Current Marketing Tips for Commercial Real Estate Agents

When it comes to listing and marketing commercial real estate for sale or for lease, you as the specialist real estate agent really do have to be unique and special. The client will procrastinate until they know that you are the ‘right’ agent to service them.As to what the ‘right agent’ looks like and sounds like is really subject to the challenges of the property and the needs of the client. It is up to you to interpret those factors and provide the right solutions to the client. There are far too many ‘generic agents’ around today; choose to be different and build a better business for yourself.One of the best approaches to marketing property today, centres on the process of test and measure. All stages of the marketing process should be tested relative to the property and the circumstances of the market. You will then know what is working for the client and what needs to be changed.So let’s look at some key issues and challenges in the typical marketing presentation for commercial real estate sales and leasing.The first and biggest challenge you will have is in getting the client to believe you and trust you as the agent of choice for the processes of marketing their property. How you satisfy this need will come down to a combination of market knowledge, market domination, testimonials, personnel, and experience relating to the particular property type.
The demands of the client for discounts as part of the agent selection should really not be part of the agent selection equation. If they need a discount to influence their decision then they are not the client that you need and they are likely to be extremely difficult to deal with throughout the marketing, negotiating, and closing process. Remain firm and do not give discounts unless they are within reason and acceptable levels.
When marketing your services to the client, is best to take the direct approach. That is you should tell the client exactly what you expect of them in the property promotion process and throughout the campaign. Make them feel that they are part of the activity and decision-making facility.
Today we have a variety of marketing tools at our disposal. All of them are relevant in different ways to the promotion of commercial property. It is the combination of the marketing tools and how they are directed to the target market that really matters. It is wise to give the client two or three alternatives in the marketing approach. They can then base their choices on cost verses effectiveness. The Internet, web sites, and e-mail marketing are now significant parts of the property promotion process. If you have an up to date database of qualified prospects, you are quite likely to shorten the time on market and negotiation process. Tell the client as to how you will be using this database to attract the right type of enquiry to their property.
Asking questions of the client during the sales pitch and presentation will help you understand their points of focus. The strategy is called the Freudian Slip, and is frequently used by top negotiators. Ask the questions and listen to the answers. When in doubt ask more questions. Invariably the client will usually give you significant points of leverage to use in the listing and marketing process.
It is quite important to get the property listed in a way that satisfies the enquiry in the market today. That means you need to choose the correct method of sale or the correct method of leasing as the case may be. It is likely that the exclusive listing process will be desirable in most cases when it comes to quality property. If you choose to list a property on an open list basis, then the time that you apply to the listing should be restricted based on the fact that the property could be sold by any agent at any time. As part of the exclusive listing process, always ask for vendor paid advertising as a commitment from the client up front before the marketing campaign commences.Given that the commercial property market is reasonably challenging at the moment, the marketing process becomes ever more critical. Your ability to reach the target audience and motivate them to enquire and inspect your property is a real skill that needs to be optimized with every listing.