Time Management Rules for Commercial Real Estate Brokers

In the commercial real estate market today, there will always be pressures on our time as agents and brokers when it comes to the average working week.  There are so many things to consider and keep under control.

Every successful agent or top broker will usually have specific roles and strategies that relate to the use of their time when it applies to the marketplace and the clients.  In that way they can maintain focus on the things that really matter, and in doing so build their business.

Focus means success in our industry.  Consistency is the key.

Here are some of the pressures that will apply to the average working day for a commercial property broker:

• Finding the time to prospect will always be a challenge for many.  That is particularly because most brokers and agents prefer not to prospect or make the required cold calls every day.  That will in turn have a direct impact on their market share.  Deal with the challenge, and start prospecting.
• From the prospecting process, it directly follows that meetings with clients and prospects should and will occur.  Those meetings should be directed to the later part of the day when all the important work is out of the way.
• Reserve the first few hours of the day to your prospecting efforts.  Avoid meetings, telephone calls, and e-mail activity during that time.
• When you have identified a quality client or a quality property, you will have some work to do when it comes to understanding the property challenge and listing the property.  Don’t let this work interfere with growing your market share.  Keep prospecting every day regardless of how many other clients and listings you have currently.
• Every quality listing should be converted on an exclusive basis.  That being said, the exclusive listing type requires particular efforts and marketing focus from you as the agent or broker.  That will need to occur as part of your business activity each week.  In real terms, you can only work on approximately 15 to 20 exclusive listings at any one time.  That is because of the higher workload and the pressures that apply to promoting the listing.
• When you list a quality property, personally take the information about the listing itself to the local market.  Contact local property owners, and business identities.  Walk the streets adjacent to the property so that you can drop in information relative to the listing.  This personal approach will help you grow your local market intelligence and information.
• Every agent or broker will have plenty of paperwork to do as part of the job.  The paperwork should be reserved to the later part of the day when the prospecting and the negotiation issues are under control.

Understand the differences between proactive and reactive working as a property broker.  Control your time.  Don’t neglect the proactive activities the required each day.  They will involve prospecting, and connecting with your market.  Build your database at every opportunity with new people and new quality leads.