Category Archives: Prospecting

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Top 5 CRE Posts of 2012

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It is that time of year when we pause and reflect.  Over the remaining days of 2012, I will be posting my “Top Posts” of 2012 in the categories of Commercial Real Estate, technology, and productivity.  Even though I just started blogging in earnest in Sept, we have over 50 posts to choose from in these categories.

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Quick Announcement

If you have not done so already, I invite you to sign up to follow this blog via email.  You can click on the link to the right to sign up.  I am working on some exciting projects for 2013, and this is the way to find out first.  You will also be notified every time there is a new post.

Top 5 CRE Posts of 2012

The Difference Between a CRE Broker and a Drug Dealer – Here’s what I mean.  To say that I am a Commercial Real Estate Broker I would literally say:  ”I am a broker in the buying and selling of real estate.”  The problem is that the word for real estate is also the word for illegal drugs.  So, if you don’t know me or have any context to give you a clue, you would not know if I’m saying that I’m a CRE broker or a drug dealer.  Context is everything.  Read more…

The 8 Steps to a Killer Prospecting System – I want to clarify what I mean by prospecting.  Prospecting is a form of business development.  Networking and building a presence – or a platform – is another form of business development.  Their activities are similar.  Their purpose is completely different.  (To read about the difference between prospecting and networking, click here.)  Prospecting involves asking for the business.  That is its only purpose.  Read more…

The Difference Between Top Producers and the Others – In my coaching business with the Massimo Group, I have also had the great privilege of coach CRE throughout the United States and Canada.  From the catbird’s seat, I have gotten to see what top producers do that all the others do not. Read more…

The 12 Keys to Becoming a Top Producer – Faster!  Part 1 – The Commercial Real Estate industry – or any industry really – is often so different from the Marine Corps.  I’m specifically thinking about advancement – growth – achievement.  In the Marines, there was a formula for promotion – at least at the lower enlisted ranks.  I knew exactly how to earn promotion.  Read more…

The 12 Keys to Becoming a Top Producer – Faster!  Part 2 – Top producers are team oriented.  Top Producers are not loners.  They don’t try to do everything.  They understand the value of a team.  And not only just having a team, but maximizing the production of that team.  Rod Santomassimo discusses this in his best-selling CRE book – Brokers Who Dominate.  Beyond the fact that I am profiled – along with about 22 others – this is must reading for any CRE practitioner.  Read more…

As I began this post, this is the time of year to reflect.  What were your Top 5 most productive activities this year?  Please share them with us.  We’d love to learn from you!
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The 8 Steps to a Killer Prospecting System

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In last week’s post, the Difference Between Top Producers and the Others, I made the case that top producers prospect.  That is the difference.  They schedule time to do it.  They have a system that they execute.  It works.  It sets them apart.  I have also written a post on the benefits of systematizing your business.  Both of these posts deal with the “why.”   Before you go any further, I encourage you to take a few moments and take a look at those posts.  Knowing “how” without believing in the “why” will lead to burnout and letdown.

iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto

I highly recommend coaching.  Regardless of your level of success, a coach and mentor can provide you with great benefit.  At the beginning of 2010, I hired the Massimo-Group to coach me in my commercial real estate business.  Up until that time, I had never systematized my prospecting efforts.  There was no rhyme or reason.  Often, there was no prospecting at all.  My coach helped me change that and revolutionized my business in the process.

I want to clarify what I mean by prospecting.  Prospecting is a form of business development.  Networking and building a presence – or a platform – is another form of business development.  Their activities are similar.  Their purpose is completely different.  (To read about the difference between prospecting and networking, click here.)  Prospecting involves asking for the business.  That is its only purpose.

Since my last post on prospecting, I’ve received a number of questions about how to do it.  My way is not the only way, but any effective prospecting system will have elements of these 8 steps.  This is exactly how I built my core business.  You can do it too!

