The 7 Skill Development Plan for Commercial Property Investment Sales

You could say that a commercial real estate salesperson should be experienced in a number of different ways. Some things are more important than others, and investment sales will require certain special factors of property knowledge, client communications, and deal or transaction interaction. There are always new things to learn in the role. It is a personal process and you will need a plan to make things work.

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Have you got what it takes to learn the right skills and develop the ‘right stuff’? If you are prepared to learn more about local property, and improve yourself with the appropriate business skills, the property industry can offer you plenty of opportunities.

The Right Stuff for Investment Sales

So let’s look at the segment of the industry. Everyone aspires to reach or work in ‘Investment Sales’. Here are some of the most important skills to develop in that segment:

1. Client communication – Every client will want to know how things are going with their marketing, inspections, and enquiries. As ordinary as a property may be, you still have to keep up the momentum of communications with the client. When you have won the listing, the communications start, so develop a system to control that.
2. Specialized property awareness – When you look at the variations of property income, tenant mix, and capital growth, there are a few things to understand about local property trends. That is why specialization is a good thing in our industry. Focus your property awareness to a location and to a group of properties.
3. Marketing methods and creativity – When you have a property to promote, do so with real creativity that sells the facts and location of the asset. In saying that, exclusive listings should be treated in that way; open listings do not deserve the extra promotional effort.
4. Database development – If you haven’t got a good database now, then get the system underway, and use the database every day. Your future listings and transaction opportunities are in that database. If you are not doing enough deals, then you don’t know enough people and that is where the database and prospecting process becomes real and relevant.
5. Pitching and presenting for listings – To win more listings, your presentation process should be very special. How can you get a better message into your property presentation? How can you show the client that your recommendations are better than your competitors? Think about these simple questions and develop the answers that can take your business forward.
6. Negotiating – Whilst this factor is logical, the negotiation topic and skill covers just about everything that we do. Every stage of a property transaction will involve degrees of negotiation, be that with property owners, sellers, buyers, landlords, or tenants. Practice your negotiation skills taking into account the variables and pressures of your local property market.
7. Local facts – Local property knowledge will help you in all elements of negotiation. It is hard for another person to refute local property facts and statistics. Learn as much as possible about the changes in the local area from a property perspective and then drill down into those facts with each transaction with an awareness of prices, rents, timing, and improvements.

So there are some things to do here. Get your skills and systems under control. Put your investment clients and property skills at the center of your real estate business.