Key Performance Indicators in Commercial Real Estate Agency
In commercial real estate agency, the best sales teams respond to a results environment. Top salespeople understand their position and place within the team, and they also understand the benchmarks that will be applied to their performance.
A complacent commercial real estate sales team is one that is not driven by results. The concept of a ‘comfort zone’ in commercial real estate is a real killer when it comes to market share and listings. If a team or sales person is complacent, it is in everyone’s best interest to solve the problem fast. It may be just a factor of skill development; however it can also be the replacement of the person that is not reaching the levels required.
A top sales team will have key performance indicators to keep them to task and to help them lift their overall results. Every member of the team will know just what their share of the listings and commissions will be for the week, month, and year. At the end of that week or period of time they will be committed to explain just how they are going with listings and commissions. They will give direction to the business.
It is interesting to observe just how some salespeople respond to the setting of key performance indicators. Look for the weak links or people in your team that do not take to the concept or commit to it. Set the indicators for your business, make sure they are realistic, and then split them into the sales team based on skill and market share.
A sales team in commercial real estate is not an experiment; the agency lives on the results of the team. Market share and commissions will be a key component of business survival. For this reason every member of the team should be given their slice of the performance benchmarks.
Here are some indicators or results that can and should be tracked in the average agency.
- Prospecting calls done each day and each week will be an indicator of just how committed the salesperson is to doing the ‘hard things’ or the uncomfortable parts of the business. Prospecting just has to be done, so every person has a part of the process to implement.
- Meetings created will be a ratio to track from the prospecting process. Meetings will come from making outbound calls and calling in to businesses.
- Listings created and converted per salesperson will show you just who is a top agent and quality presenter of your agency services.
- Exclusive listings are far more important than open listings. The team should strive for more exclusive listings as part of their pitch and presentation.
- Time on market for every listing is important, and with a focus on exclusive listings.
- Closed and completed transactions per salesperson will tell you how each person is going and where they may need help.
- Enquiries from marketing will be a benchmark to track. Some properties will get more enquiry than others; you need to know why.
- Inspections for the week per salesperson will tell you what is going on in the market but also who are the better members of your team.
- Referral business per salesperson will start to grow when the team put focus on it. Asking the right questions at the right time is what it is all about.
- Track the size and accuracy of the database on a salesperson basis. If the database is not well maintained it can be the start of poor marketing.
It is easy to see why you need indicators like these. Every sales team in commercial real estate should have a matrix of indicators so that the team leader and the salesperson can see where things can be improved. They can also see what is working and importantly what can be optimised for maximum results.