How to Build a Prospecting System

  1. Define your geography – This is as simple as it sounds.  You have to know what geography you are working in.  I come from a small tertiary market.  To have enough Single Tenant Net Lease (STNL) properties to go after, I built a state-wide database.  I’ve heard different numbers, but you need at least 350 properties in your farm area.  If you are in Los Angeles like one of my clients, you may just have a section of such a large city.  Regardless, you need to be able to articulate it with clarity.
  2. Choose your specialty – If there is one thing true of top produces, other than they prospect, it is that they are specialists.  Use this test.  What are you good at?  What do you like?  And where is the deal velocity?  Your specialty should be where these three answers intersect.  A quick note:  it is OK to be a geographical specialist.  The number one broker from the number one CRE firm in New York City is a geographical specialist.  And he kills it!
  3. Build your database – Once you know your geography and your specialty, it is time to build your database.  It should include all the properties in your farm area.  You need to know who owns what, how long they’ve owned it, what they paid, and their contact information.  I’ve heard brokers talk about how they used to have all that information on notecards.  My assistant built mine using Excel.  We then imported it into my cloud-based CRM solution.  All of that info is now in my iPhone.
  4. Send them something in the mail – This could be a book, a letter, anything of value.  The whole idea here is you want to raise your chances that they will take your call and talk to you.  Letters are cheap.  There is no reason not to send them.  Get creative.  You want them to want to take your call.
  5. Make the dang call – This is the scary part for most brokers and salespeople.  Fear of rejection.  Fear of sounding and feeling stupid.  You must overcome those fears.  You must prepare – but not so much that you never make the call.  The entire goal of the cold call is to get a meeting.  That is it.  If you spend 30 minutes talking, you have missed the point.  Get the face to face meeting.
  6. Have the meeting – Face to face is where the top producers excel.  These meetings can take two forms.  I prefer the first meeting to be a needs-analysis meeting.  I am asking questions of the prospect and it is all about them.  Then the second meeting is where I make my proposal.  That isn’t always possible, but it is certainly ideal.
  7. Make the proposal – Sometimes, step 6 and 7 happen at the same time.  Ideally, you have had the needs-analysis interview and then gone and crafted a custom proposal that addresses the specific needs of that specific prospect.  This beats a canned-presentation every time.
  8. Win the listing/Make the sale – this is what success looks like.  After a while of doing this, you will know that if I make X amount of calls, I will get this many meetings.  If I get X amount of meetings, I will make this many proposals.  If I make X amount of proposals, I will win this many listings.

How do you prospect?  Do you have a system?  What can you add that I have overlooked?  Please don’t hesitate to comment.  We want to hear from you, and it will benefit the entire community.

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The Difference Between Top Producers and the Others

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If you have read this blog, you know that I am in the commercial real estate industry.  Since the crash in the CRE market in the second half of 2008, I have heard a lot of complaining.

In my coaching business with the Massimo Group, I have also had the great privilege of coach CRE throughout the United States and Canada.  From the catbird’s seat, I have gotten to see what top producers do that all the others do not.

The difference?

Prospecting

How many times have you heard brokers complain about how the market has sunk their business?  Maybe I’m talking about you?  You have heard the cliché, “a rising tide lifts all ships.”  The reverse of that would be, “a sinking tide sinks all ships.”  That seems to be the mantra of the CRE industry of the last four years.

Not so for top producers.

Many brokers prospect when they start their careers.  But then something happens.  They have success.  They become known.  They start to get referrals.  Business starts to find them.

Then they stop prospecting.

This somewhat describes the first 4 years of my career.  I walked into a family commercial real estate business where my father and grandfather had great success – for decades.  I inherited presence.  The “tide” was so high when I started in November 2004 that I was going to have success.  I never had to prospect.  Business just walked right through our office door.

Then 2008 happened.  All of the sudden, business dried up.  I realized that those who don’t prospect are hitched to the market.  If the market is great, you have a great year.  If the market is bad, you have a bad year.

You have no control of your business.

Top producers refuse to relinquish control.  They understand that the only way they can have consistent deal flow is to make prospecting the core of their business.  Having presence where business walks through your door is a blessing.  But it is also a trap.

Top producers come in all shapes and sizes.  Men and women.  Some with this personality and some with that.  Some are tall and good-looking.  Some are short with a bad hairline.  The one constant is that they prospect.  Every day.  They block out time to ensure they are doing the most important thing.

There is no secret sauce.  The one thing that can set you apart is right there in front of you.  Take it.  Refuse to be crippled by your fear of the cold call – of rejection.  Pick up the phone.  Then do it again – and again.

