There’s a lot more to being a successful commercial real estate Advisor than just having a few good suits and spending a lot of time with a cell phone glued to your ear. While it starts with thinking of yourself as an Advisor instead of just a broker that gets a deal done and moves onto the next one, after closing thousands of transactions, we’ve identified four must-have qualities that set the best Advisors apart.
1. An Allergy to No
To a large extent, commercial real estate Advisors make their living by being told “no.” It can take hundreds or thousands of unsuccessful cold calls to get to a single paycheck. For most people, “no” is an ending. Successful Advisors, on the other hand, take a “no” as a reason to go ask another question – or ask another prospect. And they keep going until they hear “yes.”
2. An Add-Value Attitude
We deal with highly sophisticated clients. Traditional sales tricks won’t work on them, while transactions are rare enough that you also can’t simply show up and hope that business will fall in your pocket. With this in mind, exemplary Advisors know that the key to building relationships that turn into transactions is to continually add value to prospects. Great Advisors earn relationships and loyalty by continually helping their clients. Whether they’re sharing a great piece of information to open up a prospecting call, sharing important market information, or helping a client to better manage their operating expenses, they put in the work in the near term to earn the fees in the long term.
3. An Ability to Find Wins
CRE negotiations are some of the most complex in the business world. Good Advisors keep their client’s interests at heart. The best Advisors also understand what the other side in the negotiation needs. That way, they can find issues that will allow that party to win while still giving their client what he or she needs to successfully consummate the transaction.
4. An Absolute Sense of Integrity
Here’s a shocker. You don’t need integrity to get into commercial real estate. You don’t even need it to make money in the field. Where you need it is if you want to stay in the industry.
Above and beyond simply being the right thing to do, integrity serves two important business purposes. The first is that it keeps you out of court. In a business where everyone can afford legal representation, it makes no sense to play fast and loose. The second is that real integrity is the most powerful brand-building tool you have. As clients see proof of your ethics over a period of years, you earn their loyalty and their referral business. If they learn that you lack it, on the other hand, your brand becomes irreparably tarnished.
Want to learn more about Sperry Van Ness Advisors’ commitment to integrity? Read through the SVN Core Covenants.
Do you think we missed anything? Let us know what you think makes a great commercial real estate Advisor below by leaving a comment!