Starting in CRE after transitioning from Door to Door sales
Hello Everyone,

I recently started as a commercial agent for a commercial division of a well known nationwide real estate company. I previously did door to door sales for two years before being recruited by the broker in charge of this office who worked with our family friend. He is going to be my mentor and we have two meetings per week to discuss how things are going.

The overall atmosphere at the office is great with everyone trying to teach me information and offering to answer questions I have, so I feel lucky to have found a great company. So far in the beginning, I have just been doing training videos from the company, in addition to doing a ton of reading online about various strategies.

I have a few questions that I was hoping some of you could help me out with.

1. I am also working on a database of all the retail properties (leaning towards retail as specialty) in my area and attaching all owner info I can find on CoStar. Is this a good way in the beginning of my career to learn the market and also discover who the key players are?
2. Is cold calling the most effective prospecting method?   I have seen mixed reviews about cold calling not only on this sub, but also in prospecting articles online. I am just curious to hear if there are better methods (emailing, social media prospecting, canvassing).
3. What are the two most important things a new agent needs to do to be successful?  I enjoy hearing the different answers from industry veterans on this, so any responses would be great.
4. Is it better to pick a specific niche or remain a generalist?

Any responses would be greatly valued and appreciated, and I thank you for taking the time to read my post.
[{"id": "ikhh4j1", "text": "1. CoStar is fine for learning but don\u2019t take their information for gospel. For more accurate information search the county parcel viewer and look up owner info on Secretary of State. \n2. Cold calling is by far and away the best business development tactic. Anyone that tells you differently is wrong in my opinion plain &amp; simple. Now, if you can combine cold calling with some form of social media presence and email drip campaign that is even better. Coming from door knocking picking up the phone shouldn\u2019t be too hard. The more you do it the better you get. \n3. Loaded question and there are plenty of right answers as to what makes a new agent successful but I\u2019ll give a few. First, try to learn and be a sponge. Learn from your mentor and work with/get advice from multiple brokers as I have found everyone has different strong suits &amp; straegies that make them successful. You will eventually piece these together and make a style of your own. That and being consistent as well as disciplined - this is a business that has almost zero instant gratification. Accept it now, put your head down and grind. \n4. Unless you are in a tertiary market (and maybe even then) it is imperative that you pick a niche in my opinion. CRE is so competitive that you need to specialize to help differentiate yourself. Plus further down the line in addition to picking up the phone another main stream of business development will be referrals &amp; being specialized in a niche helps said referrals show up at your doorstep. \n\nGood luck!", "replies": [{"id": "ikj5uqo", "text": "Would you say that its best to pick a niche and study the market and all of the sales from a certain time period (last 12-24 months possibly) before starting to prospect and cold call? I don't want to start prospecting until I know the market and am prepared to answer questions that might arise. The one thing I don't want to do is start prospecting then make myself look like a fool, if that makes sense.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ikj6ahq", "text": "Following up on cold calling being the best, I am assuming the best approach is to try and get to know the potential client and their needs before going into the pitch regarding the sales as that is what worked best in D2D. I have been trying to figure out what the best pitch or angle would be without sounding too much like a script which would push the person away.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ikhp8wt", "text": "Commenting as a younger debt guy in a large msa.\n\nThe thing I\u2019ve seen that makes new brokers successful is literally the time put in. Starting off you need the time put in to know what you\u2019re talking about. \n\nOnce you get past that you need to put the time in to build a book and get your name out there. In the end our industry boils down to time put into relationships, and I cannot stress that enough. \n\nI wouldn\u2019t worry so much about being \u201csuccessful\u201d in your first year as I would learning. Latching onto an experienced broker who will teach you the ropes should be your #1 priority.", "replies": [{"id": "ikj5jsz", "text": "Yeah, I am just trying to research everything in order to take everything in and process it as best I can. Luckily, a few brokers in the office have been teaching me so far and more then willing to help out in any way. And luckily before joining, when I was discussing this career path with the broker, I was led with the right mindset in knowing that it's important to have a good amount of financial security for the first year because you prolly won't make anything as you are learning and that the knowledge from the first year is more valuable.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]