Top Business Guidelines for Commercial Real Estate Agents

In commercial real estate agency today it is very easy to get lost in the pressures of the day and the moment.  Clients and fellow team members will want to take up your time, and yet you still have lots of things to do.  If you let too many distractions into your day, you will simply not get done the things that really matter as an agent.  One of the first things to go will be ‘prospecting’.  That is a big mistake.

It is interesting that most agents will let prospecting drop off the daily ‘to do list’ when any time and task pressures occur.  The fact of the matter is that prospecting is far more important than anything else in your diary.  Failure to do it leads to loss of market share and new business.

I like to set some guidelines for agents when it comes to how they do their business and work their day.  The guidelines help them focus on the things that need to be done.

Here is a list to help you with the key things that are essential in the commercial property industry.

1. As an agent you need a client list.  A client list does not happen until after you have a prospect list of some reasonable size and quality.  One list comes before the other.  From the very start of your career in the industry, put your prospect list at the centre of your diary and daily activities.  The client list will evolve through your prospect list and how you work it.
2. Establish a professional network of property related people. Some of them will give you leads and help your market share.  Accountants, solicitors, and financiers are good people to add to the professional network.  They have clients that you can help from time to time.
3. Be prepared to take telephone inquiries at any time and on any day.  Between the hours of 7am and 9pm every day of the week you need to be prepared for the property inquiries coming your way.  Some agents will say that they do not work Saturdays and Sundays; I say to them that their business will suffer because of that choice.
4. Every inspection opportunity should be qualified before you spend the time in the inspection process.  Check out the people that want to take some of your valuable time.  If they are real and genuine, then proceed.  As a key part of the inspection and connection make sure you have their ongoing contact and relevant property information or requirements.

When you set the right rules and processes in place, any new business in commercial real estate agency will be easier for you to find and control.  In this property market that is a good thing.