The Most Important Word to Commercial Brokerage Success
It seems contradictory for a professional coach, motivator and mentor to suggest that there is one, overwhelmingly important word a commercial real estate broker must use and use regularly. But once you appreciate the value of this one word, you will then understand why only a small percentage of all commercial real estate brokers make a vast majority of the commercial real estate commissions. You will better appreciate what specifically top performers do that the rest of the brokerage community does not.
The vast majority of commercial real estate brokers get caught in the minutia of details in regards to running personal brokerage business. We all understand that commercial brokerage requires managing a manifold of responsibilities; however, top performers both command and understand the value of their personal time. Top performers outsource, delegate and/or delete those activities that do not generate their targeted level of income.
Probably the best advice I received during my commercial real estate career was to create a “Not To Do List”. Ironically, the concept was presented to me during a seminar I attended, hosted by Bob Corcoran. Bob is a residential real estate coach, however, he was presenting to the commercial organization I was affiliated with at the time. Since then I have had the good fortunate of befriending Bob, and he is one member of my personal board of advisors.
Earlier this week I contacted several associates, potential alliances and promising promotional sources which all had the same basic theme. The messages were professional and respectful, but more importantly they were decisive. For all three, the message was “no”. However, this was very hard to do. As entrepreneurs we all strive for the positive. We strive to be everything and anything to our clients. There is no room for “no”. It’s YES I CAN!
But here is the secret. The more you say “no”, the more you can do. The longer your individual “not to do list” becomes, the more productive your “To Do” list gets. Go ahead, and give it a try, just make sure you put a “thank you” at the end.
I never considered NO as a powerful tool in my quiver for success. I think people respect honesty over being agreeable. Thanks for the word of wisdom.
Thank you Tyler. I KNOW your are using those arrows in your quiver for maximum success!
No, when said to an existing client is very difficult, especialy when that client could produce $300K+ in commissions. About six months ago we terminated an assignment with a client that is leasing 25,000 SF. After nine months of considering and touring many possible buildings to purchase the President of our client company told us they wanted to focus on leasing up to 35,000 SF in another building. This was music to our ears. That euphoria lasted about two months when they wanted to look at every possible property for sale or land to develop. The process developed into our client wanting to look at properties that they could not afford. After a few rounds of this we finally said “NO”. It was tough but the right decission. NO is right sometimes! Just say NO.
Henry Hagendorf
I am independent. I like to do everything myself since I know that it will then be done to my satisfaction. This leads me to completing tasks that a $12/hr support staff could do. This is not a good use of my time – or the company’s time for that matter. Thanks for the reminder, Rod.
Great idea to do a “Not to do list”. Here’s mine so far. 1) Say “No” to overpriced listings. 2) Before I get involved in a task, evaluate what the probability of getting paid is, and if it is low, say “NO”.