Why Are Some Shopping Centers Thriving In This Economy while others are failing miserably?
WARNING! The Answer May Surprise You...
Dear Fellow Property Owners,
Let's get right to the elephant, shall we. Forget the indicators, the economy still stinks. There, I said it. But can we really blame everything on this economy or that location? Now, before you dismiss me as either naive or crazy, consider what Rudyard Kipling once wrote,
"There are six million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse."
The truth is, and this may shock you... money is still being made in shopping centers, in virtually every city you can think of. And lots of it.
In fact, I personally grew my new center by 20% in one of the toughest hit markets (South Florida) in just one month! A client of mine grew occupancy by 50% in 6 months following my plan!
So why are a few leasing agents generating profits for their centers while most are struggling no matter what they do? What am I - and the agents I've trained -- doing to thrive while others around us fail miserably? The answer is actually very simple and frankly, old fashioned, but perhaps it has gotten 'lost' in the last decade when the economy boomed to such an extent that leasing agents quite literally had to answer their phone to fill a space. If your center thrived during that time - congratulations - but let's be honest about how much credit any of us actually deserve for that success.
In this new 'normal', we have to learn or relearn how to fish where the fish are and fish when the fish are hungry. How do we do this? Two ways:
The first, is to know the numbers - backwards, forwards and sideways. If your team is not tracking everything in their sales chain, how will they know what's working - and what's not. You can't fix what you don't know is broken. How much is in their plan? How many deals do they need to close to make plan? How many showings to make a deal? How many calls to get a showing? And so forth...
 As for the second way... well, if your team can walk, then they can... CANVASS!
I'll say upfront that most of the agents I meet don't like to hear this, but I make no apology for my position on canvassing. If you're not out there in a planned, strategic and committed way, then you will NOT be successful in this or frankly, any economy. Canvassing - when done right and often -- works. Period. Multiple Exclamation Points. I own properties, and I canvass every week so I quite literally put my money where my 'feet' are.
Most leasing agents have never been taught these two things (how to track and analyze their number and how to canvass effectively) so either they never get started, or they make a half-hearted attempt that lacks purpose and direction - and their results typically reflect it.
After 25 years in the business (as a Center Owner, Property Manager and former President/Director of Leasing for one of the largest retail leasing companies in the country), I know that just about anybody can be taught how to be a really great retail leasing agent. That's where I can help. To be sure, my classes, conferences and training programs aren't for everyone. With me, you get more than a pretty PowerPoint filled with tired sales platitudes that most of your staff will have forgotten by lunch. Instead, l show your team exactly what they need to do in the field where it counts.
After working with me, you will have a reinvigorated team of CONFIDENT leasing agents who know how to proactively find and close business in any location and under any economic circumstance. To learn more about how I can transform your team into a 'No Excuse' retail leasing, canvassing machine, please give me a call.
I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Dedicated to Filling Your Empty Spaces,
Beth Azor, The Canvassing Queen
Beth Azor has been in the Commercial Real Estate Industry since 1986. She is the former President of Terranova, one of the largest 3rd party asset management companies in Florida, and is considered one of the smartest, most creative and most successful retail leasing 'experts' in the field. Beth founded Azor Advisory Services in 2004 to invest in her own properties and provide consulting and training to South Florida commercial real estate companies such as The Shopping Center Group, Chainlinks, Ramco-Gershenson, Equity One and Cushman Wakefield of Florida.
Beth is a proud Florida State alum, is a frequent speaker at ICSC events, and serves on multiple professional and civic boards. |
