In my conversation with Phil Henn, who has been the top producing broker at a New York City based brokerage for over 12 years, he explained how he obtains high quality leads that has resulted in him being able to sell tens of millions of dollars worth of real estate annually! His secret is to build solid relationships with the financial advisors and asset managers at local financial institutions.
Early on in his career, a more seasoned real estate broker provided Phil with the best advice he has ever received, which ended up being the main springboard for the massive success he has achieved. Phil learned that the best way to expand his day-to-day business was by building relationships with financial institutions. Many financial institutions have private wealth divisions, which handle high net-worth domestic and international clients. These high net-worth individuals not only rely on the financial advisors and asset managers for investing advice, but also, who they should use as attorneys, brokers, etc.
Therefore, Phil focused on building relationships with these advisors and managers at a handful of financial institutions in New York that also had a global presence, with the goal of becoming the broker that they referred their clients to. Instead of seeking out these buyers himself, Phil goes into financial institutions and gives in-person presentations. Phil has learned that the most effective presentations are the ones that are smaller and extremely direct and clear, rather than ones that are longer and more detailed. He presents in PowerPoint form and includes details on his brokerage’s past and consistent successes, charts and graphs to show the New York City market’s growth during the last 5, 7, and 10 years, as well as a few other factors, and then let’s the numbers speak from themselves.
Phil has learned that it is important to not be afraid to directly ask for business, so at the conclusion of his presentations, he makes his intentions clear and the lenders will typically pass on their domestic and international client’s contact information so that Phil can start the relationship building process.
At this point, Phil’s work has just begun. His quickest turn-around, from initial contact to cash in pocket, has been 2 years. Therefore, when applying this technique, like many other successful real estate techniques, don’t expect to see massive results over night. This is a long-term real estate strategy. However, if you stick with it, you will have the potential of doing tens of millions of dollars worth of real estate transactions every year!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to make or consider any investment or course of action.