How to Take Small and Effective Steps Forward in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

It is easy to get overwhelmed with all the issues to action and implement in commercial real estate brokerage.  The best way forward usually involves small incremental steps of improvement that you action every day.

The fact to understand here is that there will always be things happening each day that you do not expect or plan for.

You will only be able to control about 1/3^rd of your day; everything else is a ‘juggle’.

(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)

Control Your Day

So the process here is for you to control that 1/3^rd of your day.  If you do that consistently, you will get somewhere.  It is interesting to note that most agents and brokers cannot or do not control even that 1/3^rd; they let things happen and that casual approach to their business will lead them through the day and week.  At the end of a month they are frustrated and they generally lack reasonable market activity and or listings.

So let’s look at how you can take small steps forward in your business model as a broker or agent:

1. Getting to know new people – You can never really know too many people. The fact is you must know lots of people at a reasonable level and they must remember you when they need property help.  The only way to achieve that level of familiarity is to start a prospecting and database process that you drive towards new people every day.
2. Creating meetings – Just how many meetings do you create now each day with new people? A good target to work to is 2 meetings per day.  The best way to get to that level of market interaction is through personal prospecting using a number of initiatives including cold calling, direct mail, email, website, social media, and referrals.  Are you up to the challenge?
3. Building relationships – You will have to connect with most of your contacts on a regular basis and that will be at least once every 90 days or less. Over time the familiarity that you require will be built.  Do the things that help your prospects and clients remember you.
4. Identifying VIP Clients and Prospects – Differentiate the good people in your database from the ordinary people. Segment your database into VIP’s and others.  Spend a good degree of your contact processes reaching into your VIP database and growing the relationships.
5. Watch the property trends and listings locally – When you see something listed locally with your competitors, watch the results, marketing, and enquiry or inspections. Some quality listings with your competitors will create volumes of enquiry in any market.  Try to attract the better listings towards yourself and your brokerage; that’s when you can build a profile of activity in your area.  A good marketing profile and a strong listing base will pull in the business locally.
6. Put the deals together individually – Concentrate your commercial real estate efforts on your individual listings (and particularly the exclusive listings). Convert your listings exclusively most of the time, refresh them regularly, and market them deeply.  Winning a listing is just the beginning of the equation.  Results come from a singular focus on each listing and the client’s requirements.

So there are some good things to do here as you take small steps forward in commercial real estate brokerage.  Create a plan to do that and push your plan forward at an individual level each day; only you can do that.

(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)