You can actually win the competition of commercial real estate agents with these tricks
(Notes from 20+ years in the trenches)
I’ve been in commercial real estate brokerage for over twenty years… and in that time, I’ve seen just about everything. I’ve watched excited new agents jump in, get overwhelmed, and quit within a few months. I’ve watched others hang on for a couple of years but never really build the business—or the life—they imagined CRE would give them.
So I put together some simple notes that show the path most people don’t take… but should.
No fluff. No theory. Just what actually works.
(And if you prefer video, I broke it down here too: https://youtu.be/qBm_Jv1n5Pk?si=LtVnDE2rUX8cttCy )
Pick Your Market — Then Shrink It Smaller
Highlight this one and bookmark it.
Too many new agents say things like- “I do retail in all of LA.” Or “My market is the whole city, any asset class. How can I help you?”
No it’s not. And it never will be. There’s an old adage: Jack of all trades, master of none. Your clients want to work with the masters.
Your market needs to be small enough that you can actually own it.
Pick an area near your office or your home—somewhere you actually understand.
Study it. Know the deals. Know the players. Know the comps, the velocity, the rents.
Make sure there’s enough deal flow and a price point to justify your time.
Become the person for that pocket, not the whole city.
Master Your Market Before You Make a Single Call
Everybody wants to skip this. Don’t, as it’s the foundation of your entire career.
Before you touch a phone, you should know:
What properties are on the market
Average days on market
List price vs. sale price
Building sizes and vintage
Who owns what
What’s happening in the neighborhood (new tenants moving in, new developments going up, etc.)
And yes—go to the street fairs, ribbon cuttings, community events.
Walk the streets. Meet the owners, meet the tenants.
When someone picks up the phone, you want to be able to say more than, “Hey, are you selling?” Ask more about what the client is experiencing, what their thoughts of the market are, and more importantly any pain points you may be able to address for them.
Market knowledge = conversion power.
Create Content (But Don’t Overthink It!!!)
Cold calling matters and it always will.
Your digital presence is a cheat code that can boost your presence, and when combined with cold calling can improve conversion rates, or even better, create in-bound leads for you.
Most CRE agents don’t do any content—so the bar is low.
Start with two platforms in the beginning (LinkedIn should be one). Rotate through three types of posts:
Personal brand: Who you are, what you stand for
Your market: Updates, wins, listings, activity
Your asset class: Insights, trends, mistakes, how-tos
If you have a website, keep blogging.
Consistent blogging increases traffic by 45%.
And learn the skill of “proof stacking”- Case studies + testimonials + real data = credibility without hard selling.
The biggest thing to remember when creating content is why. You are not doing this for likes/entertainment, you are looking to bring value and therefore leads.
Use Your Tech — Actually Use It
A CRM is not an address book.
It’s your second brain.
Store every conversation, birthday, lease expiration, dog’s name, reminder, and follow-up.
Top producers use their CRM twice as much as the average agent.
That’s not a coincidence.
Be Ridiculously Responsive
This alone separates you from more than half the industry.
Here are the stats to remember:
Responding within 5 minutes makes you 21x more likely to turn a lead into an opportunity.
Responding within 1 minute increases conversions by 391%.
People hire the agent who answers.
Even if you’re in a meeting, have someone acknowledge the lead and set a callback.
Just don’t disappear.
Build and Use Your Email Database
Your database should hear from you every 17–19 days.
But send emails that matter.
Segment your list:
Developers – Brokers – Tenants – Existing Clients
Each group needs a different message.
Done right, your database becomes your #1 asset.
Network With Intention
Don’t drift around shaking hands.
Think about who actually moves the needle in your niche.
Investment sales = CPAs, business managers, financial advisors.
Retail = Franchise reps, expansion directors, tenant reps.
Intentional networking = real deal flow.
Build a Daily Routine You Can Stick To
Consistency beats talent.
Here’s the structure I used when I was doing investment sales:
8:30–11:00 — Cold calls
11:00–12:00 — Return calls
Lunch
Afternoon — More calls + deal work
End of day — Emails + follow-ups
Adjust based on your asset class.
(Trust me, retail tenants aren’t picking up at 8:30 AM.)
Have a plan — follow it.
Deliver Exceptional Value (Always)
Want more referrals, repeat deals, and loyal clients?
Provide value even when there’s no deal on the table.
This morning I told an agent:
“Send broker opinions of value to past clients. Everyone wants to know what their property is worth.”
Value → trust → business.
Stay a Student (Forever)
Every morning over coffee, I flip through:
CoStar News, GlobeSt, Yahoo Finance, QSR Magazine, FSR Magazine, Plain Vanilla Shell, and my guilty pleasure—contemporist.com.
By concentrating on news in my asset class and sub-market it only takes ten to fifteen minutes. But it keeps me sharp all day.
If you want longevity in this business, stay curious. Stay informed.
If you do even half of what’s on this list, you’ll already be operating above most of the industry.
The path to the top isn’t complicated.
It’s just rarely followed.
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Show up. Stay consistent. Learn your market. Tell the world you exist.
And always—always—bring value.
