Getting the meeting

Since starting Mercero, we've worked with 100s of brokers on building databases that generate leads. We've seen what works. We've seen how new brokers get their first client and how teams doing over 10M a year in fees operate. We've got a lot of knowledge to share, but we'll start with the most commonly asked question: how do I generate more commercial real estate leads?

Step 1: Gather the correct information. 

This is the most tedious and time-consuming part, yet it is the most important part in generating new leads. You need to see an owner's portfolio and have their phone number and email address. Start small, become an expert in a submarket and product type, and then expand. 

People use various methods to build a database of correct information; here are the ones we see most frequently.

• Commercial real estate databases: Costar, Reonomy, and Crexi

• Contact information databases: Zoominfo, Apollo, White Pages, Fast People Search, etc.

Those are the easy ways to get a lot of information at once, but some people are much harder to find. For those people, you’ll often start on your county's assessor’s website to get a hint of ownership. From there, you’ll need to search the mailing address, owning LLC, etc., and follow the breadcrumbs until you know who owns it. 

Step 2: Engage with your list

After data is entered into Mercero, start emailing owners at least once a month about interesting things happening in their submarket. Make this hyper-targeted to their neighborhood. 

Different parts of even a submarket can be drastically different. These don’t need to be crazy market reports; the most effective are three bullet points about interesting developments, comps, etc. in their area.

Step 3: Start tracking the people engaging with your content

Mercero will track who opens your emails and when, giving you a perfect list of cold calls. Start calling owners and connecting. Take detailed notes, and never forget to follow up. Many owners will say, “Not interested in selling right now? Call me in a few months.” Always call them back in a few months. Mercero makes this easier than any other CRM.

Step 4: Repeat this playbook for years.

It’s a lot of work and sucks, quite frankly, but this can be done in 1 hour per day. If you consistently provide value to clients and prospects, the rest will take care of itself.

The best brokers realize that the daily data they collect through conversations with landlords, developers, the city government, and other brokers builds the foundation for their business.

And they realize the best relationships are built on bringing constant value to one another. 

For brokers, their value 99 times out of 100 is information: a unique look into the market, creative deal structuring, or inside information. Collect that information and consistently deliver it to the right people.