A story on expertise, process, and relationships…
Recently, I was at an event where my value proposition was raised. I have to admit that I had not given it much thought since founding my company over three years ago. It motivated me to revisit it and in doing so, I thought sharing my value proposition with you would make you think about yours, or give you a better understanding of why we – commercial real estate brokers – get out of bed every morning. So, let’s dive in: why hire a commercial real estate broker?
No need for brokers?
My business is commercial real estate and real estate, in general, gets a bad rap – and that is unfortunate. I’ve heard people say that as brokers, we are no better than used car salesmen. (No offense to all of you great car salesmen out there.) I’ve heard and seen people say that there is no need for brokers. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
Getting the best deal
One of the fundamental problems with commercial real estate is that no one understands what we do as brokers. Brokers like myself are dealmakers. We are hungry and thrive on the deal, putting one together, dealing with many complex problems and hoping and praying that the transaction you are working on gets to the closing table. In more technical terms: we provide agency. Just as you would call a residential broker to buy or sell your home, commercial real estate brokers do the same, but with more complex properties, typically of a commercial nature (retail, office, industrial and multi-family apartments). So we represent buyers and sellers of commercial real estate the same way that your residential real estate broker represents you when you buy or sell a home. We want the best deal for our clients – for you.
Not just sales, leasing commercial real estate
In addition to representing buyers and sellers of commercial real estate, we also represent owners and occupants of commercial real estate in leasing transactions. Think of the same buyer and seller, but replace it with tenant or landlord. The tenant is the one seeking space and the landlord is the one who wants their space filled. We have the same fiduciary duty as with representing buyers and sellers, and shockingly enough, there is compensation tied to the transaction just like a typical buying or selling transaction.
So why hire a commercial real estate broker?
So now that you have an overview of what we do and how we help individuals and companies, the question remains what makes us different. Why choose us? Why call us? This at the root is the value proposition. First off, we are experts and we bring that expertise to your transaction. We have not only formal education specifically designed to commercial real estate (CCIM), we have over a decade of transactional experience. We have the ability to interpret and solve problems quickly and efficiently. We have the data and information from a local market to a regional larger market. We use and analyze this data to help owners and occupants make wise and sound commercial real estate decisions.
Second, we have a process. In the TV show “The Profit”, the star of the show often talks about both the people and the process. We have a process that works, drilled down to a more tangible example, when listing a property we know exactly what to do, from start to finish. We look to work with our property owners to bring the best price possible and do it in a timely manner through a process.
Relationships
Third, we have relationships. When we have issues, we need to know who to call and who can resolve them. This only comes with both time and experience. I attended a fairly large retail event every year in Charlotte. I enjoy going and while most attendees are focused on deal-making, which is great, I am focused on relationships. I am focused on knowing that when something comes up in the western part of the state that people will want to call me. Not because I want in as part of the deal, but to ask for advice, for counsel, for guess what, expertise. So the point here is that locally or regionally we have the relationships to accomplish goals and objectives.
So with that said, we bring a new and improved value proposition. One that we think adequately conveys in a nutshell what we do and how we can help.
