Attracting new property listings is an ongoing task that requires constant focus for the commercial real estate agent. Whether they are new or old to the industry, prospecting for new listings is (or should be) ongoing. Clear tactics are required if you want to dominate your market and the other real estate agents around you.

Without new listings you cannot generate the commissions and quality of enquiry you require. What I will give you here is a well proven base plan and set of tactics for generating listing opportunity.

Understand this, the more enquiries you generate from the people you know, the better your real estate business. You have to know a lot of people to be successful in the real estate business.

With the advances in technology today you would think that this is prospecting process is easier than ever before, although some people still struggle with it.

So where can you generate the property enquiry that you need? Here is a list that will help you on the way:

Old real estate sales and leasing activity over the last few years will give you the names and dates of transactions that will soon potentially come back in the market. That means you should use the old property sales and leasing records from your region as a base of fresh prospecting and cold calling. Most investment property will change hands every 5 to 7 years. It is a cycle that allows you to target properties that have been held for some time by the same owners. They are likely to need your help soon.
Business owners may lease or own their premises. Make the call to these people or drop in at their offices to find out what they need and want in the way of property.
Walk the streets that contain the good properties and the good businesses. Leave your business card and pick up the business card of all the managers or proprietors.
Ask the people you meet in the local businesses about the local properties around them and any changes that they know about. This is a great source of market intelligence. They know the market around them better than you do.
Vacant land should always be researched as to the owner and what they are doing about the property. You can put your sign on vacant land if the owner lists their property with you. The more signs you get up the better for your market image and market share.
Old property listings that other agents have failed to sell or lease should be monitored in case the listing can be reactivated. As part of this keep a tally on the time on market for the listings. This will tell you when the market is changing with certain listing types.
Make cold calls on developers, solicitors, accountants, and architects. They all have an interest in commercial property and will have clients that need help from time to time.
Rent rolls and other property managements held by other agents are prime targets for new business. By their very nature, the owners of these properties are investors, and many investors own more than one property.

You and your daily activities are at the center of this prospecting process. Prospecting is hard for some people given that the level of self-discipline required is high. Many salespeople will find something else to do that is easier. Any excuse will do to avoid prospecting. Many salespeople will take the easy prospecting process of dropping flyers and sending generic mail to hundreds of local businesses where they do not follow up. Does this really work? Yes but only to a minor degree and the road to success is slow.

You have to talk to people if you want to fast track your listings and opportunity.

If you take on this challenge and practice your prospecting processes until they are second nature, then you will create better results. As you improve, the more meetings and presentations you can do, and this leads to listings.

It pays to keep a running tally of your calls, meetings, and conversions to listings. This helps you understand when you are getting better at the prospecting process. So who are you going to call? This is the research part of the prospecting model and every day you do a bit more research into the properties and the areas that you are interested in. This also helps you understand what is going on in your area.

New property listings help you build your database. It is the database that will bring you so much market share and qualified enquiry. The bigger and more accurate your database, the more people you can call when some enquiry or opportunity arises. Your database is a very personal thing and should be maintained by you personally. This helps you take ownership of the process.