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ROD: This is Rod Santomassimo with The Massimo Minute and this week our special guest is Brad Ahrens of Commercial Properties, Inc., a CORFAC affiliate and leader of the Ahrens Industrial Team in Phoenix, Arizona. Brad’s one of those “Young Guns”, not a seasoned veteran but still doing a phenomenal job in the marketplace today. Not only is Brad consistently finding opportunities but he is closing them as well. So Brad, welcome to The Massimo Minute.

BRAD: Thank you, Rod. Thanks for having me today.

ROD: Well, we’re really excited about sharing some insight with you. I know our listeners are as well. Let me get right to it. You have been a commercial real estate broker for eight years, correct?

BRAD: Correct.

ROD: I need to disclose that Brad is a client of ours at The Massimo Group, as such I know you’re having a phenomenal year. Tell us, is this your best year ever? Is this going to be as good as it gets in this challenging market? When you look back at this year, 2010, with all the challenges, what are you going to think? Are you on the upswing? Are you on the plateau? Where are you in your career?

BRAD: Rod, that’s an excellent question. Yes, this is my best year ever and more importantly I am definitely on the upswing. I believe that probably in the next year or two I will be a million dollar producer.

ROD: And you think things can get even better?

BRAD: I do. I do.

ROD: Okay. And when you say things get better, you said that mystical threshold of a million dollars. Are you saying you have created a position of being a consistent million dollar producer?

BRAD: I do. I believe the best brokers can succeed in a down market. And as the vast majority of us business began to slack off in 2008, 2009. A big key component for myself was in the end of 2009 I really began to evaluate my business, how it was performing, where I wanted to go. And although times are challenging you need to foresee or find opportunities for you and your clients. And little props for you, biggest thing I did was I turned to the 30-day Broker Challenge which was a huge awakening. The program helped me identify areas of my business that needed serious help. From there we’ve began a relationship together. The key was getting back to basics, making sure that things are being marketed, things are being announced, consistent prospecting is huge, time management, outsourcing are all key components to my success this year. And, this is just the first year of my revamp, or RAMP Up as you would say. Considering the deals we are doing now, if this continues as expected, then there’s no reason I shouldn’t be a consistent million dollar producer in two to three years.

ROD: Thank you for the kind words. We are so happy and quite frankly proud of your new found success. But Brad you mentioned somewhere in there time management. I know you, you’re a stickler for time management, you allocate times to prospect, and you allocate certain times to do other things in your day. You manage your day. And more importantly, you do it consistently—and this is the key—you consistently prospect and you are consistently building a presence in the market. I know your newly implemented market update mailing has been a phenomenal success for you. But some might say, ‘you know what, I can do similar things,’ but I also know the Phoenix market is extremely competitive and you somehow differentiated yourself. So tell me, what do you think you’re doing to differentiate yourself in the marketplace?

BRAD: Well, great question. I believe the key is a lot of brokers who have been in the business for a number of years, they’ve gone through a couple of down cycles, have become a little complacent. And most importantly I consistently reinvest in myself, and my business. I look at my personal brokerage business as an actual company. I think there are many brokers who basically work from paycheck to paycheck, or deal to deal. They may have a plan but they don’t really view their activities as a business. It is really important that, like any business, you have a marketing department, a research and development. You have to have a client retention program and client prospecting program – an active sales department. All of those things that make up most companies today need to be included in you brokerage business.

ROD: The focus is business. Brad, these are all things we have worked on over the past several months. I can attest you are investing in yourself and growing. But Brad you’re being a little shy since I know what else you do. Beyond investing in yourself, and certainly coaching is absolutely an investment in yourself there no doubt about it, but I also know you invest in your business in other ways. You have become the master of delegation and outsourcing. Give us just one example. I know you do a lot of these things, what specifically do you delegate?

BRAD: Probably the biggest thing that I delegate is, like anyone in this business you’ve got a million people you could talk to on a daily basis. It’s really one of the key things I did in 2010 was taking a look at who are the guys that I want to be working with here in the next couple of years and who are the clients that I’ve had in the past that, yeah they were clients, I made a little bit of money here and there but in a few cases, it was not the best return on my investment of time. There are contacts that need to be touched on a monthly, quarterly or an annually basis. But is that someone that my time needs to be devoted to daily, weekly or monthly? I’ve kind of stepped back and said, okay, well I can take a portion of these contacts and allocate them out to, whether it be a virtual assistant or a personal assistant. And then refocus on spending the majority of my time with the top tier clients, the big hitters, the multi asset owners, just the clientele that I want to work with.

