SIOR Special Report: Retaining Clients for the Long Haul
Top brokers shared their favorite strategies. ChatGPT was asked to answer, too. Spoiler alert: Brokers knew better.
No two brokers, even those working in the same industry vertical in the same market, have the exact same method of building meaningful client relationships. That’s why one of the hottest topics at this year’s Society of Industrial and Office Realtors’ Fall event was sharing the best tips and tricks on how to do so.
One panel at the Los Angeles conference, titled “Retaining Tenant Rep Clients in Today’s Ultra-Competitive Environment,” featured some of the nation’s top brokers. Each one was asked a question and then had their answer compared to the same question prompted to ChatGPT.
Reinforcing relationships
The first question of the panel, asked to Michael Feuerman, managing director at Berger Commercial Realty, prompted him to explain how acting as a fiduciary reinforced his client relationships. In response, he explained that being a fiduciary means many things, including putting the client’s needs before your own. Feuerman told a story about how, in one instance, shielding a client from a potentially irresponsible tenant lost him two large fees. But, years later, he still represents that client due to their trust in him.
“It means giving advice that sometimes isn’t in the broker’s best interest,” Feuerman explained. ChatGPT, on the other hand, gave more summarized and generic advice, telling brokers to explore alternatives to deals.
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Another question, posed to Walter Robinson, president at Robinson Commercial Real Estate, similarly explored the importance of long-lasting client relationships. When asked how he cultivates relationships beyond business transactions, Robinson explained how he takes it to the next level.
“My clients are my friends and my friends are my clients,” he said. In one instance, instead of arranging a client lunch, he initiated a family dinner. But, it’s important to note that not all clients want to get to that level. It’s important to treat people how they want to be treated. And ultimately, it’s a win-win.
“Keeping clients is easier, less expensive and more fun than getting new clients,” Robinson said.
ChatGPT had interesting thoughts as well, but again, more generic. The AI recommended community involvement, sending a gift or expressing shared interests with clients.
Maintaining connections outside of new deals
Bo Hargrove, principal & vice president at Rich Commercial Realty, is more focused on relationship building than prospecting. A lot of technology for brokerage is centered around finding new clients. But Hargrove was posed a question about how he uses technology to strengthen his existing ones.
“You have to have a good CRM,” he said. And what does his CRM do to help him retain clients? A lot.
Hargrove has a list of contacts’ birthdays harbored in his. And every birthday, they get a message. He explained that, as you get older, less people start wishing you a happy birthday, so it’s always nice to receive one. And the open and respond ratio is about 90 percent.
“Another low-hanging fruit that we use is Google alerts,” Hargrove said. Whenever something happens with a client, he wants to be the first to know. That way, he can continue to stay in touch and pick up the phone to give those clients a call about whatever the news may be. But, he pointed out, the key is the phone call. E-mails don’t have the same significance.
For this question, ChatGPT also had some good ideas: hosting virtual events, electronic signature management, and scheduling software and calendar links to make things easier on both ends.
Taking steps outside of just the transaction to strengthen client relationships is key. For another question, Patrick Sentner, executive vice president with Colliers, was asked about how he reinforces relationships with existing clients.
“Proving loyalty,” Sentner said.
Sometimes, this means not pitching for a competitor’s deals, or even turning down business that comes to the door. Other times it’s putting together a great proposal on an existing client relationship to continue to show the value that is being brought to the table to win future business opportunities. Because ultimately, broker-to-client relationships are far more nuanced than a one-time transaction.
ChatGPT’s answer? More generic, again. This time, the AI recommended providing key insights or sponsoring events for the client. But, as the brokers noted, you can always go deeper than that.
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