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TOP OF THE WEEK TO YOU!
(by realwired! CEO, Brenda Dohring Hicks)
Top of the Week to You! is designed to offer the inside scoop and latest of what's important in the world of technology as it relates to the commercial real estate industry. | I Hear Three Things
It's that time again. I'm off to CREW's National Convention in San Francisco. This will be the last real estate conference for me for 2010. You know the drill in this industry...Once Thanksgiving comes along, it's all downhill until the world cranks up again after the holidays. I love this about our industry.
It's been a good year at the conferences I've attended. I've met so many smart commercial real estate professionals. This week with my fellow CREW members is a nice finish.
So what did I learn by working with our industry this year? Basically we really want three things: 1. Close transactions faster. 2. Communicate with clients and others that are part of the deal more easily. 3. Have metrics for measuring the things that matter in our companies, and have those metrics updated easily and be visually available.
So like making a list for Santa (Ok, sorry to make that reference before Halloween), is there a chance we'll get what we want? Sure. But it takes some doing. Most of us like things that seem to happen somewhat automatically. We like technology that we don't have to read directions to use. We like to unwrap and go. Unfortunately to make real strides in the top three most wanted "gifts of the season", we have to put in a little work.
My mom has a poem she's repeated as a little song for as long as I can remember..."Be the labor, big or small, do it well or don't do it at all." I'll bet you have a mom or dad who has a similar "song". I know for sure that there was a source for parents to share these idioms just to make us crazy. They couldn't simply Google things. In any event, that little ditty of Mom's is really applicable here. Closing business faster, having state of the art communication and collaboration, and creating and monitoring progress takes a bit of labor. What I witnessed with the clients I helped (or sadly in some cases, tried to help), was if someone wasn't willing to put in the labor, they got results that were about equal to the input. In other words, they got what they gave.
The good news is that I found many, many more people this year who must have listened to their parents. The technologies to make people's wish lists possible got a little more mainstream too, making things easier. Just like the economy over the past couple of years brought back a sense of the basics, technology has gotten past a lot of the "wow" and into the "how".
So I'm thrilled to be winding up the year with a great conference. I'm even more thrilled about the progress that we're making as an industry. The "do it well or don't do it at all", is a ditty worth remembering because it's true, unlike some of the other things our parents tried to pass off as true!
Click here to join our blog discussion or simply shoot me an email when you get a chance. |
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Sales/Marketing Tip
Fear of Employment
Lately I've met an awful lot of people who describe themselves as "in transition". In the old days we used to describe the same thing as "out of work", "unemployed", or "between jobs". "In transition" has been around for a while now so a new euphemism must be just around the corner. I'm ready. I'm also empathetic because for more than fourteen years I've been chronically unemployed and I was only marginally employed for many years before that. Oh, and I had to go into debt in order to achieve this blissful state of non-employment.
Fourteen years ago I quit a good job working for a good company that paid and treated me well. I gave back my company car and company credit card. I mortgaged my house and used the money to buy the rights to teach the sales stuff that, along with other business related content, I still teach today. I didn't have any customers lined up. I had a desk in my den. The desk had a phone on it. In the morning I would walk from my bedroom to my den and go to work.
I networked a bunch. That's a nice way of saying that I went to events where there were groups of people and started conversations looking for people who might become my customers. I put on little seminars. Sometimes nobody came. I volunteered to do speeches for every Chamber, group and professional organization known to man. A few of them took me up on my offer. This was good except for the fact that I wasn't an experienced public speaker. I was mortified at the prospect of standing up in front of people. More than once I considered sneaking out and escaping just before I was introduced and had to walk out onto the stage.
Just about everything that I had to do was scary but I didn't have any choice. I had jumped off the bridge. My wife was counting on me. My ego was on the line and so was my money. Failure just wasn't an option.
I'm still scared. Every day I wake up with bills to pay: rent, salary, telephone... the list is long. A bunch of people have to get their money before I can get mine. On any given day I might not sell enough to pay the overhead. My finances will go backwards. The next day I'll have to sell twice as much just to break even. What a way to make a living!
