In commercial real estate brokerage today it pays for every agent to have a definite plan of approach to bring together all of the many things that need to be controlled and actioned. If you like it is a bit like having a blueprint to the business at a personal level.
I have put together some of the more important issues to get under control personally and to help you formulate your commercial real estate agent blueprint. You can add to the list based on your property type and location:
- Define your property type – Some property types will be more relevant to your skills and or marketing confidence. Understand what you are good at and focus on that property type; that will give you required confidence and then help you with listing conversions.
- Define your services – There are differences between sales, leasing, and property management. Sales and leasing activity are strongly linked and one leasing deal can lead to a sales opportunity in the future; that is why I say that all agents should be able to jump from sales to leasing and back again quickly and effectively. You will normally earn greater commissions from a typical sales deal than from a leasing deal (based on averages), and the people that you target as prospects in each group are different so understand those differences and track both types of people. As the property market shifts from a buyers focus to a tenants focus, you can move with it.
- Set your marketing zone – Limit your zone of activity in your town or city to a number of properties and inside a precinct of main roads. The focus inside a geographical area allows you to track property activity, rents, prices, time on market, and marketing strategies. That focus will also help you a lot when it comes to connecting with clients in a property presentation.
- Define your clients – What does your ideal client look like? Where are they located? How are they involved in the property market? What will they need from someone like you? When you know the answers to these questions you have something significant to merge into your personal marketing efforts. Your prospecting and cold calling will become a lot more centred on market segments.
- Research the property market – In each year there are changes, dips, troughs and peaks in market activity. Some are predictable due to seasonal holidays and business calendars. Your prospecting and listing efforts should have due regard to those seasonal changes. Only take a property to the market when all targeted segments are active and looking for something to buy or lease.
- Determine key indicators to track – Some of the main indicators that can show you how you are performing as an agent are centred on prospecting, listings and negotiations. Each week take those indicators such as commissions, listings, and presentations into account so you can see where things are developing. Build on your strengths and fix your weaknesses. That’s how you progress in our industry.
- Set up action processes – Every day a system of actions will take you forward. It really matters what you do in a regular way. Consistency will take you forward; random actions will not do much at all.
- Set your goals and targets in listings, commissions, and clients – These 3 categories of activity are most important. They are simple numbers to track so start charting the progress you are making in each. Ratios will soon be seen and that is when you can improve your skills in key business generation activities; start practicing!
So these numbers and categories of activities will show you where you are heading as an agent. You can strive to improve in so many different ways in our industry; it’s a personal process.