Disclaimer:I have been thinking long and hard about this article for several weeks now. What I do not want to achieve is a reaction that causes a mass dissemination with fellow commercial brokers. I would like you all to have an open mind when reading this and think about the possibilities that are out there.
Alright, enough of the disclaimer, let’s jump right into it all.
The old 80/20 rule says that 80 percent of the workforce does 20 percent in the business, and 20 percent of the workforce does 80 percent of the business.
Now, knowing that, let’s take a step into that 20 percent who do most if not all of the work (get deals done in our case).
Of that 20 percent, here is the breakdown in question. 90 percent of those dealmakers are full of you know what, and 10 percent actually are telling the truth. This is the area of caution. To break this down further, that means that ten (10) percent of the original 20 percent (or 2 percent total) actually know and care what they are talking about.
Brokers in today’s real estate marketplace are saying things that they do not even know if it is true or not, and they are saying things that would cause a prospective client to make a decision based off of, knowing that is false to begin with. Some brokers call this spin selling, but I would call this pigeon poop. (short for bu**s***)
example: A prospective tenant is looking for a great A+ location, and the location you represent is at best B-, but you tell the prospect that some only A+ tenants are coming in (ie Starbucks, Jamba, Target, Brinker flags, Williams-Sonoma, Dillard’s, etc.), and the broker knows this is not true in any shape or form.
sidenote: I was talking with some dealmakers at a conference the other day. One dealmaker was requesting some client needs, the other dealmaker was telling how all these A+ tenants are coming in. I was listening quietly to the conversation unfold. The broker was explaining the location (which I know well and is B+ at best), and was trying to sell the other broker on how great the location would be for their client. The dealmaker went onto explain how ‘several’ A+ only tenants are coming in, and this peaked the interest of the prospective dealmaker. As I sat and listened to this dealmaker spew such a line of pigeon poop to the other, I began to think, what has the world come to, just to get a tenant, you would blatantly lie to the other broker to convince them on why they should do this deal. That is flat out pigeon poop. This is the 90 percent I was talking about earlier.
What I am proposing is that brokers in today’s marketplace will achieve greater results by simply telling the truth, and here is why.
With the economy the way it is, not all tenants are looking for A+ locations right now, and when they are able to, they are savvy enough (having lived through this economy struggle) to never pay A+ location rents again. So, the prospective tenants and their brokers are looking for great B to B+ locations, with C to B pricing structures. This means that if you are feeding the pigeons (there it is again), then you are likely to scare away rental income from your location to another location. Why not just tell them what your location is all about, the real quality, and let them decide on their own?
You never know what they are looking for, and if you throw-up on them about how great and grand your location is, you may as well kiss that deal goodbye. Prospective tenants will see right through that line of transparent pigeon poop and move on to the next locale.
The 80/20 rule has just been changed, due in large part by the business practices of the 90 percent (of the 20 percent) not giving the truth to begin with.
Breakdown: 2% of the brokers in today’s economy are actually telling the truth and getting deals done! I applaud you for sticking to your moral and ethical duties, keep up the good work and you will achieve great things!
Math: 100 percent > 80 percent do hardly any business, 20 percent get business done > 90 percent are pigeon poop, 10 percent are telling the truth and are successful because of it = 2% success rate in today’s commercial brokerage.
That is something to think about…
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