One of the requests that you’ll hear frequently from property owners is, “Can you send me some comps?”, or “Can you put together a market report for me?”
Yes, you definitely can.
But how you deliver that information can make a tremendous difference in whether it helps you to win future business from the person, or have the information just become another forgotten file for them.
Whenever possible, your first objective should always be to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the person to deliver the report. You can tell them that you’d like to personally walk them through the report so you can explain what the numbers really mean, and answer any questions that they might have.
This is important, because giving someone data, without the proper interpretation of it, can be limiting.
So when you’re sitting across the table from an owner, you can explain why one comparable sale is more meaningful than another one, you can discuss market trends, point out opportunities they may not have noticed, and answer the questions that will naturally come up around all of this during a one-on-one conversation.
More importantly, you’re building a relationship with the person face-to-face, and that’s much harder to do when you’ve never met them, and you’re just sending them the information by email.
And unfortunately, not every owner you’d like to meet with, will agree to take your meeting.
Some will tell you that they’re too busy, and others will say, “Just email it to me.”
Then when this happens, I’d encourage you to take the following approach…
Instead of emailing the report to them, offer to print it out, put a nice cover on it, place it in a professional envelope, and then mail it to them.
But you may be asking me, “Why should I do this?”
Because receiving a physical, printed report from you, will make a greater impression, than simply emailing a PDF file to them.
With this in mind, think about your own experience. How many emails do you receive every single day? Tens, or maybe even hundreds?
And important emails can disappear beneath the next wave of incoming messages, within minutes, or within just hours.
But sending them a printed report…that’s different!
First of all, the owner has to physically pick it up in their hands. They thumb through the pages, they may leave it on their desk, conference table, or credenza, but it becomes a visible reminder of both the information, and of the broker who sent it to them.
So while your competitors may be just emailing your prospects PDF files, which will mostly be forgotten soon, you, on the other hand, are sending the same owners printed reports, which will stick around longer, and maybe even get filed away along with the owner’s other information on the property, together with your contact information in the report.
Now that can be powerful, as your marketing will then continue on, long after you’ve mailed them the report!
And you just never know when they’ll be thinking of selling their property, and they’ll go to the property file, and there will be your report along with your contact information, right at the time they’re thinking that they really need to talk to a broker.
So remember that your objective isn’t just to deliver information, it’s to make an impression on the prospect, so that they remember you over the long run, above and beyond your competitors.
And, if you’d like to, you can still follow-up with them soon after sending them the printed report, by then sending them the PDF file of the report, too, in case they’d like to have one, which will then give you one more opportunity to contact them, while providing them with courteous, additional service as a broker.
With this in mind, and in closing, taking small, incremental actions like this one, when collectively all taken together, can become what separates you from the pack of all the other brokers, and have you stand out as being the best choice that your prospects could ever make in a commercial real estate broker.
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If you’re interested in one-on-one coaching, having me do a one-hour strategy session with you, or in having me lead a webinar or a training for your organization, send me an Email or give me a call!
“Jim’s coaching has gotten me back on track with doing my prospecting, and he’s given me solid ideas that are helping both me and my team to become even more productive.”
Robert Flores
CBRE