Value Adding Services as a Commercial Real Estate Agent Today
In commercial real estate agency, we can service our clients in many different ways. Our versatility is an opportunity for more business.
Your agency should be built on the premise that you can provide value added services in a number of ways. Here are some ideas for that:
- A leasing opportunity can lead to the creation of a tenant retention plan across the property.
- A successful leasing transaction can lead to a property management appointment.
- A successful property management appointment can lead to a future sale. A professional property management service will help the landlord achieve tenant stability, and improved income results.
- A simple leasing transaction can lead to a review of the tenancy mix across the property and the establishment of a tenant strategy over the next few years. This then removes the uncertainty of lease negotiations and the filling of vacancies.
- A successful property management appointment can lead to a comprehensive and full business plan for the property. That will include income and expenditure management.
- A successful leasing transaction can also give you the opportunity to interact with the client and prepare the property for future sale or income improvement.
- A property management appointment can involve the transition of the property through renovation and refurbishment strategies. It can also involve expansion of the property.
This then says that every single service we provide can be opened up into other opportunities and specialized services. That is how top agents work, and individually that is what we can do. One fee can lead to another.
A client that is well serviced will be a client for the long term. We simply need to remember the other specialized systems and tools that we can provide. Professional service is the key.
It should be said that the knowledge and the specialization required between commercial real estate leasing, sales, and property management is distinctly different. The longer that you are in the industry, the easier it is to talk across the differences in service. In a larger agency, you can involve other people in the process of extra client services.
When you look at the services provided to your clients today, consider the other things that you can be doing to open the doors on future fees and problem solving. I call this the ‘advantage factor’, and I encourage all salespeople and agents to put this as a special field into their database. This simple process makes you think about the future with that particular client.
Every interaction with the client and entry into the database encourages the agent to then consider the extra services and apply them to the ‘advantage factor’ field of the database. Quite soon you will see that your clients are being categorized for future business opportunity within these certain ‘advantage’ categories. You can then select your services to provide as a ‘value adds’ process in your ongoing client relationships in commercial real estate.