Corfac News

On the recent Office Specialty Call,  the group had a great discussion on clients.  The item on the agenda was “How Do you Hire the Right Clients?”, but the wonderful Stuart Lilien from Lansco Corporation/CORFAC International in New York pointed the conversation in a different direction: How do you fire the wrong clients?

So much time in commercial real estate is wasted by brokers who keep clients they should let go.  Time is wasted, but all brokers, especially those starting out in the industry, need to learn how to stop working for clients that are just looking for free information and have no loyalty.

A great way to solidify your position with a client is an Exclusive Representation Agreements.  Howard Greenberg of Howard Properties, Ltd./CORFAC International suggests adding the following language to representation agreements:

You (the tenant or buyer) agree not to execute a lease or other acquisition agreement until the landlord, sublessor, assignor, owner, seller, or similar party has agreed in writing to pay us a commission on terms reasonably acceptable to us.”

Another great way to weed out problem clients is by asking the advice of a senior broker.  They have the client and company knowledge to guide junior brokers to the customers they should and should not work with.  This knowledge is only gained through experience, and senior brokers will often younger brokers produce for themselves and the firm –  not waste time with people who will not make deals.