Negotiation Techniques « Smart CRE Broker

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Handling Objections in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

October 6th, 2014

Any sales professional must be able to overcome legitimate objections put forth by the prospect in front of them. It is one of the key factors necessary to keep the sales process moving toward a successful outcome. In commercial real estate, there are a few objections that we will hear repeatedly from prospects. Objections to entering into an exclusive representation agreement, objections to fee, objections to price and a few others are fairly typical in our industry. We will cover methods for overcoming many of these objections at another time, but the purpose of this post is to talk about how we handle the objection when it is raised by the prospect. How we handle objections, in the moment when they are presented to us, could be the difference between winning the business and losing the business.

First, we have to look at the timing of the objection. Perhaps you’ve made a cold call and the prospect is objecting to meeting with you because he is too busy. Is the prospect really too busy to meet with you or is this his way of telling you that whatever you’ve said up to that point has not offered enough value for him to give you some morsel of his time in return? Probably the latter of course so think about how you can then make the prospect feel that meeting with you would be a valuable use of his precious time. Express empathy for how busy the prospect is and that you respect his time, but at the same time deliver a value proposition that compels the prospect to WANT to meet with you. Then make it easy for the prospect to accept a meeting. Offer to meet before or after business hours. I had a prospect tell me that he was headed out of town early the next morning and I offered to buy him coffee at the Starbucks in the airport terminal (which he accepted).

In many cases, objections that the prospect may raise early in the process of developing the business relationship can (more…)

Top 5 Books For New Commercial Real Estate Agents

September 29th, 2014

If you’re on our website, you are probably either just getting started in commercial real estate or you haven’t been at it for very long. This career that you have chosen can be extremely rewarding and provide a pretty great lifestyle, but make no mistake, it is by no means easy. Commercial real estate brokerage requires competitiveness, skill, professionalism and organization. You will become better with each transaction and frankly with each mistake you make (assuming you learn from your mistakes). However, there are some tried and true business books out there that can help you improve your skills and guide you to avoid some of those pitfalls which can help you to accelerate your success in commercial real estate.

This week I am going to list my top 5 book recommendations which I think every commercial real estate agent should read if they are relatively new to the business. There are many more and I recommend you search through the ever growing list in the Smart CRE Broker Book Club, but these 5 can have a profound impact your career. *Note, to purchase any of these books either click on the link below or visit the Smart CRE Broker Book Club here.

1. Spin Selling, by Neil Rackham – The reason Spin Selling is such an important book for commercial real estate agents is that it drills down on the importance of asking the right questions in the discovery process. The progression of these questions naturally bring the prospects’ needs and desires to the surface so that you are able to provide solutions. Spin is an acronym for those types of questions, “Situation” questions, “Problem” questions, “Implication” questions and “Need Payoff” questions. Mr. Rackham and his company have done extraordinary research related to large sales methods. Also check out the accompanying Spin Selling Workbook.

2. Winning Through Intimidation, by Robert J. Ringer – This is an oldie but goodie or as I prefer to call it… a classic. This was the book I read that convinced me that I wanted to be a commercial real estate professional. The title is a bit misleading because the book does not teach you to be “intimidating”. It simply tells you how to deal with various types of individuals that you may encounter in the business and also has some great lessons on branding.

3. How To Master the Art of Selling, by Tom Hopkins – There are more books on how to sell than you can count, but Tom Hopkins may be the preeminent authority on selling when it comes to real estate. Granted, he built his brokerage career in the residential world, but the strategies and tactics he outlines in How to Master the Art of Selling are universal. This is an excellent book for anyone in sale and a necessity if you are in commercial real estate.

4. Think Like a Champion, by Donald Trump – Say what you will about The Donald, but the guy has built an incredible brand primarily through investment in commercial real estate. He may not be the most popular fellow with the people he does business with but he offers some terrific advice for maintaining a winning mindset in Think Like a Champion.

5. Fearless Cold Calling for Commercial Real Estate Agents, by Dan A. Colachicco (you didn’t think I’d leave my own book off of this list now did you?) – If you are in commercial real estate, the most effective way to develop new business is the good old fashioned cold call. This seems to be the toughest skill for new agents to embrace so I wrote a “quick read” guide to help you overcome some of the obstacles many agents face when trying to build their client base.

