What CRE Clients Really Want

CHICAGO—Conferences on commercial real estate usually feature many panels on current market conditions and what the future may hold, but yesterday at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s National Industrial Strength Connections summit in Chicago, Geoffrey M. Kasselman wanted to try something a little different at one of the sessions. For an afternoon presentation, the leader of the firm’s national industrial practice assembled a group that explained to the 250 attendees what clients look for in a broker.

“The thing that I stress is continuous communication,” said Gary Lindsey, managing director in NGKF’s Dallas office. And you will need to tell clients about more than the attributes of a particular property, such as “who’s buying land, and what the competition is doing that you’ve heard about.” Do that, and you will “make them look smart in their own company.” Furthermore, the 39-year veteran recommends doing this “not by e-mail, but in real life. You’ve got to get out of the office and see people. And you’ve got to send them thank-you notes. That’s a lost art.”