Coaching Corner
By Bob McComb, Real Estate Business Magazine, June/July 2006
Creating Street Smart and Savvy Commercial Agents
Bob McComb
Is there a faster, more efficient way to help commercial agents get up to speed and producing? Certainly, standardized training is a necessary, proven method for increasing the core competencies needed to succeed in real estate. However, standardized training often falls short when it comes to local market knowledge and developing street smarts. Street smart and savvy agents possess insider information, market understanding and resources that increase production and ensure that they will remain valuable to clients for the life span of their careers.
A few basic steps to build insider information and market smarts should be incorporated into the agent's action plan.
These steps are:
- Develop a resource team of service providers
- Learn their processes:
- What is it that they do?
- How long does it take?
- How much does it cost? - Develop the service providers into information sources
- Meet with them to exchange leads
Surrounding every commercial property transaction is a cadre of professional service providers who can provide abundant local market knowledge to resourceful agents. Well-developed agents know where they fit into the transaction process and are prepared to introduce their resource team members to the client at the appropriate time. Moreover, they understand the processes, time frames and costs associated with the services. Smooth transactions are a result of proper planning of the transaction timeline, the management of expectations and the right resources to get the job done.
Where agents often miss the mark is when they fail to develop service providers into market information sources. If they don't meet regularly with providers to exchange information, they aren't capitalizing on these relationships. Or, they don't make the effort to organize the providers into a leads group that can create new business opportunities.
New commercial agents can get on the fast track to success by setting up a series of modestly priced lunch meetings with local professional service providers with the purpose of developing these people into their personal resource team. This personal resource team might be comprised of some the following professionals:
- Commercial architects and space planners
- Escrow officers
- Lenders
- Commercial appraisers
- Environmental inspectors
- Building systems inspectors
- Soils engineers
- Pest control inspectors
- Roof inspectors
- HVAC contractors
- Property managers
- Tenant improvement contractors
- Commercial furniture vendors
- Zoning and planning officials or consultants
- Janitorial suppliers
- Commercial landscaping companies
Experienced service providers with solid reputations have abundant insider information, market knowledge and a vital role to play in commercial sales and leasing transactions. When building a resource team, the providers should be qualified by several factors:
- Specialization in commercial property (no crossing over from residential)
- Timeliness in delivery of services
- The ability to clearly state processes, timelines and costs to clients
- Licensed and insured
By understanding the service provider's roles, processes, timelines and fees, commercial agents can present themselves as knowledgeable professionals. At the same time, agents can harvest key local market information and develop new sources of business.
Who Pays for What?
As a leasing incentive and a way to control costs, some office space owners will bundle space planning with contractor estimates on improvements. Industrial tenants typically use their own service providers. Retail tenants (especially those whose franchisor has a particular image to convey) control their own planning and build-outs. During the sales transaction, buyers typically pay the due diligence inspection cost as well as the cost of obtaining financing.
In most cases, agents will need to offer clients a choice of service providers to avoid the appearance of steering. Additionally, the agent must have multiple relationships in each of these categories to address the various personality types of his or her clients. A one-size-fits-all approach is a mistake. A client may be pragmatic, demanding fast action, answers and results. On the other hand, he might be analytical, requiring well-developed and thoughtful solutions. Or she might have an amiable personality which requires lots of time and a feeling of connection. Agents must develop multiple service provider relationships to meet the needs of a variety of clients.
Smart agents will invite one of each of these service providers into their inner circle to form a leads group. A leads group is one of the best ways to generate new business and stay in touch with the market. As agents get increasingly busy with transactions, their focus may narrow sharply to the matters at hand in their immediate transactions. This can cause them to lose sight of the larger market picture, which might translate into missed opportunities.
Building and maintaining a strong resource team that meets regularly is one of the best ways to fast track success because it builds street smart, savvy and resourceful agents.
Bob McComb is the co-creator of the training program Top Dogs: How to Run with the Big Dogs in Commercial Real Estate. He may be reached at bob@mccomb.com.
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