Don’t Be Short Sighted When Evaluating Commercial Brokerage Relationships

August 11th, 2014

I was speaking with a coaching students today who was struggling with a decision about whether or not to bring a current listing with her to her new firm. The listing was a leasing assignment for the last remaining space within a 36,000 square foot office building. That space consisted of 2,700 square feet. All lease renewals for the remaining occupied space were not included in the assignment. My student explained to me that the building owner was a large REIT and they required extensive reporting on the progress of the marketing for the space which my student was required to do on a weekly basis. She explained how time consuming the reporting was and that the client had expressed some dissatisfaction with the signage and marketing materials that were produced by her marketing department. As you’ve probably guessed, she was struggling with whether or not it was “worth it” to take on all of this time consuming work for such a small assignment (which of course carried with it a relatively small fee).

How do you see this situation and what would you do? The real question to ask is “what is the desired payoff for all of the time and effort required of this assignment”? Many commercial real estate agents would calculate the potential commission and immediately come to the conclusion that the fee simply does not justify the time investment required by the client. Focusing strictly on the paycheck that correlates with successfully closing the transaction is very short sighted. Keep in mind who the client is. The client is a large REIT who is a significant player in the market. If you have never (more…)

Build Confidence by Celebrating Small Wins

July 28th, 2014

Think of a time when you were supremely confident. What made you feel that way? What made that voice in your head say “I got this”? Think about how you carried yourself in that situation. Your body language. Your tone of voice and your overall attitude. Can you feel it coming back to you? No try to remember the reaction of the people you interacted with in that situation.

Confidence is something that projects an image of who you are in that moment. It sends the message that you know what you’re talking about, you’ve done this before and you are worthy of listening to. As commercial real estate brokerage professionals our long term success relies on our ability to persuade prospects to act based on the merits of the information we are presenting to them. It is human nature that we will make both conscious and subconscious judgments about what we hear and see based on the way it is delivered. If the information is presented in a meek tone of voice that reflects uncertainty and lacks enthusiasm, we are simply less likely to believe it. If the information is presented in a strong, enthusiastic way that reflects conviction, self belief and passion, we will naturally feel more confident in what we are hearing. It is more likely that your prospect will trust and (more…)

5 Methods for Turning Prospects Into Client Relationships

May 12th, 2014

I recently had the pleasure of coaching a new agent who had secured several prospect appointments. Needless to say, he was excited about the opportunity to win these assignments and we discussed his strategies for engaging the prospects in these first appointments. He had spent several days gathering competitive market data, creating spreadsheets, charts, graphs and collecting marketing flyers from other properties all of which was designed to support his position for convincing the prospect to list the property. He told me how he planned to show the prospect that his company was active and enjoyed a good amount of success with similar properties. He explained how he planned to explain to the prospect how the prior listing agent did not do a good job in representing him. This new agent felt fully armed with all the ammunition he thought was needed to nail the prospect and win the business.

My advice to him? Walk in to the initial meeting with a single blank sheet of paper. Ask permission to take a few notes and tell the prospect that you’d like to get to know as much about him or her and their situation as possible. Then…..LISTEN. A mountainous barrage of facts and figures delivered in presentation format does not a relationship make (or build). Before the presentation, there needs to be a CONVERSATION! Taking the time to develop a relationship that is based on trust is what will pave the way to earning the business. Once trust is established, the supporting data that you share with the prospect becomes far more believable and powerful that it would be as a first “impression”. So here are 5 key ways to begin the process of building a client relationship based on trust:

Differentiate yourself from your competition – There are so many ways that you can set yourself apart from the competition. Many times, just taking the time to listen and ask probing questions will show the client that you are deeply interested in helping them, not just advancing your own agenda. Take a video of the prospect’s property, have color photos blown up to 8 X 10 and have them framed as a gift, visit the planning and zoning board to gain a better perspective, research the history of the building, etc. Think of creative ways to show the prospect that you are personally vested in building a relationship with them and that you’re not “just another broker” looking for another listing.
Make it personal – If appropriate, tell the prospect a little about you personally, your family, your goals, why you chose this as a career. Ask the prospect for advice about how you can (more…)

3 Ways to Assess Probability Before Taking a Listing

April 28th, 2014

This short cartoon is an example of how to “walk away” from an unrealistic client.

On a raining morning this past week I decided to watch a television show called “Million Dollar Listing” where these young, hot shot real estate brokers work on luxury residential deals in L.A. Reality TV isn’t really my thing, but this one caught my attention.

