"The commercial market is an important, growing and changing opportunity today. Buddy Norman's 12 practical and critical business tactics are an imperative for the success of the commercial broker in their brokerage practice to seize the opportunity and excel."  Stewart Morris, Jr., President and Co-CEO, Stewart Title

"Not only an extraordinary, pertinent publication for the times we face, but also a super guide for new comers and a refresher for those who have labored long and hard in the commercial real estate industry."  Henry F. White, Jr., Executive Vice President and CEO, CCIM Institute

Companies are reluctant to move and they are cautious about hiring. So if demand for your office space is proportional to employees requiring Back Bay office space, your problem is about getting to the market that cares about your product.

1. Higher asking prices act as a barrier to entry. It's true that the larger your buyer pool, the more likely you'll receive the final sale price you desire.  Lower prices encourage participation by as many people as possible.
2. The increase in buyer activity afforded by the lower asking price buyers acts as social proof to other prospective buyers that the opportunity is valuable. Remember, everyone wants what everyone wants.
3. Buyers who spent time with an opportunity early on are likely spend more time and effort trying to buy. They're playing not to lose.  If they've  spent time and energy investigating the opportunity, they're more likely to stay with it and pay more.

• Start with a lower asking price.  Yes, it may feel awkward, but it works.
• Don't participate in a "no asking price" offering. You'll alienate buyers who need guidance in the opportunity and don't have transparency into how much demand exists for the property. Plus, it will upset them and they'll refuse to compete for the opportunity, perceiving it to be a waste of time.
• Make sure your commercial real estate broker provides your buyers and tenants with social proof for the opportunity by sharing metrics about lead flow, tours, proposals, etc.  Again, everyone wants what everyone wants.
• Never limit your offering to a narrow pool of buyers.  Ask your broker if your opportunity is being offer to his "list of buyers" or the entire market.  Many buyers and brokers like the limited pool of buyer approach because the broker doubles his commission and does less work.  The buyers have less competition among each other. Ultimately, you pay more.  Insist that your opportunity be made available to the entire market immediately to generate the highest interest level possible.

• Binary (yes/no) answers provide transparency into your deal.  You discover what's possible and what's not, allowing you to move your process forward.
• It’s simple, limited in scope, and easy to understand. An owner wants to sell or he doesn't.  You want to buy or you don't.
• “Maybe’s” and “I’ll think about it” are worthless.  The deal’s available or it isn’t. Most property owners are card players.  Their favorite expressions are designed to delay decision making for as long as possible while they gather more information from you and decide whether they want to do business.  These expressions are polite ways for them to say "no".  Give them permission to say "no" when you first meet, telling them there are no hard feelings if the opportunity is not a fit.  Not only will you diffuse the situation, but you'll uncover reasons why the deal may work for both of you.
• With yes and no answers, you attain superior market intelligence because you see “what’s really out there.” When you obtain a yes/no outcome for  deals you evaluate, you gauge return expectations in the market, price flexibility, term possibilities, and an understanding of the problems owners face as well as whether you can solve them.
• You accelerate your investment decision making and avoid wasting time on dead-end opportunities.
• It’s guaranteed to produce investment opportunities unique to you.   If you're evaluating and opportunity that has been reviewed by many of your competitors and the answers they obtained were "maybe", "I'll think about it", "Why don't you come back to me with something", then no commitments exist for moving the conversation forward.  When you obtain a yes/no outcome with the opportunity, you choose to spend more time with the deal or move on, thereby increasing the number of opportunities you evaluate and likelihood for success.
• When you have more information than anyone else, you minimize your risk and maximize your return.
• Because no is a difficult word to say and when you or your adversary may be uncomfortable, therein lies your opportunity to unlock value.

Here are 3 steps to ensure that your deal survives the transition of the meeting of the minds to the written word.