How to win in new markets

If you’re relatively new to the industry, moving into a new patch, or if you just want to know the best play when you don’t have a winning hand, then this week’s episode of the podcast will really help you.

I’m speaking to Joe Killinger, a partner of Commercial Brokers International and a CRE YouTuber with over 2,800 followers on his channel, about how you can set yourself up to win more work.

The strategies we cover will set you up to go further when you’re not the most experienced in the market and you don’t have an established relationship with the prospect.

Even if you are currently on top, taking a few moments to refresh on some of these eternally important principles will help you prepare to win the next time you’re not in the box seat. 

Enjoy episode 121 of CRE Success: The Podcast…. a transcript of the show is included for you below.

Episode transcript:

It's 2023. But are you ready for the new year?

Today's episode is all about helping you prepare for a fantastic 2023.

Hello, welcome to Episode 121 of CRE Success: The Podcast. My name is Darren Krakowiak. I help commercial real estate leaders to develop their people and to grow their business.

I hope you're feeling excited about 2023.

Today, I want to help you, whether you're someone who's super experienced, or even if you're a newbie in the industry, because we're talking all about the importance of preparation.

And preparation is one the four levers that will help you win more work. We covered those four levers in Episode 77.

Well, preparation is not exactly one of them. But being prepared or doing your homework to understand the brief is one of them.

And that is the one thing that you can do if you are not a market leader or a credible alternative to the market leader.

And if you don't have the strongest relationship in the marketplace, and if you don't want to just drop your fees in order to win work, the best thing that you can do is be more prepared than your competitors.

And like I said, this is really important if you are new to the industry.

But also, if you're moving into a new market, or if you want to start doing bigger deals, or you're starting to do work that isn't exactly like you've done in the past, and some of your experience and track record doesn't necessarily translate into this new area into this new market into this new sector, then what we're going to be talking about today, we'll help you. 

And I'm going to be helped in this conversation by Joe Killinger.

He's an amazing commercial real estate influencer with I think about 3000 people on his YouTube channel. 

He's really impressive guy who runs his own business and leads a lot of commercial real estate agents in Los Angeles.

I was lucky enough to be a guest on his show.

And as we get into this episode, you're not only going to benefit from some of what I've got to say, but importantly, you're going to benefit from a lot of the observations of Joe.

So, I hope you enjoy today's episode.

Darren Krakowiak: If you're new to a market, if you're just starting out, this is where you want to focus. Because you often don't have the relationship, you probably don't have much of a track record price, we want to try and avoid moving that pricing lever. So, the best place for you to be working is in this area of working harder on the bid than anyone else. Doing your homework on the asset, really showing that you can pull together the right team, the right resources, the right strategies, that it's going to produce a result, that's going to be most advantageous to your client. So, spending more time on the preparation of the pitch becoming a better presenter, right? Being a better presenter is a not a core commercial real estate agency skill. Anyone can be a good presenter, but certainly a good presenter can make a big difference to who is ultimately selected. So, if you can communicate, like you say your value, and do it in a way which demonstrates your strong desire and your motivation to actually win the work, then that's an area where you can focus if you're less experienced, or if you aren't doing as well in the relationship in terms of your position as a market leader. And if you want to avoid moving into the price realm.

Joe Killinger: Yeah, it's really you know, when we get it, I'll give you an example of what we do. So, we've got an agent, let's say West Los Angeles, or actually Hollywood Multifamily. We tell them, "Listen, if you're going to Hollywood Multifamily, then I want you to go out into the marketplace and tell me everything. What's currently listed? How long has it been on the market? What's sold over the last six months, price per foot, you know, average size, bed, bath, all of it?" And you know, when they're cold calling, that helps. And then when they get into the presentation, they have all that data. You know, most agents, especially the bigger companies, that have other people put the numbers together for the agents, you blow them away.

