Database Ideas for Commercial Real Estate Brokers and Agents

In commercial real estate brokerage you need a good database.  When I say ‘good’ I am not referring to the complexity or brand of database.  What I am referring to is that of the accuracy and volume of data that you have collected.

There is no point running a database unless you keep the information up to date and accurate.  So many brokers struggle with that requirement.  You may have heard the saying, ‘rubbish in and rubbish out’?  That rule certainly applies in this case.  Keep your contact information up to date and accurate.

If you want to dominate your market, then you will need to contact plenty of new people each day.  If you prospect for 3 hours per working day (the recommended average), then half of that time should be devoted to new contacts, and the other half of the time should be devoted to current contacts.  Over time the pipeline of contact that you establish will help you with sales and leasing opportunities.

Over time your prospects and clients will be contacted many times; that is how you build market share and opportunities.  On that basis your customer contact system has to be flexible and accurate.  It also requires the personal involvement and accuracy of the agent or broker.

Here are some rules to help you with your prospecting and client contact systems:

1. Split your prospecting time 50/50 between current contacts and new people.  That is how you will build new business.
2. Focus on the process of ongoing contact.  That will mean telephone calls and emails to the people that you know in an ongoing way.  Record the results of your last points of contact so you can refer to earlier client situations and discussions.
3. Get email addresses and the consent of the people that you are talking to about ongoing contact through email.  You can then set up an ‘auto responder’ for that process.  Not only is it economical, but also very convenient.  It will save you a lot of time.
4. Build ‘trust’ over time with your clients and prospects by providing valuable local market information.  You can do that with listing sheets and sale or leasing updates.
5. The ideal contact frequency to use with all of your clients and prospects will be your choice, however it has been proven that you will need to make valuable personal contact (telephone or meeting) at least once every 90 days.

So there are some key things to do here.  Establish your prospecting system efficiently so you can get results in your market and with the property owners or business proprietors that really do need your service.