How many corporate dollars have
flown out the window during the past
five or 10 years because of ill-advised real estate decisions? Don’t know? A trusted real estate adviser can correct mistakes
and lock that window tight.
“Within an overall corporate budget, the
real estate component is a very large cost
factor,” says Mark Talley, vice president of
Grubb & Ellis Company’s Office Group.
“Corporate executives often don’t realize
the impact that real estate decisions can
make on the bottom line. A lot of the benefits come down to your adviser’s credibility, reliability, accuracy and dedication.”
Smart Business talked to Talley about
how to find a trusted real estate adviser
and what traits he or she should possess,
ultimately saving you time and money.
How might a corporate executive approach
finding the right trusted adviser?
The most common way is to ask your
peers for referrals. You want to find someone who cares. Since we are talking about
the advice business, you have to establish a
relationship built on trust.
Why should companies have an ongoing
relationship with a trusted real estate professional?
An executive may not be trained in real
estate. If the adviser has the ability to pick
up the nuances of your business, you’ve
found someone who takes away the worries of dealing with real estate issues.
In-house corporate specialists can certainly be capable, and working hand-in-hand with an outside real estate adviser
completes the package in terms of experience, specialty market knowledge and
core competencies. Trusted real estate
advisers may also have access to resources
like research, benchmarking trends, specialized advice and national support.
What qualities should a trusted real estate
adviser possess?
He or she must have the ability to engage.
Professionals and business leaders have a finite amount of time, so a good adviser
must demonstrate — through past performance and referrals — the right to even
sit in the executive’s office. Moreover, the
adviser has to possess some accountability
and a level of trust with you. That includes:
- the ability to listen and then frame the
issue; - the ability to envision the goal; and
- a level of commitment to really attack
your problems.
The adviser also must treat the client’s
information with the utmost confidentiality. For instance, if I’m doing a land search
and the seller finds out the identity of the
potential buyer, the price can go up.
Maintaining that high level of trust allows
you to rightfully assume that certain proprietary information won’t be used against
you.
If real estate decisions and changes don’t
come around very often, why establish an
ongoing relationship?
No one can tell the future. Things change
over time. A company that may have 20,000 employees today might shrink to 10,000
employees, or it could boom and outgrow
its facilities before the end of the lease
term. So real estate is really an ongoing
consideration. The adviser is someone
who can identify industry trends and project what your needs may be, so that when
tomorrow rolls around, you’re not in a
reactionary mode.
For example, early in my career, one
client was seeking a $100,000 property. In
the years since, that client has been able to
realize more than $11 million in savings
and eliminate a loss by repositioning some
of its real estate and filling in a budget gap
of more than $30 million. That wouldn’t
have been possible without having someone who was easy to share ideas and information with, who can do it without wasting
time or words.
What can you expect from a trusted adviser?
You can have the confidence that you will
receive accurate, unfiltered and honest
information. Many of your needs will be
anticipated, and opportunities will be presented to you first. A trusted adviser takes
the time to understand your business,
knows your strategy moving forward and
shares your goals. The trust obtained
through a genuine relationship frees you to
focus on your core business and be confident that your adviser is doing what is best
for your organization.
The amount of contact between you and
your adviser may vary. Generally, the adviser should be calling or visiting you at least
bimonthly, if for no other reason than letting you know that he or she is dedicated to
your success in the long term. You can also
expect your adviser to provide status
reports for projects at a frequency that is
useful to you.
MARK TALLEY is vice president of the Office Group in Grubb Ellis & Company’s Detroit office. Reach him at (313) 350-5820 or
[email protected].
