In commercial real estate, you need a prospecting model if you want to be successful. It is a very simple message and fact, but very complex task to initiate for some (although it does not need to be so). The sooner you develop the process, the quicker you will get results in commissions and listings.
In any commercial real estate team, it is easy to see the difference between the agents that regularly prospect and those that don’t. The difference will be in quality of listing stock, and conversions to closed transactions.
Establish Your Prospecting Process
The prospecting process is unique to you yourself as an individual and property specialist, and your territory with its property types and property investors. To get your system going, it is necessary to establish some rules relative to the local area and the property types. First and foremost, you should understand the following factors:
- Set some boundaries relating to the primary area of focus in your region. You cannot be an agent for everybody and cover every location. The commercial property market is just so specialized that the knowledge required across different areas will be difficult to achieve and maintain. It is better for you to become an area specialist and perhaps even a property specialist within the area.
- With all of the available property types locally, determine the property types that will be of high demand into the future. There is no point in you specialising in something that has little activity or reducing market share.
- Get to know the history of property sales and leasing activity throughout your local region. The historic trends in property sales, rental returns, business demographics, and population growth will influence the future of your commercial real estate market. Ensure that your market has the expansion and churn factors that you require for property change over, sales, and rental. The history of property activity is in fact a timeline. The time line will show you where the opportunity will arise over coming months and years.
Within any local area, you will find groups of prospects that offer real commercial real estate opportunity on a regular basis. Getting closer to those groups will help you with further listings and further inquiry.
Most particularly the top priority groups that will feed you with listings include the following:
- Franchise business groups seeking new property positions as part of their business model will always be on the lookout for good property locations. Every franchise group will have unique requirements of property selection and occupancy. For this very reason, approach them individually and get to know their selection process and terms of acquisition. When it comes to leasing, they will usually have a standard form of lease to support their franchise business model. They will also have particular requirements of demographics relative to the local area, the population, and exposure.
- Solicitors with clients that have property challenges or needs will need your help. Whilst solicitors may know how to transact property, they usually need assistance when it comes to liquidating a property or acquiring a new one. Local market knowledge will help them greatly with this process, and you can be the source of that experience when it comes to the local property market.
- Accountants with clients and property investors that require property solutions are a always out there looking for specialised property assistance and local market knowledge. This is where you can be of high value to them as they work to resolve their client’s property problems.
Every existing property listing is an opportunity to talk to other property owners and business proprietors. In this way you can expand your market intelligence and relevance as a property specialist.
Commercial Real Estate Online 