When the property market gets slower or the buyers are fewer, the marketing of any commercial property that is for sale becomes more important than ever before. The whole concept of property marketing is to attract enquiry; the greater levels of enquiry you can generate as an agent, the bigger and better your database. That has a direct impact on the number of deals that you can close.
Why is it that so many agents and salespeople just take the easy way out when it comes to property marketing? In case you are wondering, this is the easy way:
- Advertise on the internet
- Place adverts in the local paper
- Put up a sign on the property
- Wait for enquiry to come in
In this tougher commercial property market, this is only half of the property marketing equation. Any property owner can do these things themselves so why would they want a commercial property agent to list the property for them? The simple answer is that they do not have access to the property enquiry; so if you have a good property database that is well maintained, you will be of greater attraction to the property owners in your local area. Listings will be easier to convert on your terms and conditions.
The best and most successful agents and salespeople will do far more in the marketing of a listing, build a quality database for themselves and keep it accurate. In saying that I should now put a proviso on this comment of ‘listing’; it is a fact that ‘exclusive listings’ are the best way to go at any time and in any market, and are the only listing type that is or should be fully benefiting of your time as a salesperson. Wasting your precious time on the marketing of ‘open listings’, is not a wise process. In the case of open listings you have no control, and the property owner is very likely to be less than open and fully honest with you in negotiations. In such case you are just another agent wanting a commission.
OK, so a lot of you will be saying that open listings do sell, and you would be correct; just do not waste all your time on them. Create exclusive listing stock that is yours to control and market in the form of an exclusive listing. In such case you will have a fully committed property owner that is more likely to listen to your recommendations and strategies to reach a sale. You can and should control your market.
So, back to the marketing comments! Given the basic levels of marketing above, the higher levels of marketing are a lot more work but they bring greater benefits. The next levels of marketing and that which should be applied to all your exclusive listings will be:
- Direct letters and follow-up calls to all property owners in the surrounding precinct
- Direct telephone calls to the business owners in the local area
- Direct telephone calls and emails to all the property investors in your database
- Research and contact all the clients that you have served in the past
- Cross contact across all your other listing enquiry
It is surprising just how reluctant some salespeople are in moving to this next level. What stops them? The excuses are many.
You can get more ideas for commercial real estate agents and salespeople at our website, http://www.commercial-realestate-training.com/
Commercial Real Estate Online 