The past two weeks I have been canvassing around some areas so I had a better idea of competitive properties, tenants and the like. It’s the task commercial brokers do when it’s too nice a day to stay in the office. It made me realize what a pain in the butt it is to look for space. I drive past an unfamiliar building because I couldn’t stop, turn around, have a tricky time getting the phone number, then I have to leave a message because the leasing 
agent isn’t immediately available – it’s hard! Then the leasing agent calls back and I have to remember what building I called him/her about. Good grief!
It all made me realize what an absolutely fabulous service I provide. I have a couple of tours coming up and my client’s only preparation is to make sure he’s wearing comfortable shoes. I’ll show up with a complete book with all the details, floor plans and photos of the buildings we’ll be visiting. I’ll drive (and I’m very safe and rarely scare anyone – too much) so the client can focus on one thing – seeing which space is the best fit.
I make sure we never see more than 5-6 properties because experience has taught me that’s everyone’s outside limit. Some folks can only tolerate 3-4 and I respect that. At the end of the tour, we spend 5-15 minute debriefing so we can determine the next step. This is such a civilized, deliberate approach. If the client wants to see something not on the tour, we can catch it on a second round or a one-off visit if it’s available.
The tour is the second step of my tenant rep process, and it’s a big step. It tells you if the grass is truly greener or if, in the words of Dorothy, “there’s no place like home”. What’s the first step you ask? Getting to know you so that this tour is as productive as possible. I would love to get to know you, so give me a call so I can save you time and money.