ROD: Well perfect, absolutely perfect. Here’s my take away. You are not an individual broker who just runs around looking for deals. You are Brad Ahrens, CEO of the Ahrens Industrial Team within Commercial Properties, Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona. Brad, thank you so much for your time and your insight. And congratulations on having a great year in such a challenging market. I know you’ll be successful. I know you are going to be a consistent million dollar performer. Brad, thank you very much.

BRAD: Rod, thank you for having me. I look forward to our continued success and coaching with the Massimo Group.

ROD: Until next time, this is Rod Santomassimo with The Massimo Minute. We’ll talk to you soon. Take care.

In an earlier blog post I outlined the three key variables of top commercial real estate brokerage success. They were skill, will and thrill. You need the skill set to service your client, the willingness to do the work and ultimately possess the thrill of being a commercial real estate broker. Seems simple enough, except there is one distinct problem for many brokers who are struggling in today’s market.

Hopefully you have been told, since how knows when, that “you can be anything you want to be”. And the fact is anyone can be anything they want to be. Let’s face it; commercial real estate brokerage is not rocket science, but it can be tremendously challenging. There are brokers who have far greater skill than others in specific areas in the practice. And yes, they likely are top producers. Experience is by far one of the greatest skills to progress a listing to closing. Experience affords a broker the skill to get a deal closed.

But experience alone is not the only factor to success. There are first year brokers who have made over $1,000,000. Relationships are also an integral factor in success. Traditional approaches, coupled with today’s technology create a plethora of relationship building opportunities. Anyone can build relationships. Anyone can gain experience and yes, anyone can earn $1,000,000 or more a year.

Unfortunately the ability to do something has little correlation to accomplishment. Success requires will. Will you put in the work? Will you become a market expert? Will you invest in yourself, in your personal brokerage business? Will you?

For those that say “I can’t”.. then the obvious answer is “you won’t”. I can’t always equals you won’t.

For those of you who say “I can”, I say yes you can! But will you?

The Massimo Group has is proud to announce a new format for our Massimo Minute Newsletter subscribers.  We call this “Massimo Market Movers”.  Each month we hope to bring you an interview with commercial real estate brokers around the country who are making a difference by implementing specific strategies in their business. 

For our inaugural session, I had the privilege of interviewing Eric Odum, owner of Net Lease Commercial Advisory, in Tampa, FL.  Eric is owns a boutique brokerage firm in a major secondary market, yet has found success competing against more established national firms.  More impressively Eric is securing several new leads each and every day, based on his applied marketing strategies.

I should disclose that Eric is a former client of ours.  He is now positioned to generate more business by leveraging not only what we worked on, but also by implementing a few strategies of his own.  A full transcript of this interview follows.

RS:       Good Afternoon, this is Rod Santomassimo of the Massimo Group. Welcome to the Massimo Minute. And this month, we have a special guest with us to discuss the Tampa, Florida marketplace, and that guest is Mr. Eric Odum of Net Lease Commercial Advisory. Eric, Welcome!

EO:      Hey Rod, how are you?

RS:       I’m doing pretty good thank you very much. In this format, Eric, just for our audience, we take a quick 5 minutes to get the download of both what’s going on in the marketplace. What are commercial brokers, specifically, doing today to not only survive, but thrive in that marketplace. I know you’re into particular things, but first off tell me about Tampa, FL. Tell me what’s going on in the Tampa, FL marketplace in your particular focus niche.

