I learned early in my
commercial real estate career to always ask the follow up question: “Can I assist you anywhere else?”.
My first CORFAC/out of market transaction was completed in 2010. I had just assisted a client in purchasing a building in Dallas, and learned that they were trying to open up branches in Detroit, Tennessee, and Orlando by asking this simple question. I was immediately hired to assist them in those locations, and these were some of the easiest transactions I have ever worked on.
I now ask this question not only with current clients, but anyone I may run into. One company we are currently assisting over the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex had no need in their corporate location, Irving, but we uncovered that they are planning on opening multiple locations across the DFW Metroplex. We jumped on this opportunity and are working with their regional needs.
One final tactic that I use is to call on companies that have opened
commercial locations in cities near DFW and see if they have any interest on opening a location here.
It is beneficial to stay informed about our “regional market”, and be able to pitch the benefits of being in Dallas/Fort Worth rather than other cities in Texas or the Central US.
One client that comes to mind had just picked up a new account, but was located in Denver, they were thinking of moving to Memphis, Houston, or Dallas to be their “central distribution center”. We were able to convince them of the beneficial attributes of Dallas, and won the business, and moved them into a building in GSW.
Prospecting and cold-calling is something that every broker should continue to do, but every broker should try to have multiple sources or venues of where they find deals, and your current clients are a great one.
Joe Santaularia is a Market Director for Bradford Companies working the DFW Airport market specializing in
Industrial leasing and brokerage. 9400 NCX, Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75231 Ph: 972-337-9325
October 2, 2013