Before you start feeling sorry for me, let me tell you the good part of living in fear. It has forced me to become a better judge of other people's motives. It has caused me to become more outspoken about important issues. It forced me to become less shy. It made me learn public speaking. It painted me into a corner where I had to learn to manage my time more effectively. It constantly reminds me to do the things that move the needle and let the other things ride.
This constant state of fear has made me acquire the skills and habits that have made me fairly affluent.
Every time I that meet someone "in transition" who is seeking the security of another job I say a little prayer of thankfulness. When I meet people who say that they are starting consulting practices and are in the process of getting their website together (or some other version of "getting ready to get ready") I count my blessings. Their employee-like way of dealing with their issues reminds me of my greatest asset:
I'm scared.
Copyright Mark Fitzgerald, 2009, All Rights Reserved
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Hot Deals/Leads
Planet Pizza operates seven locations throughout CT and NY. The pizzerias occupy spaces of 1,800 sq.ft. to 3,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and strip and shopping centers. Growth opportunities are sought throughout the existing market during the coming 18 months, with representation by MJB Real Estate Services Corp.For more information, contact Todd DeLuke or Rich DiDonato, MJB Real Estate Services Corp., 735 Boston Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880; Web site: www.planetpizza.com.
Sandella's LLC trades as Sandella's Café at 150 locations nationwide. The upscale, fast casual cafes offer sandwiches, paninis, quesadillas, salads, grilled flatbreads, rice bowls, smoothies, coffee and teas, and occupy spaces of 1,000 sq.ft. to 1,500 sq.ft. in strip centers and urban/downtown areas. Growth opportunities are sought throughout the existing market during the coming 18 months. Preferred cotenants include super grocery stores, bookstores, movie theaters, spas and other high volume retailers. The company prefers to locate in areas with a strong residential and daytime population. For more information, contact Walter Damilowski, Sandella's LLC, 9 Brookside Place, West Redding, CT 06896; Web site: www.sandellas.com.
Boston's - The Gourmet Pizza operates 350 locations nationwide and throughout Canada and Mexico. The full-service casual dining gourmet pizzerias, featuring a sports bar and offering gourmet pasta, wings, ribs, burgers, salads and sandwiches, occupy spaces of 6,200 sq.ft. to 7,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations, endcaps, power centers and malls. Growth opportunities are sought throughout southern CA during the coming 18 months, with representation by Retail Net Lease Properties, Inc. The company prefers to locate in freestanding locations and endcaps with a patio. For more information regarding Boston's - The Gourmet Pizza, contact Charlie Cangelosi or Tom Dose, Retail Net Lease Properties, Inc., 360 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 1020, El Segundo, CA 90245; Web sites: www.rnlp.biz or www.bostonsgourmet.com.
Quiznos Subs operates 4,000 locations nationwide. The sandwich shops occupy spaces of 1,200 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and inline spaces. Plans call for 12 to 14 openings throughout northern OH during the coming 18 months, with representation by Arnold J. Eisenberg. Typical leases run five years. A vanilla shell is required. Major competitors include Subway. For more information, contact Steve Eisenberg, Arnold J. Eisenberg, 24500 Chagrin Boulevard, Beachwood, OH 44122; Web site: www.arnoldjeisenberg.com.
Sonic Drive-In operates 3,500 locations nationwide. The fast food restaurants, offering burgers, chicken, fries and frozen drinks, occupy spaces of 1,500 sq.ft. to 1,750 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and pad sites. Plans call for 20 openings throughout southern NJ and in major metro markets throughout the central and southern regions of PA during the coming 18 months, with representation by Kahn & Co. A land area of one acre is required. For more information, contact Jim Kahn, Kahn & Co., 580 Virginia Drive, Suite 100, Fort Washington, PA 19034; Web site: www.kahnandco.com.
Like these leads? Want more? Go to the Dealmakers website for a Free Subscription. The Dealmakers, the nation's weekly news source on retail real estate.
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