By RON BARNESS, CEO
Principal, Retail Brokers, Inc. (RBI) & Barness Papas Investments
June 2007
We in the commercial real estate industry in the metro-Phoenix area have been fortunate over the last few years to be successful in our business. The state’s residential housing growth and strong economy have enticed businesses and major retailers to the Valley, allowing Phoenix to become a main contender in the national commercial real estate landscape.
In part because of our state’s positive and consistent growth, there are many experienced and aggressive brokers in our industry, and many have found that success is not always easy to come by, particularly when market conditions fluctuate. You’ll notice that the few who are most successful and well-known in the industry are those who are actively involved in our community – serving as industry experts at events, participating in charity functions and other philanthropic endeavors and participating on the boards of state or city organizations. Being well rounded and knowledgeable about the different facets of our community that have an impact, direct or peripheral, on our business is a major part of building present and future success.
I have found that during my 20+ years in the industry, that without taking an active role in your community, you can only go so far and only be so successful. This is especially true in the commercial real estate industry, where the value of leveraging our relationships with local municipalities, community groups and philanthropic organizations can make or break us in the business. To quote a line from a popular movie – “The key to this business is personal relationships.”
Many of us overlook the importance of giving a percentage of our time to involvement outside of the workplace. This is not only crucial to build your business’ name (or your name) in the industry, it is also vital to building relationships, retaining employees and to truly be a subject-matter expert on the social and political issues that may affect your clients and your business.
Building relationships has immediate and lasting effects. Being a good community neighbor and actively participating in making your local neighborhood a better place has a ripple effect. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it can also build your brand recognition and can help you recruit and retain employees. By sponsoring a local event, speaking at an industry-specific conference or serving as the chairperson of a local board, potential new employees will recognize that your company is reputable and a good corporate citizen – something highly-valued by many. In doing this, you are also reinforcing to your current employees that your company is a place they can be proud to work.
The same goes for actively pursuing and sustaining relationships with your local municipalities and the groups that impact commercial growth. To be a big player, you need to stay on top of the issues that may affect your clients: landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers, builders – whomever they may be.
There are many avenues to take here. You can be involved with your Chamber of Commerce, a planning committee for your town or city or local professional/industry organizations. Securing a role in one of these groups may give you the opportunity to fight for the issues that are important to you and your clients. It will also give you the insight necessary to make clients immediately aware of the issues that can directly or indirectly affect their businesses.
Success is determined by more than how many signs you have in the dirt. It’s based on the relationships you have built with the most important key stakeholders that influence and affect your business. It’s about effectively and strategically building and managing relationships; it’s about learning what is most valuable to your key publics and contributing to the betterment of your local community.
Retail Brokers, Inc. (RBI) is the largest and most active retail-focused commercial real estate brokerages in Arizona, and one of the largest in the Southwest. RBI opened its doors in Scottsdale, Ariz. in 1994, and has since expanded with regional offices in California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.