EO: Well, you know, obviously, it’s been pretty bleak here in the last couple years. We were one of the hardest hit markets in the country due primarily to the downturn in the residential construction market. Of course, I think Tampa really began to realize how closely tied it was to the construction market since (commercial) vacancies shot up through the roof. Now, I do primarily net lease. My roots are in Section 1031 exchanges.  Of course, what happened is, there are no more Section 1031 exchanges because there are no more capital gains. We are in a deflationary environment right now (in real estate), so the Section 1031 business dried up for me. It was a matter of, “Do you adapt or do you just go away and find something else to do?” Well, I decided to find something inside of the real estate business to try to diversify and survive, because I do think this is a market about the survival, so I’ve…

RS: Ok, if I might, that’s a great point. We find especially with our clients across the country, a lot of them doing more recall focused diversification because, lets face it, if your just focused on investment sales in many markets across the U.S., yeah, velocity issues, liquidity issues, and the like, you’re going to have a really hard time surviving, so I appreciate your stance as far as diversifying your offering.  Let me ask you…you say you’re diversifying your offerings. What are you doing right now that’s working? I’m sure a lot of this is a “best practices” call. What are you doing right now that’s working?

EO: Well, you know, it’s all about exposure. It’s all about getting your name and your face out there, in the local market.  I didn’t have the advantage of working the local market because my properties, my investments, were all over the state, really all over the country, so what I’ve done, what I’ve been pretty good at in my past life as a marketing person, I spent a lot of time in marketing, in getting placements on websites, and SEO work. So, my internet is generating about 7 to 8 leads a week, and a significant portion of my business is coming off of internet. I haven’t stopped investing. I’ve seen so many brokers that stopped investing in their business. I haven’t stopped investing. I continue to mail postcards out, I continue to beat the streets, I continue to go out and do advertising. I’m just spending smarter now than I was probably 3 or 4 years ago, and the internet, of course, is one of those marketing systems that works even when you’re sleeping. You get leads at 9 and 10 o’clock at night and you wake in the morning and low and behold you might have a customer. So that’s what I’ve been doing that’s working, and we’ve been dealing primarily in the office and the retail market.

RS:       Ok, so I heard a lot of great things here. First of all I heard you continue to invest in yourself and yes the all star performers like you, Eric, are always investing in themselves, investing in their Real Estate business. I also heard you say that you haven’t stopped prospecting. I think that people talk about presence, having market presence, but prospecting and presence certainly are compliments. They work with one another. So you create the system of both prospecting by creating a presence which I know is paramount. So I know someone’s going to ask, how the heck is he generating, specifically Eric, we have about a minute and a half left, so I want to leave you some Kudos here, some little things we can share, what specifically are you doing to generate 7 solid leads a week to your business, especially when you are sleeping?  What, talk exactly, is it Twitter, is it internet, is it Facebook, let us know, what are you doing?

EO:      Well, first and foremost, I think we are of the mindset that everybody knows what we do, our friends and family know, but they really don’t, so…This is where Twitter and Facebook would come in, but make sure – you don’t want to overwhelm them all the time with discussions of business – but you do want to drop a hint every 3 or 4 posts that yeah, I am in the business and if anybody is looking, send them my way.  So, I have gotten some referrals from my friends and family, and those are the most solid ones. The other way is your website, and your web presence. Build a website and make it specialized to whatever your niche is. You’d be surprised. If you work office space in, let’s say, the Westshore submarket, start a blog that talks about everything that’s happening in the Westshore sub market, and you will be surprised at how much traffic that will actually lead to.  And if you’re functioning in the Westshore sub market in Tampa, you really don’t care about what’s happening in Orlando, or don’t really care necessarily about what’s happening in Lakeland or Plant City.  Then don’t write about those things.  Only write about what’s happening, become and expert in your niche, and it will generate leads, your rankings will increase, it’s all about being consistent and persistent in posting and writing. As it happens, Google really likes current content. As long as you have current content specific to your niche, you’ll get higher rankings.

RS:       Ok, Eric. Let me ask you one last question, because I know a lot of people listening in here, they may think, I have not heard of Net Lease Commercial Advisory. So first, quickly give me your website sot hey can take a look at what you’re doing.

EO:      Sure, it’s www.floridatriplenet.com.

RS:       Ok great, and the last thing I gotta ask you, because fair to say, you’re a boutique firm, and you’re in a major market, a secondary market, but still in a major market like Tampa Bay, Pinellas County, Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk.  How are you competing against big boys? CBRE is there. Cushman is there. Everyone’s there I’m aware of in Tampa Bay. So, how are you competing as a boutique firm?

