Successful Networking Attracts Business

The effectiveness of your network determines the strength of your real estate investment business. I’m always on the lookout for new people to work with – new private investors, new bird dogs, and new players in the market. The way I see it, I am only as good as the weakest member of my team. In fact, I firmly believe that a strong network of people working together can propel any investor to new heights in their commercial real estate career.

A strong network of experts lowers investment risk. Needless to say, I hate losing money. While I can’t factor out all the risk in any real estate investment I take on, I understand that I can remove most of it. How do I do that? I get my team of experts involved in my deals. I have a great team of people working for me, but did you know that networking was critical in the formation of my team of experts? I had to get out of my comfort zone and start meeting professionals who could help me. I had to seek out the counsel of other professionals when parts of the deal didn’t go as planned. I had to network myself.

A strong network of deal sources means you always have a full pipeline to work with. A broker may bring two or three properties to the table. Mr. Smith the postman may inform you that he heard through the grapevine that the owner of a small, local mall nearby plans on selling. Ms. Mae just referred you to her rich Uncle Benjamin who wants to buy another apartment building complex. All of these sources have one thing in common. They all relied on networking to bring in deals.

Networking ensures that you’ll always have people to work with no matter what type of property you’re investing in. Smart investors continuously work on building a list for three groups of people – buyers, sellers and private money investors. This is where I focus most of my effort. If you have a constant flow of people moving through your business, chances are you’re running a successful commercial investment business.

Okay, at this point we can all understand the need for networking. We understand the power of what a group of people can do for us in our lives. But how effective are we? If you’re out meeting people at every opportunity you can, but you’re not yet realizing the results, it’s time to make some improvements. The success of your business is counting on it. Here are a few tips.

1) Be sincere when meeting people for the first time. Insincerity will often speak louder than anything you could verbally say. Any attitude of insincerity will show through in your body language, tone of voice and even when you may seemingly be smiling.

2) Make it a point to develop a deeper relationship. People will do business with you simply because they feel more comfortable with you. For that reason, spend a few minutes and get to know as much as you can about the person you just exchanged cards with. In fact, eliminate business card blitzing. Not only is that impersonal; it’s also difficult to really remember and get to know 20 – 30 people you just met. We don’t only want to spread our business card around, but we also want to develop a quality relationship that blossoms into something further.

3) Have an elevator speech already prepared and practiced. For many people, networking doesn’t come easy. They have to work at it to be successful. Write out your speech. If you have others around you, ask them to role play with you and practice until you’re familiar with it.

Successful networking brings you business. You’ll need people to protect and operate your commercial real estate investment business. You’ll also need people to keep your deal machine running. Commercial real estate investing is a people business. By practicing these few tips, you’ll be well on your way to achieving all the success and dreams you desire.