This is the 4th installment of my 4 part blog series on CRE Leasing myths debunked. We have already covered Posting and Hoping, Somebody Else Will Lease My Property, Weekly Reporting is Enough, and we now finish the series with the well-known cre leasing myth, Taking Tenant Reps to Lunch. This series has explored these common myths and shed light on what you should focus on when it is your job to get a commercial property leased.
Myths About Leasing Your Property – Taking Tenant Reps to Lunch
· Taking tenant reps out to lunch is enough.
Let’s debunk this Myth!
· I’m hoping I don’t cause a lot of restaurants to go out of business. It seems to be a strange phenomenon that has owners and their representatives spending so much money and time wooing tenant representatives instead of tenants that are in their property and tenants that are in the competitive properties. An example would be that a market that has six 100,000 square foot buildings and all of them average 80% occupancy. You’re property needs 20,000 square feet. There are six competitive properties, which means you have 480,000 square feet to work with. Assuming this space rolls evenly over five years, you have 96,000 square feet to work with for just 20,000 square feet! Most properties are deemed full at 90% so, you really only need 10,000 square feet.
So why not consider taking your existing tenants and/or tenants in the competing properties to lunch? In fact, if you have food service on-site or can cater in a lunch to your building, get those tenants to come over and tour your property and have a nice lunch served. The point is you should have a good handle on your competing properties so why not reach out to those potential prospects and woo them. Yes, taking tenant reps to lunch is a good thing, but an even better approach is to create an outreach program and campaign targeting the most viable prospects for your building in the competing properties those tenants may likely come from? When you are leasing a property and you are the leasing agent, it is your outreach and your aggressiveness that will get your property leased. Do not take tenant reps to lunch hoping that they will magically find the tenant for you!
“Successful People Do What Unsuccessful People Won’t”
Image “Travel Flat Icon. Restaurant” by Sira Anamwong courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net