Now is the time to pause and reflect.  A new year is fast approaching.  Allow 2013 to be that pivotal year in your career when you break free of mediocrity.  Nothing is stopping you but yourself!

So what role did prospecting play in your business in 2012?  How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 – 10?  Please share with us a quick story where prospecting led to a deal – it would be so encouraging.

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My Next Week at CRE B.O.S.S

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I need to confess.  I am a huge University of Kentucky basketball fan.  Huge.  I have managed to successfully brainwash my children as well.  My parents met while attending UK.  I have been going to games my entire life.  If you don’t know already, after Louisville, Duke is the most hated rival that we have.  Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley….makes me feel icky.

My son and I with National Champion John Calipari and the John Calipari Father-Son Camp

So at this point you are wondering why am I talking college basketball?  Because I am excited about going to Duke University next week.  I never thought I would say that.

Next week is the Commercial Real Estate Broker Owner Success Summit (CRE BOSS) put on by the Massimo-Group at Duke University.  I will be there facilitating the Summit in my capacity as a coach for the Massimo-Group.

I’m excited because CRE BOSS is something new – fresh – different.  This isn’t the same old conference with the same speakers.  BOSS is something else.  This summit is an exclusive first-class event for Broker/Owners and has two goals:

  1. Maximize the Production of Your Individual Brokers – How do you give your brokers and advisors every competitive advantage to be successful?  How can you train and mentor them into becoming top producers?  How do you create self-motivated high achievers?
  2. Maximize the Value of Your Brokerage Firm – How do you control costs while enhancing the client experience?  How can you grow your firm?  Mergers and Acquisitions?  What kind of exit strategy or succession plan do you have?  Is your firm being built to be sold?

Not only is the focus of the Summit to benefit the broker/owner, but the speakers are world-class achievers themselves.  We will get to hear and learn from the likes of:

  • Bob Knakal, Chairman of New York City’s top firm Massey-Knakal
  • Finn Johnson, President and Founder of RunMyBusiness and 25 year veteran at all levels of the Commercial Real Estate Industry
  • Warren Greshes, Hall of Fame speaker, top-selling author and expert in sales, motivation and employee motivation
  • Lee Rust, Florida Corporate Finance, M&A and succession planning expert
  • Rod Santomassimo, CCIM – President and Founder of the Massimo-Group and author of the best-selling CRE book, Brokers Who Dominate

Be on the lookout for some post from CRE BOSS next week!

So answer this question for me.  What are you willing to do in 2013 to ensure that you are investing in yourself by attending events like this one?
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5 Steps to Crafting a Powerful Elevator Speech

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In a previous post – 12 Keys to Becoming a Top Producer – Faster! – I shared that one of those keys is reading.  I mentioned in that section that I had wanted to improve the impact of my elevator speech so I read Small Message, Big Impact by Terri Sjodin.  Great book.  This is a must read for anyone in sales.  By the way, we are all in sales in some way.

Cory Spanko commented on that post asking if I would share that elevator speech.  So this is my response to his request.  (Thanks Cory for giving me the idea for this post!  DM me your address on twitter – I’d like to send you this book.)

About a year ago, I was in Chicago for the Sperry Van Ness National Convention. It is always a great event.  I leave with dozens of actionable ideas from the first-class advisors that attend.  This convention had a competition called SVN Idol.  The premise of the competition was 4 advisors would compete in giving “The Presentation.”  The winner won $1000.  I was one of the four.  I was going to win that prize.

We were told in advance that we would compete in giving the canned SVN listing presentation.  (I don’t like canned presentations, but that is a topic for another post.)  We were not told that there would be round two.  In round two, we had to give an elevator speech.  I was not prepared.  Transparently, I tend to be good when I’m prepared.  I’m not awesome on the fly.  I did well in round 1.  I bombed round 2.  My good friend Henry Hanna left victorious.  I left knowing that I had a few books to read.

The key to a powerful elevator speech is that it gets you a meeting.  That is all it needs to do.  If I’m in line at Starbucks and have an opportunity, can I get a meeting with a prospect in 90 seconds?  Not only must it be powerful, but it needs to be adaptable.  Too many people look for the magic bullet – if I say these 3 things, I’ll get that meeting.  No.  You need a powerful framework that can be custom fit to the prospect.

