Practical Sales Planning Strategies in Commercial Brokerage

Every agent in commercial real estate should have a sales plan to stick to each day when looking for listings, clients, and transaction opportunities.  It is the only way to get somewhere fast in the industry. 

The random approach doesn’t work (nor should it).  The plan is action-driven, and most importantly, it helps the agent do particular things each day to attract and convert new business.

Luck also has nothing to do with progress as an agent if you see your career as a serious choice and opportunity for you.  It is time to take control back in what you are doing and where you are heading.  It is time to set a plan in motion.

Pressures and Changes for Agents

Today, we have many pressures and changes in the industry, but then again, that always happens in most sales-related careers.  We can adjust to those changes that make all the difference over time.   Every property cycle has opportunities, and your sales plan will be part of current and future directions in brokerage.

So what is a good sales plan for you?  The simple answer is the one that works.  It is something that you can use, refine, and work within.  It has to be practical and relevant to your market and new business focus.  Consistency is a significant factor in performing your brokerage plan.

Having No Plan is a Big Problem

The fact so often seen in brokerage is that many agents don’t work to a plan or strategy for very long; they keep responding and diverting to daily pressures and other people.  That then leaves the situation wide open and full of opportunity for those agents that can optimize their efforts and activities. 

What does your business day look like now?  Sure, you cannot control all of your days, but you can handle at least 50% of it.  Give it a try.

Key Questions for Your Sales Plan

In brokerage planning, there are some big concepts to work through and set some decisions.  Try these for starters:

• What types of clients will you be focusing on? – Create a real vision of your clients by type because that will help you refine your prospecting activity.  Your clients would typically be in groups such as investors, business owners, and corporate groups.  You can go further than that with franchise brands and associated industry professionals such as legal and financial services specialists.
• Where are your clients coming from or located? – This will be ‘geographical’ and could relate to towns, cities, or even smaller precincts.  When you drill down like this, you can find people more readily.  So, most of your clients will be coming from zones within road and suburb boundaries.  Define the zone and precincts on a map.  Get into your territory every day and create target lists of buildings and businesses to research.
• Where do you want your listings to be located? – This will be the area that you can service without too much trouble.  There is nothing more frustrating than working in a location that is too far away from your primary zone of activity.  Likely, you won’t get much enquiry when you get well outside your allocated or immediate area of listing focus.
• What is your whole territory of business? – This will be the entire territory that you can then split up into the primary listing and secondary listing zones.  Most of your business should be coming from within that primary zone.  Outside of the primary location, you may accept listings, but only if you want them.
• The marketing methods will you be using for yourself? – This is precisely how you will reach out to people in your location and sell your property solutions and services.  It would help if you had strategies for that ongoing connection.  The telephone and door-knocking through your preferred precincts is the best way to start.  Our business is driven by face to face connections.  Work your marketing around that strategy.
• What are the marketing methods that will you be using for your listings?  There will be differences between online and offline marketing.  There will also be local area strategies and regional promotional strategies.  Use the ideas that can work for your target markets and the enquiries that you want.
• What consistent actions can you deploy every day? – This is a big question because just about everything that you create in listings, commissions, and clients will be leveraged from those sets of actions.

All of these things are then the beginnings of a sales plan for you in commercial real estate.  Design your project and start moving forward.  That is how brokerage works; everything is up to you and your activities.  The opportunities are many.