Darren Krakowiak: Yeah, I think what that's doing is you're developing your own competence. And when you've got competence, that creates confidence, right? And when you're confident that is offering a great winning ingredient that can go some way to trumping your actual level of competence, right? So, it's like this self-fulfilling cycle. So, know your stuff. Be prepared. When you first get started, you're going to need to put a little bit more work into the bin. Now I think over time, we don't want all to be just about how much work we're willing to do, because someone's probably always willing to outwork us, particularly as you get older. But at the start, you've got to do the work. And doing the work will get you the work. And once you've got the work, the work that you've got will help you get more work. So do a bit at the front end, get some of those listings, get some of those instructions, and I think you can then start moving into relying on those other levers, the relationship and also your position as a market leader, or as a credible alternative to a market leader.

Joe Killinger: I agree, I think, you know, it works well for us. And then our agents always kind of laugh a little bit, and I say, "Okay, now that you've got the market knowledge, yes, and get in front of a mirror at home tonight, and do your pitch, just do it over and over and over again. And you know, maybe start off with a glass of wine, do your pitch, but get comfortable doing it, it's dress rehearsal." And, you know, one of our agents was doing that, and, he was very nervous about it. It’s going to be his first pitch. And, he took a couple days, he rehearsed in the mirror tape on the time, the pitch was impressive. And he just rattled it all off the top of his head. You know, a lot of people need to understand their body language, it was open, communicative eye contact, everything. We didn't get it, but for somebody that would been in the business for six weeks, breeding to get that pitch was impressive to me. And so, he's going to do very, very well.

Darren Krakowiak: You've just triggered my memory on a great book that I'd recommend to your listeners, which is called "Steal The Show" by a guy named Michael Port. And this book is all about the art of presentation. And I think the tagline of the book is something like, you know, everything in your life is a performance or something to that effect. And really, really great book. He also wrote the book, which is called "Book Yourself Solid" which is all just about how to create a really sort of self-fulfilling pipeline. So yeah, really recommend "Steal The Show". And what you said about practicing rehearsal, totally agree. And also have a think about the questions that you're likely to get. And rehearsing your answers to those questions will mean that when you received the question, you're more likely to become that you'll be able to answer it with someone who looks like they've got a level of again, competence and confidence because you've already rehearsed it. But just make sure you answer the right question. Because sometimes, a few people that hears the prospect say something and they think, "Oh, I've rehearsed this. I know the answer." And then they end up answering the wrong question. So, you've got to answer the right question. But if you don't know the answer to the question, or if you haven't heard that question before, well, then write it down later. And then that can become part of your questions to rehearse the next time. Because the rehearse question is a great way to look more prepared and capable.

Joe Killinger: You know the same guy that was doing this pitch I just spoke about. He went in, and he asked to experience brokers, he said, at the head of the table, and they both sit, he goes, "Okay, fire me questions." And they did this for almost an hour. And it was incredible, what came out of that for him. So, you enter the pitch with a lot of confidence. But, you know, turns out another family member had a connection to another company, and they ended up getting it that the experience in a way this guy grew. And the matter of that couple of weeks up to that pitch, and the pitch was a whole college degrees work, you know, the way he took it and embrace the opportunity, and then learn from it. And now, it's phenomenal what he learned and the way he was willing to do the work.

Darren Krakowiak: Yeah, that's great. You know, if you can answer questions and answer them in a way, which is calm, demonstrates a capability and also, you know, not feel like you're under attack, just answer them, right? You know, just add like, water off a duck's back. You just answer them, you don't feel sort of offended, or get defensive. And you're going to get to that place. If you're prepared for the questions that come in, like having someone fire questions at you for an hour, if you can withstand that, then no prospect or presentation. And when you're pitching your business is going to sort of derail you because you're better ready, and you're prepared. 

Joe Killinger: Yeah, it's amazing that it's like you're saying all these four tips are priceless. And I want to talk about your podcast here in a second. But the preparation is the key to all this. I think it's just preparation, figuring out how you're going to bring value to this asset class, this client. And then be confidence in your ability, so you don't just count your feet. I think you're right on.