That framework is Monroe’s Motivational Sequence (MMS).  Thank you @terrisjodin for writing a fantastic book!  MMS is a logical and sequential 5 step process to motivate someone to take action.  This method does not have to be an elevator speech.  It could be much longer.  It works brilliantly for a super short speech, however.

The 5 Steps of Monroe’s Motivational Sequence

  1. Attention – I always think about Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross here.  But you don’t have to be a complete jerk to get someone’s attention.  You do have to be interesting.  You do have to understand what is important to your prospect.  Example: “There is only one way to maximize the value of your property, and my company is the only one that can do it.”
  2. Problem – This could also be an opportunity.  I’ve heard John McDermott say 100 times that people sell property because they have a problem or an opportunity.  That’s it.  I think the same is true of anyone buying or selling anything.  They have a problem or an opportunity.  You need to know what it is, and hone in on it here.
  3. Solution – Share with them the solution to their problem or opportunity.  Ideally, how you can solve their problem or help them capitalize on their opportunity.
  4. Visualize – This step hooks them.  Here you want to encourage them to visualize the glorious future destiny that awaits them if your solution becomes a reality for them.  Use the word “imagine.”  “Imagine how much fun it will be, Mr. Prospect, when multiple capable buyers are competing for your property and driving up the price!”
  5. Action – Now you share with them what you would like them to do.  In the context of an elevator speech, you want them to agree to have the next meeting.  If you are a politician, you want their vote.  Be specific.  Ask them to sign on the line that is dotted!

As a parting example, watch this video of my dad making his announcement speech to run for office.  It is short and sweet.  See if you can pick out the steps above.  [Skip to the 4 minute mark]

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.  Share a story of an elevator speech opportunity that went well.  Or that bombed.  What other elevator speech methods have you used with success?

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The 3 Main Differences Between Prospecting and Building Presence

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I learned the Commercial Real Estate business from my dad.  Our family goes back at least 7 generations in this town.  To say that my old man knows everyone is an understatement.

Growing up, my dad’s signs were everywhere – and his face was on them all.  I couldn’t go anywhere without him staring at me.  Those signs probably kept me from making stupid decisions on more than one occasion.  When it came to Commercial Real Estate, he was top of mind – still is, really.  He had created tremendous presence.

He had created so much presence that I don’t remember ever seeing him do much prospecting.  Business just walked in the door – it would just come to us.  Huge blessing.  And that was before 2008.

Most of you don’t have the blessing of being 7th generation in a smaller town where generations of your family have been high-profile.  That is my advantage here.  Most of you are from larger cities.  Most of you have stiff competition.  Top performing CRE practitioners do not take things for granted.  They systematize their businesses.  Two critical systems that must be in place deal with Prospecting and Creating Presence.

These two systems are both similar and very different at the same time.  I have this conversations with my coaching clients on a regular basis.  Some of the activities that you do in your practice will fit into one or the other – or sometimes cross over into both.  So let’s define the 3 main differences between these two essential parts of your business.

3 Differences Between Prospecting and Creating Presence

1.  Purpose – The first and overarching difference is the purpose.  When you are Prospecting, your purpose is ASKING FOR THE BUSINESS!  If you aren’t asking for the business – you aren’t Prospecting.

Creating Presence is completely different.  Here you are trying to become and remain top of mind.  This is all about building relationships and adding value.

2.  Methods – Methods is the reason confusion exists between Prospecting and Creating Presence.  The methods for accomplishing these two systems are extremely similar.  Only because the purpose is different is there much differentiation.  In both systems, you send letters, make calls, have meetings, etc.

An example of Prospecting is when I go after a Dollar General store.  I send a letter.  I follow-up with a call to someone I haven’t met before.  I go for a meeting and then ask for their business.

When I’m Creating Presence, I send letters as well.  But I want VIPs to get something from me of value.  I call to schedule meetings.  I’m not asking for business.  Instead, I’m working on building relationships that can lead to business and referrals in the future.  The methods are similar – the purpose is what makes them different.

3.  Results – The result of Prospecting is getting the listings that you proactively pursue.  You decide what you want to go kill and bring home.  You do the research, find the properties and their owners, and go after them.  This is proactive and gives you more control over what your business looks like.

