When I started in commercial real estate, I spent the majority of my time trying to convince business owners and decision makers to hire our firm to represent them in their search for office space.  Unfortunately for me and other individuals getting started in the business, the reality quickly sets in that about 95% of companies in Atlanta have existing representation.  On top of that, the recession was and is causing the smaller deals to get just as much competition as the larger ones.

After the few months of work that it took to discover these inconvenient facts, I quickly learned that the only way I was going to feed myself and be able to take my girlfriend on any dates was accept the truth that what my boss meant when he said “business development” was really “go cold call you’re a$$ off”.  I decided to hit the streets hard, stop relying on just my existing network (it was going to have to get a lot bigger), and somehow get more than just the 5% of companies that don’t have representation.

Flash forward 18 months and that’s where I am now.  Made enough to eat, spent money I didn’t have to go on a couple dates (if you knew the girl you would too), and most importantly, have decided that cold calling alone is not the best way to get business.  More on that topic another time , because the point of this blog is to share what I have learned from cold calling and why I am able to still generate some business the old fashioned way.

Bottom line: there are three reasons I have landed commercial real estate business from cold calling:

1) Serendipitous Timing: It does not take long to learn that timing is 90 percent of everything in life.  I have no idea why I was fortunate enough to walk into several deals, but if you walk into enough offices, annoy enough CEO’s, and sweet talk enough receptionists, you will stumble into a few deals.

Example: Walked into an office to cold call and got shut down by them, but referred to their friend who was looking for space.  3 months later I signed my largest deal to date (12,000+sf)

2) Other Brokers Losing Touch: I hope to God someday that I have enough business to not stay in touch with my clients (although I will stay in touch), because another way I have got business is because some other broker is not telling their client what they need to.

Example: Called enough companies with more than 12 months left on their lease until I found the combo of one who had every reason to renew their lease early and the other broker was not around to tell it to them.  Two months later, renewed them for 5 years.

3) Most Business Owners Were Once Salesmen: Although this is becoming increasing less true in our society, I currently find that 1 out of every 4 or 5 business owners have a strong respect for cold calling if you do it right and have good information to bring them.  Especially those that still focus on the sales cycle themselves.

Example: Cold called a CEO and although they had nothing to do at the moment with their office spaces, he still agreed to listen.  Come to find out he spent 10+ years in sales and still trains his employees himself.  He told me he respects what I’m doing because he used to do it too. Three months later, something came up and hired me for a multi-office requirement.

Tags: Atlanta Office Space