The Core Principles of Lead Generation in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

In commercial real estate leasing, there are plenty of lead generation opportunities to be had when it comes to tenant placement and leasing activity.  In any town or city at any time, there are usually plenty of tenants looking to move for a number of different reasons.

Your job is to locate those tenants at the earliest possible time before they consider moving and changing premises.  The relationships that you strike with tenants locally will help you grow leasing activity and opportunity.

There are two sides to the levels of new business that you create as a property leasing specialist.  Firstly you should be working with landlords helping them with vacancy problems and tenant mix strategies.  That in itself is quite specialised process.  Secondly you should be working with local businesses and tenants to help them relocate at the right time as part of their business activities and growth strategies.

What’s it all about?

So the message here is that you should be focusing on lead generation with both landlords and tenants.  Separate strategies are required.  You should be connecting with these two groups in a regular and ongoing way.  That is why your database and your prospecting activities are fundamentally important to lead generation in commercial property leasing.  Tenants and landlords should be segmented within your database, and relationships should be growing with each qualified lead or prospect.

Specialist leasing services for a location and property type are always in demand.  Consider your answers to these questions:

• What is your specialist service?
• What values and opportunities do you bring to the landlords and tenants that you serve?
• How can you improve your professional service offering to both landlords and tenants?
• Why are you the leasing expert for the area and the location?
• How can you market vacant premises more directly and effectively?

An important factor to remember?

It is an interesting fact that your database and the people within it are perhaps the most important factors of leverage that you can apply to the lease negotiation process.  If you are growing your database daily and regularly, the landlords and the tenants within your list will allow you to quote any property, vacant premises, or a new leasing opportunity quickly and directly.

If you are struggling in the property market now with leasing activity, take a serious look at your database and start to improve it and grow it through regular contact with new people.

When you know lots of people, you can create leasing churn and activity.  Here are some ideas to help you improve your listing conversions and leasing results:

1. CONTACT SYSTEMS: Keep in contact with all local businesses. You will find that businesses are moving and changing premises for many different reasons.  Make sure that they remember you at the right time when it comes to changing location.
2. QUALITY CONTACTS: Network the tenants in high quality buildings. The tenants in high quality buildings are generally those businesses that can afford better quality occupancy and longer term leases.  The commission you achieve from such a high quality property leasing transaction will generally be higher per unit of space under lease.  Many corporate tenants today require the services of a tenant advocate to help them find new premises and other properties.  You can offer comprehensive and specialised tenant advocacy services.
3. LOOK FOR CHANGE: Look for tenants moving premises or those that are under some form of business pressure. When you canvass through an area or a location, look for the signs of change. You will see some businesses that are under pressure to relocate.  Levels of stock, lack of parking space, lack of storage, and growth of business activities are all signs of a tenant or a local business needing help.
4. SERVICE OFFERING: Establish some comprehensive tenant placement services. As mentioned before, tenant advocacy can be part of the services that you offer.  In other words you will be locating a tenant into a new property.  In that case the tenant will be paying your commission and they will be your client for the purposes of the transaction.  The larger corporate tenants are generally quite comfortable in seeking out and using the services of a specialised tenant advocate.  They are also prepared to pay the necessary fees for service.
5. FRANCHISE BUSINESSES: Establish contact with local franchise businesses. Many franchise business models focus on factors of location first and foremost.  They generally need to locate a new franchise business into a zone or precinct after they have undertaken the necessary market research and study.  Make direct contact with local franchise businesses to understand the preferred business locations and lease circumstances that they prefer.  They may also share with you the terms and conditions of the typical franchise agreement at they use.  The franchise agreement will need to be integrated into the lease terms and conditions that you may negotiate.

So there are some things that you can do here when it comes to lead generation in commercial real estate leasing.  Understand the differences between landlord activity and tenant activity.  You can offer specialised services in each case.

You can get plenty more lead generation tips and ideas in our eCourse right here.