EO:      It’s tough Rod. I’m not going to lie. Obviously the larger firms, the Grubb’s and the CBRE’s, they have access to National tenants.  I’m not ever going to get access to, but frankly in my niche, which is triple net properties,  I don’t kneed to have that big flag outside my front door. I’m capable of doing Net Lease on my own. Where it becomes a challenge is in the rental market, the tenant representation market locally. But what makes a great equalizer is my marketing efforts. I believe that I set up superior systems in order to cast the net out there and I have not had any issues in dealing with those local tenants in the local markets. Where I miss on is probably in the national tenant that might be relocating, but actually there’s not been a lot of that going on in Tampa right now. I’ve strung together several good months, I feel like I’ve finally found the light switch (on the tenant rep market).

RS:       Eric, we really appreciate your time. It’s Eric Odum with Net Lease Commercial Advisory, and again that website was www.floridatriplenet.com.  Eric, I appreciate your time. Until next time, this is Rod Santomassimo with the Massimo Minute.  Talk to you soon.

The first quarter of 2010 has now come and gone and many brokers are finding small changes from the prior calendar year.  Others are finding velocity, at least in terms of inquiries, if not transactions, have risen dramatically.  The difference is not a matter of market or sector of focus, but on performance.  The greatest increase in client inquiries and interest  are being generated by brokers who also have the highest failure rate.  These are the commercial brokers who will be the leading income producers both this year and next.  To them failure is an option, why – well you will need to read on.

I was recently reviewing “The Best Damn Sales Book Ever” by Warren Greshes, a national best seller.  Warren makes the point that the salesperson who gets to the most “no’s” in business is usually the top salesman in an organization.   Seems counterproductive on the surface, but it’s ironically accurate.  Top performers don’t mind getting “no’s”.  Yes, rejection is a failure in terms of not getting a listing, leasing assignment or tenant rep assignment, but it is also substantial proof that you are at least getting in front of enough decision makers to build a business.

For example, at the Massimo Group we make between 300 and 1,000 calls a month to potential clients.  Heck, I personally make between 300 and 400 myself each and every month.  Why?  Because I know that if we contact less, our business will suffer and if we contact more, our business will grow.  To me, getting a “no” is the second best possible answer, after “yes” of course.  The “maybes” and “call me in x months” are the worse replies of all.  This is not a decision, it’s just a way to keep a fish on the hook while it frantically twists to get back in the water.  Who wants that?  Not me.

So for all those who feel “failure is NOT an option”, and suggest, perhaps you are not making enough effort in your sales – it’s ok to fail, in fact it’s one of the best barometers of success!

In our last newsletter we offered the five P’s to commercial real estate success.  Planning, Prospecting Performing, Persistence and Presence – which all leads to Production.  We received several suggested additions, such as Patience and Practice, but more so we received strong opinions on the value of prospecting versus presence.  Which is more important, having a strong prospecting plan or a solid market presence?

It seems the “old school” traditionalist feel that prospecting is the ultimate tenet to CRE success.  Cold calling, letter campaigns and email campaigns are the core direct prospecting tools used by most.  Prospecting, for our purposes, are the activities associated with directly communicating with a targeted audience that can benefit from your services.  While others felt that presence ultimately defines one’s level of success and market position.  Let’s face it, with the deluge of promotional and marketing outlets that exist both today (both physical and digital), those who establish and maintain a market presence have the advantage of being “top of mind” with prospective clients.

The fact is prospecting and presence are complementary.  They are synergistic.  When prospecting, would you rather have your audiences say “who are you” or “oh yes, I heard of you”?  A strong market presence makes your prospecting efforts easier and more effective.  Likewise having a market presence is great, but you must have a targeted and proactive prospecting plan behind it.  Certainly a strong presence will generate more direct leads and inquires, but most brokers can’t rely strictly on potential clients calling them because of their presence.  That’s simply unrealistic for the majority.

Last month I called on a prospect to inquire if they were open to me visiting with their brokerage team while I was in the area – for a fee of course.  The prospect, a regional manager of a national brokerage firm agreed to both my visit and my price.  This was the first time I had called on the prospect, so I was curious as to why he agreed to have me come in.  It turns out, the company’s chairman had earlier read and subsequently distributed a white paper I had authored and placed on several commercial real estate portals.  Both the chairman and the regional manager were impressed with what I wrote.  This had helped establish a presence.  However the regional manager did not call me – our meeting was set because I called him.  For me, Prospecting is #1, Presence is 1A.  Then again, I am old school, with an appreciation for the new marketing methods.