The result of Creating Presence is like what I described of my dad.  He was top of mind.  When someone had a problem or an opportunity related to Commercial Real Estate, calling him was a no-brainer.  You know that you’ve created presence when business starts coming to you.  You aren’t competing.  Business is being referred to you.  Here you are more beholden to what the market offers up, but it is so much easier.

What other ways are Prospecting and Creating Presence different?  Or the same?  Do you simply rely on your presence to bring you business?  In what ways would your business change if you prospected for the business you actually wanted to do?

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How Physics is Similar to Your Business

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The Avengers came out yesterday.  Big moment for my family.  I would be Iron Man – coolest cat on the planet.  My wife is a big fan of Thor.  I’ve tried to pull of that accent but it doesn’t do it for her.  My 10-year-old would be Captain America, and he should.  He already has that True North sense of right and wrong.  My 6-year-old goes between the Hulk and Hawk-eye.  My daughter still doesn’t understand the rules and ran into the living room with a Spiderman costume on.  It is futility explaining to a 3-year-old that Spiderman wasn’t an Avenger – not to mention he didn’t have a pony-tail.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I bring up the Avengers for a different reason, though.  I feel like the Hulk is sitting on my face.  I have the distinct pleasure of having both nostrils out of commission.  So, I’m going to tell a quick story and then ask a few questions.  Then I’m going to bed.

 

The Story

This may be hard to believe, but my favorite subject in high school was physics.  I am a thinker.  I’m not sure why.  I’m not much of a feeler, a bit more of a doer, but definitely a thinker.  I want to know why stuff works the way it does.  Physics was full of ‘Aha’ moments for me.  I remember when Mr. Claypool showed me the formula behind why a curved road is banked at a certain degree.  This was super cool to me.

I remember toying with actually majoring in Physics in college.  Turns out that I majored in playing guitar into wee hours of the morning and dropping class….  My youngest brother is currently studying physics at my college right now.  In some ways I envy him.

But enough about physics.  Do you know how Physics is like Commercial Real Estate – or any other business?

If A=B and B=C then A=C

What do I mean, you say?  Consider this about your business.  What works?  What led up to that big sale – that big deal?  Did you know that if you repeat certain patterns you will get certain desired outcomes?  My business of CRE is just like yours in this regard.

The question is how do we do more of those patterns to get more of those desired outcomes?  You need a formula that works.

In my business and with my coaching clients, we call these systems.  I understand that if I send out this many letters and follow-up with this many cold calls, then I will get this many meetings.  If I get this many meetings, I will win this many assignments.  This is prospecting, and it needs to be a system.

Repeat certain behaviors to achieve desired results.

A Few Questions

Why don’t you systematize your business?  One of my hero’s in the business spends 2 hours a day cold-calling.  He’s the boss of is office.  He is working a system.  And he’s killing it.

Have you ever sat down with your team to brainstorm what works – and what doesn’t?  You’d be shocked at what you find out.  That is, if you’ve created a team that trusts enough to tell you truth.  Break things down to their smallest parts.  Delegate.  Maximize efficiencies.  Spend more time with clients and prospects.  Let your staff do anything that they can do so that you can do the tasks that only you can do!  Systematize!

What’s keeping you from taking that time needed to work ON your business instead of IN your business?  Something to think about:  top performers have accountability and coaches.

Let me hear your thoughts.

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The Difference Between a CRE Broker and a Drug Dealer

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If you have read some of my other posts, you may know that I was an Arabic Linguist in the Marine Corps.  One of the huge differences between English and the Arabic language is that Arabic is completely contextual.  Words don’t have meaning outside of context.  Said another way, the context gives meaning to the words.

Here’s what I mean.  To say that I am a Commercial Real Estate Broker I would literally say:  “I am a broker in the buying and selling of real estate.”  The problem is that the word for real estate is also the word for illegal drugs.  So, if you don’t know me or have any context to give you a clue, you would not know if I’m saying that I’m a CRE broker or a drug dealer.  Context is everything.

So here is a story for you to give context.  This post will spawn others as I unpack this story.  My purpose in this post is to show how systems, the proper team, and technology work together.  I want to demonstrate what is possible.

The Story

A few months ago, I was riding with my dad heading to a meeting in central Kentucky.  We drove through a small town called Perryville where I saw a Dollar General Store.

