Commercial Realtors – Corporate Clients are a Great Opportunity so Take It!

In commercial real estate sales, the corporate clients in your area are good prospects for new business in any market and economy.  They can afford the change of property in most markets and will look to change when the pressures of business dictate it.  Owning the property that they occupy has advantages of controlled costs and controlled occupancy; they can make decisions for the business knowing that some landlord will not come along and change the goal-posts.

Here are some tips from our bulletin this week.

Corporate clients are a different type of client in that they are driven by business needs and are likely to have a head office or board of directors to report to or bring into the property decision.  It pays to understand just how many of these prospects you may have in your area.

It is interesting to note that many agents and brokers mainly focus on property investors as prospects.  Whilst this is part of what every agent can do, it does not need to stop there.

It is wise to open up your scope of prospects to include all those local businesses that own the property in which they are located, or may want to own local property.  As the local property agent, you can be the person to help them.

So how do you start a program of tapping into the corporate businesses locally?  You need a system that will keep you focused and organised on who they are and where they are.  From that point onward you will need to know who the decision maker is in each case.

Here are some ideas to help you tap into the companies locally that may need property help.

1. Successful businesses will stand out in the area.  They will have lots of activity, and perhaps lease or occupy prominent business locations.
2. Businesses of all types can be identified through the internet, yellow pages, business telephone book, and driving the streets.  In a logical and methodical way you can tap into each business of relevance to your plan.
3. Look for pressures of expansion or contraction on a business by business basis.  You have 3 categories of businesses given the property types that they occupy.  Office, retail, and industrial property will call contain different businesses with opportunity; this then suggests that you have to be comfortable in crossing the boundaries of property types as part of your prospecting efforts.
4. Relocation pressures can also apply with some businesses.  Look for those factors and tap into them.

It is a different world when it comes to prospecting companies and businesses.  They have different triggers of decision and property change.  A keen eye on the market and the local properties will help you find these high level prospects.

You can get more tips in our Bulletin right here.