Generating commissions in this market place are seemingly more problematic than ever before.  Velocity is down, market values are vaporizing and liquidity continues to be nothing more than a mystical concept.  Many brokers and agents are looking for alternative approaches, tactics and strategies for manufacturing brokerage fees.

In addition, once an opportunity is found, the process of the transaction itself can be slower and unpredictable as a Tim Wakefield (Boston Redsox pitcher) knuckleball.  For the record I am a fan of the Yankees.

However, sometimes creating commissions is much easier and closer than you think.   Many times we overlook the most fundamental source for income – referrals. 

Yes, it seems like the most obvious of methods, but it is by far the most underutilized approach by commercial real estate brokers.  For reasons unknown to me, commercial brokers simply have a hard time asking for a referral. 

The first thing you need to do schedule the request in advance.  That’s right.  Schedule the request for a referral as soon as you ink the listing or representation agreement.   As soon as we get a new coaching client we set a referral request 3 months from contract date.  We know that period will provide the adequate time for a client to go through our process, complete a series of one-on-one or team coaching sessions and recognize the value of our program.   The same principals hold true for you as a commercial broker.  Whether you are using ACT, ACTCRE, REA, Realhound or Outlook (hopefully not the latter) you should set a task to ask for that referral upfront, so you don’t forget to ask when it is appropriate.

Secondly, “Ask the Questions”.  What are the questions?  Well it is simply one of three. 

1.       Where else are you doing business?

2.       How else can we help you with your real estate holdings/lease obligations?

3.       Who else in your personal network would benefit from our services?

There are more aggressive ways to ask and more defined value propositions to integrate to these questions but this is a good start.

Finally, keep your clients up to date on your activity with each referral provided.  This communication will instill the trust level in you and reduce any inhibitions you may have in asking for future referrals or the client providing them.

Statistics overwhelming demonstrate that coaching is one of the mostsuccessful decisions of individuals looking to maximizing results.  Athletes, Fortune 500 CEOs and top performing residential agents all have coaches.  Recently a growing trend in commercial real estate is the hiring of a coach who specialized in the industry. 

The very first question we ask anyone when they contact our company regarding our coaching services is “Why do you feel you need a coach?”  This is followed up with a more telling question “What does a successful coaching relationship look like to you?”  Time and time again the inquirer outlines the main reasons our client’s desire, select and value coaching. 

1)      A coach will work with you in defining what the most important elements to focus on based on your personal vision of success.  Your role in your organization and possibly on your team has a significant impact on what is going to maximize your and/or your teams’ production or commission income. 

2)      Coaching will create clear, and more importantly, relevant metrics to measure your progress and provide the critical feedback during the journey.  Goals and vision are great, especially if they are clear and committed to, but without a metrics, they are meaningless.   More often than not, sales meetings and pipeline meetings are focused on the result or effect and not the metrics that drive the cause.  Without metrics, success is not planned, it is simply accidental.

3)      A coach should work with you in not only monitoring and providing feedback on your behavior, but should also assist in defining the actions to reach specific goals.  The bridge between planning and production is performance.  If you are going to achieve a goal you have not reached before, you must change your behavior.  

4)      The coach will highlight both the positive progression as well as any regression made.  A coach will help identify alternatives if there is an obstacle to performance or behaviors.  Without a consistent review of the aforementioned metrics, action plans and results, the likelihood of achievement on what truly drives income depreciates exponentially. 

5)      Hiring a coach is an investment in your greatest asset – YOU.  A professional commercial real estate coach will be your partner, your motivator, your confidant and your trusted advisor. 

Coaching is certainly not for everyone.  No doubt many less seasoned and less successful commercial real estate brokers look at items such as coaching, training and education as a cost.  With this perspective, coaching would rarely be successful.  Coaching is an investment.  The dividends are real, but they are also earned.  If you are truly committed to success, than hiring a commercial real estate coach may be one of the best investments you can make.