Asking Quality Questions in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

When you ask the right questions in commercial real estate brokerage you can get the facts, and more importantly, show the client or prospect that you really know what you are talking about.

The Best Questions Get Results

The right questions will highlight your knowledge and your relevance as an agent.  The clients that we serve like to work with top agents for the location.  Is that you?  How can you improve your real estate profile and business?  You can ask quality questions.

When you think about the separate sections of the industry and the different property types, there are plenty of focus points that you can delve into as part of that specialization process.  For example, you can look at the topic mixes between:

• Investment ownership and property sales
• Investment performance and leasing
• Property management strategies and leasing or cash flow management
• Tenant mix controls and tenant selection
• Vacancy factors and lease marketing

So the list goes on.  There are many ways you can delve into issues and show the clients and prospects that you are the right person for the job.

The Best Questions to Ask?

In asking these deeper questions you should understand these things:

1. What are the conditions of the local property market? – Things always change in commercial property so keep abreast of those things and where the pressures are occurring. You are the problem solver so be prepared to build your real estate business in that way.
2. What is a prospect or client to you? – When you know what a client or prospect is you can match your prospecting efforts and questions. You will understand what to say and when to say it.
3. Where can you find them? – Within your location, your town or your city there will be locations and precincts where things are happening or about to happen. Get involved with the local property ‘churn and change’.
4. How should you qualify a prospect? – When you know what a prospect looks like, where they come from, and what they are looking for, you will understand the best ways to drill down in your questioning and qualify them for your business and services.
5. What does a prospect or client want from you? – Delve into the client’s situation so you know what they need by way of property assistance. Sometimes you will know the complexity of the property challenge more than the client.
6. What are the pressures of the local property market today? – You are a solution provider, so you should know where the local property pressures are and how you can help with that.
7. When do they need your help? – They say that commercial real estate is a service industry, but timing has a lot to do with the conversions of property listings and clients. There are good times to solve property problems, and difficult times.  Do a full market assessment to get those issues under control.
8. What can you do that is special? – There is no point in being ordinary in commercial real estate brokerage.  Develop your relevance so you can stand out in your property market as the ‘Agent of Choice’.

In simple terms you can drill down into issues and match your questions to the property and the client or prospect situation.  I go back to the point here that the right questions will help you get a lot closer to the issues that can convert a listing.

Questions in commercial real estate are always there to be asked and actioned.  Ask better questions and match your services as a broker or agent to the answers that you get back.

(N.B. these ideas are also sent out to regularly to our friends in Commercial Real Estate Online Snapshot to help amplify brokerage results…. Get your access here)