In commercial real estate agency each day, we are negotiating with many people across a number of challenging situations.  Our ability to negotiate is a key part of growing market share and improving our commission opportunities.  This then says that we should practice our dialogue and a negotiation skills at every opportunity.

A good negotiator in commercial real estate is one that understands the circumstances, the market, the documentary processes, and the intentions of the parties.  It is sometimes a difficult equation to bring together.  The clients that we serve expect their agents to be experienced and experts when it comes to the negotiation process.

So what are the negotiation stages and situations that we strike?  Here are some of the main ones:

• The cold calling process is really a negotiation to establish a meeting with a new person.  Your dialogue needs to be exemplary when it comes to communicating and connecting across the telephone.  It is a specific skill that requires regular ongoing practice.  In this way you can build connections with fresh prospects for your pipeline of new business.
• A cold call can also be something that applies to dropping into a local business to introduce yourself as a property specialist.  The dialogue in that situation is totally different to the telephone process.  This strategy can also reap significant rewards through practice.
• A sales pitch or presentation with a new prospective client is a negotiation to achieve a listing.  That listing will involve a marketing package, marketing strategy, and listing process.  It is interesting to note that the top agents within the market are very good at converting a new property to an exclusive listing.  Those more ordinary agents in the market usually take the lesser alternative of an open listing.  Unfortunately the ordinary agents struggle with market share as a result of this, and have little control over the deal that could possibly evolve.  The message here is quite clear.  If you want to convert more exclusive listings to grow your market share, then you need to refine your sales pitch and presentation process.  A role playing strategy in your sales team meetings will help.  Personal daily practice will also be necessary.
• When you find a suitable tenant for a buyer for a property, another negotiation stage will evolve between the parties.  It is wise to remember the requirements and intentions of your client as the negotiation proceeds.  Every stage of a negotiation should be carefully checked and documented.  When you get to the final stages of offer and acceptance, the agreement document between the parties should be legally accurate, comprehensive, and correct.  Some property transactions can be quite complex and for that reason you will need outside assistance to formulate the final document from the offer and acceptance situation.

Given these very common negotiation situations, you can see why dialogue improvement will help you strengthen your market share and commission opportunity in commercial real estate agency.  Practice is required.