In this particular episode, this guy named Josh started by talking about a $5,000,000 listing that he had. In giving his commentary on this listing, he emphasizes that the house is “way over priced” and that he didn’t think that anything in that market had ever sold for more than 3 or 4 million dollars. He also said that the seller was difficult and eccentric but was “a really good person” for reasons I’m still not particularly clear on. After hearing this, my first thought was “so why did you take the listing Josh?” I assumed that since this was reality television, Josh was probably going to pull a rabbit out of his hat and find the perfect buyer who would pay full price and set a record for highest sales price in that market. The whole dissertation about the property being way overpriced was just a setup for the happy ending right?

Josh and his co-listing partner get an offer for $3,000,000 from an investor who wants to refurbish the property and is willing to share the profits with the seller. They decide to meet the seller to present the offer and before meeting him Josh says to his partner “you know he’s not going to like it and it’s going to get ugly” to which his partner (more…)

What’s In It For THEM

April 30th, 2013

My good friend and colleague Larry Pino wrote a blog post last year where he related a wonderful story that also serves as a great lesson

Lawrence J. Pino

for commercial real estate brokerage professionals. With his permission, I have posted it here and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. There is a big difference between talking to your prospects about features and talking to them about how your services will benefit them, solve their problem, improve their situation, etc. Learn how to get on the client’s agenda so you can talk about “what’s in it for them”. One last observation……it takes practice! Notice that Isabella role played her new found sales techniques over and over until she was confident in her approach! Great lesson from a 7 year old. Enjoy:

We had quite a bit of drama in the household a few evenings ago.

Isabella, newly installed into the 2nd grade, expected some family and neighborhood lay-downs when she started pitching magazine subscriptions for the annual contest.

Apparently, depending on how many subscriptions you sell, and how much money you collect in a two-week period of time, you get to be invited to the Dippy Dot reward party where extra spiffs are handed out to the 2nd graders who did particularly well. (more…)

How Exclusive Representation Provides Maximum Value For Clients

January 20th, 2013

Every commercial real estate brokerage professional who has ever interacted with a prospective client has heard it. “Everything sounds great….Just bring me a buyer (or tenant) and I’ll be happy to pay you a commission, but I won’t sign an exclusive representation agreement”. The client feels that entering into an exclusive contractual arrangement with you limits his ability to get other brokers to work on the sale or lease of his property. The client sees the request for an exclusive agreement as something that benefits you, the brokerage professional and in turn creates a disadvantage to her. Something about that word…..Exclusive….seems to imply that everyone else is excluded from working on the deal. The reality is that just the opposite is true. A good commercial real estate brokerage professional understands that exclusively representing our clients is the only way to maximize the CLIENTS’ benefits and achieve what they are asking you to help them achieve. This may seem counterintuitive to the client, so let’s look at where the real value of exclusive representation is for him or her: (more…)

5 Questions to Ask Every Prospect

June 3rd, 2012

There is a powerful axiom in the sales world that goes something like this: “If you are telling, you are not selling”. Sure you want to unleash your value proposition on the prospect and dazzle him with your capabilities, track record and all the reasons he would be a fool not to list with you. But what the client really wants to hear is how you are going to SOLVE HIS PROBLEM! That’s what we do…..we solve problems for our clients. So in order to present a solution to the prospects’ problem, we first need to be sure we understand very clearly what that problem is what the prospects’ expectations are of us.
The process leading up to earning a new assignment has many facets, but effectively questioning the prospect about their current situation, problems or needs and expected outcomes is a major key to winning the business. Commercial real estate agents and brokers can dramatically increase their success ratio through some basic training on how to ask strategic questions that will draw out the prospects’ motivations, problems and needs. You can word them in such a way as to make them feel natural to you, but here are 5 important questions every commercial real estate agent should be asking the prospect when working on a potential new assignment:

1. What was your original investment strategy when you acquired this asset? Asking this question forces the prospect to review why they purchased the asset and what their vision was for the future benefits they would derive from owning it. This will allow you to potentially contrast that vision with the prospect’s current situation. If the investment hasn’t performed up to their expectations or has deteriorated in some way, this question will help accentuate the prospects’ current motivations for disposing of the asset or his need to accelerate the leasing process.

2. If you could change anything at all about how this investment is performing or any other aspect of your current situation with this investment what would that be? In other words, tell me what’s wrong with this investment for you. This question will help the prospect clarify the shortcomings of the investment or his current situation. Perhaps the management of the property is weighing on the prospect and interfering with his personal life. He may tell you that if he (more…)