, you will see and can identify cycles that apply to commercial property ownership and occupancy. Businesses occupy properties for a period before pressures can be seen with property use and configuration. Look for the businesses that have been in occupancy for a few years, and then examine their needs for expansion or contraction. The same rules apply across retail, office, and industrial property types. Understand the businesses in occupancy, and then look for the pressure points.
- One transaction can always lead to another. One meeting can also lead to another. Look at the many ways where you can continue a client relationship and extend the business opportunities over time. At the end of each meeting, book another time for the next meeting. At the end of every successful transaction, decide when the next property review and or property change can occur. Every valuable relationship should continue through ongoing contact. Put the client and their property into your diary.
- With the advances of technology, some of the available business tools at our disposal are extraordinary in capability and opportunity. Every agent or broker should be using specific marketing processes including auto-responders, website technology, email marketing, video marketing, article marketing, and blogging. When you are creating, and distributing online information about a location and doing so into a client base, your search engine profile will improve over time; that will be an important factor of growth in your real estate business. You can feed your clients into your online marketing processes using the fullest advantages of today’s technology tools.
So, you can cash in on the opportunities in your client list through direct and deliberate ongoing contact. You can provide locally based information in a professional and direct way. Most of the people that we work with today across sales, leasing, and property management all require regular property updates and informational services.
As the local specialist agent within a precinct or a property type, you can be that professional person to provide the right information to your clients and prospects in the right form and at the right time. That is exactly how you can cash in on the opportunities of your client list. Build the communication systems over time and extend the relevance of your commercial real estate brokerage communication in a professional way.