How to Win More Commercial Real Estate Listings
When you look at a specific commercial property for the first time, for selling or for lease, you should create and give the fullest vision and interpretation to what you are seeing.
In this way the client can relate to your skill and ability to help them, to a large degree you may see the client only once and that may be the only opportunity that you have to impress them and close on the listing.
It is surprising how many commercial sales and leasing people actually do most of the first inspection and interview process without much preparation. In many situations I have seen that the questions and dialogue they use comes from 'the top of the head'. Professionally the whole thing is quite ordinary. No wonder the client selects another agent in some situations.
Winning the Listing
For years I was consistently able to beat competition agents to the listing of the property because I did two things in the first contact process with the client.
Whilst I had the commercial real estate ideas and experience to draw on (from the 'top of the head')
I deliberately used a 'toolbox' process to impress the client and show that I was better than the rest. In simple terms if they really wanted a great job in marketing and moving the property, then they had to use me.
The 'toolbox' approach won them over in many situations
It's really simple mathematics. Show that you are the best and they will select you. So how do you get to this 'holy grail' of industry recognition?
You must be visibly better than the others and you must do this at the meeting with the prospect. Let the 'toolbox' support your ideas and skill in the process.
We all know that many agents use proposals of some type to show that they know what they are doing and they are relevant to the property appointment. Unfortunately most of the proposals are the same in format and say the same thing.
The client then gets to make decisions on 'cheaper' and 'low cost' rather than great ideas. That's a really 'dumb' way to go when they are dealing with an investment property of great value.
How do you show you are better?
To a large degree this 'toolbox' process put me well ahead of the others in the client interview and lifted my conversions to more listings and business. The 'toolbox' was a series of specially designed forms and checklists that I selectively took the client through on the path to closing on the listing.
Without this 'toolbox' process the client only has to compare agent with agent and in doing so they come back to decisions around the standard facts of:
- Price
- Commission rate
- Marketing costs
- Marketing methods
- Agent success in the area
Regrettably the client has then taken control of the listing interview with the agents, and will try to make all the agents 'cave in' under pressure just to win the job. Be proud of your special commercial real estate services and make sure that the client sees that you are the best for the job.
When the client's listing decision comes down to who gives the most in concessions to close the listing, you will feel that you have 'won' the listing but 'lost' the advantage of a great listing appointment.
You will have accepted a listing on the client's terms and not your terms. You will probably have to market the property from a point of disadvantage and not control. The chance of sale or lease has just diminished.
Today the 'toolbox' approach is still something I still recommend and use in the market; especially the market as we come out of the global economic crisis.
As I coach many people in the industry, it is clear that the 'toolbox' approach still works very well because most of your competition agents are ordinary when it comes to the listing presentation and really have nothing special to offer. The client has nothing to get excited about.
So what is the 'toolbox' and how can you create it for yourself? You make checklists and you use them. Please read on.
Here are some ideas to be 'better' at listing
Always do the inspection in the presence of the client. Make sure the client sees that you are thorough in your inspection processes.
Details of physical and other features of the property should be noted on standard well designed forms during your inspection so that you can ask great questions and record the things that really matter.
Those agents and salespeople that rely on random top of the mind questions are not as effective as those that have good checklist type forms for the process.
Put a bit of theatre into your inspection by taking measurements with tools such as a laser measurement device and a measurement wheel.
Have a special checklist to inspect the tenancy areas and if necessary do so on a tenant by tenant suite area.
Use a Dictaphone to make verbal notes as you walk around.
Take photos to record critical processes and aspects of the property.
Identify key questions that the client has regards the sale or lease campaign so that you can feed the answers into your proposal as a 'Q and A' format.
Visit the local 'Planning office' first to see what matters of planning and zoning could affect the property you are looking at.
Look at the surrounding neighbouring properties for relationships to the subject property.
Look for environmental impact from the local area such as creeks, rivers, and hills.
Examine the road access to the main access points
Look at car parking availability on the property
Check out the services to the property such as kerbing, roads, electricity, water, communications, gas, and anything else that a tenant would need to make the business function well.
Where will the labour market come from and do they need public transport to get to the property?
Check out the other businesses in the area to get a feel for the way the streets and precinct operates. Pay particular attention to things such as peak times and events that frustrate the local businesses.
Look at the property internals and build on physical opportunities and positive aspects of the property which will attract buyers or tenants. Try these:
a. Design
b. Size
c. Visibility to the site
d. Signage
e. 'Ant tracks' for people and cars
f. Thoroughfares around the property
g. Access points
h. Loading areas
i. Services
j. Amenities
k. Flexible usage
l. Floor layouts
m. Customer usage
n. Precinct characteristics
Now decide what the target market for the property should be and decide how you can access the target market.
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