Dollar stores are a core part of our business.  Seeing this store gave me the idea to cold-call the owner.  I opened the Dropbox app on my iPhone 4S and accessed my Kentucky Dollar Store database.  Finding the owner, I looked him up in my mobile cloud-based CRM solution, ClientLook.

I recognized the name for the Perryville store as a man who was a former college coach in my town.  That gave me the common ground I needed to connect with him.

I was fortunate to get him on the phone.  By the time we had driven through that small town, I knew that he owned three Dollar General Stores – not just one.  I also knew that he was in a partnership, that he would like to simplify his life, and that he was likely a seller.

He agreed to send me the leases so that I could do proposals on his properties for his partnership.  He had one of his staff email me the leases.  I forwarded them to my assistant.  This all happened in 30 minutes, from a car in the middle of Central Kentucky, using just my iPhone.

The next day, my assistant used the leases to build proposals through BuildOut.  She is able to quickly take raw materials and take a proposal to 80% completion.  I then did the financial analysis, approved the comps, set a value, and pressed ‘print.’  Though I have a paperless office, I do print and bind property proposals.  The quality is so high on these packages that I know property owners will not throw them away.

The next week, I was in the man’s office – one hour from my office – presenting proposals on his properties.  Because we’d done our homework building a database of properties, had systems in place to be lightning fast, and used technology that made us mobile, we were able to instantly take advantage of an opportunity.

Over the coming weeks, I will take you behind the curtain of our business and unpack how we build databases, what systems we have in place, and what technologies we use.  This post, however, was all about context.  Never confuse the broker for the drug dealer!

UPDATE:  Post 2 in this series can be found here:  The 5 Steps to a Paperless Office
UPDATE:  Post 3 in this series can be found here:  The Benefits of a Virtual Office
Parting thoughts:  do you use a database in your business?  What systems do you have in place?  What technologies do you use?  Share a story from your business that will provide context for this conversation.  Engage!
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How to Get You and Your Agents to Make More Calls – These 3 Easy Ways

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Commercial Real Estate (or any) sales is about calls:  cold calls, warm calls, personal calls, and so on.  He who makes the most calls generally does the most deals.  Making calls is also a lost art.

I recently had a review with one of my agents.  He was not making enough calls.  He and I had spoken a couple of times about this subject with no change.  Then it dawned on me.  Performance flows from leadership.  The problem was with me.

When I was in college I had a mentor who would teach me things by this method.  Teach me why.  Show me how.  Do it in front of me.  It was incredibly effective.  Answering the questions ‘why’ deals with casting the vision for the desired future outcome.  And this is rarely about making money.  Teaching the ‘how’ is the book smarts.  Demonstrating how introduces the street smarts.

I had been neglecting the third step.  So Friday morning, we went into my office and I spent nearly an hour making calls – on one of his deals.  I believe doing this on a regular basis is going to reap rewards.  More deals will be done, sure.  But there will be growth in our team in this area.

Here are 3 easy ways to make more calls:

1.  Block out time on your calendar.  This seems like such a no-brainer, but we don’t do it.  Prospecting for new business is the key to healthy deal flow and sustainable cash-flow.  Yet, it is the activity that is the most dreaded and overlooked. Block out time every day to make prospecting calls.  A top producer I know, who owns his company, schedules two hours a day on his calendar.  He gives his team the green light to ask him to get busy calling when he gets distracted by another task.  He knows that making calls is the absolute best use of his time.

2.  Keep the calls short.  The first call I made on Friday lasted 20 minutes.  I know better.  This should never happen.  The purpose of a prospecting call is to get a meeting.  If you get a talker, politely transition the conversation after 4 minutes to scheduling a meeting.  If they want to talk, do it face to face at a later date.  Remember that prospecting calls are a numbers game.  The more calls you can make, the more meetings you can get.  Challenge yourself to a certain amount of calls in your scheduled time.  Don’t let one talker derail you.

3.  Schedule an office wide calling blitz.  Most agents do not like cold calling.  Some of the weird ones, like me, do.  But most salespeople are ultra-competitive so make it a game.  Schedule a block of time once or twice a month when everyone in the office is making calls at the same time.  Make it a competition.  Have a prize for the winner.

So what other ways do you encourage more calls?  What ideas have I missed?  Let’s see how many great ideas we can come up with!

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