Introduction
Commercial real estate is a highly competitive industry, and one of the key factors that can make or break a commercial real estate professional's success is their ability to effectively prospect and develop business. In this post, we will explore best practices for commercial real estate prospecting and business development, including how to identify and qualify leads, build relationships with prospects, and close deals.
Decide on what market and sector you will specialize
Identifying and Qualifying Leads
The next step in commercial real estate prospecting is identifying, qualifying, rating and ranking leads.
There are several ways to do this, including:
Once you have identified potential leads, the next step is to qualify them to determine whether they are a good fit for your business. This can include evaluating their financial stability, their real estate needs, and their level of interest in working with you. This process helps you rate and rank to determine how and when to follow up.
Building Relationships with Prospects
Once you have identified and qualified leads, the next step is to build relationships with them. This can be done through a variety of tactics, including:
Getting Hired
Unlike most other businesses, in Commercial Real Estate the first “sale” is to get hired. This could be an exclusive right to represent a property owner looking to sell or lease, or to represent an investor seeking to buy an asset, or a tenant wanting to lease a space. Whatever the case, it is critical to get hired! Many agents fail as they chase deals before they convince someone to engage their professional representation services.
Closing Deals
The final step in commercial real estate prospecting and business development is closing deals. While we will address specific deal management processes in future posts, in all cases it's important to:
Conclusion
Commercial real estate prospecting and business development are critical components of success in the industry. By following the best practices outlined in this post, including identifying and qualifying leads, building relationships with prospects, and closing deals, you can improve your prospecting and business development efforts and drive growth for your business.
To support your efforts and make the process most efficient, it is valuable to use technology tools like RealNex that help you build and maintain your Knowledge Base, schedule communication timelines, assure completion of critical tasks, create professional presentations and reports and manage the myriad details of transactions including analyzing financial terms for the optimum outcome.