Now more than ever, commercial real estate tenant representatives need to optimize the brokerage process to find clients their dream office space. As a broker, it’s essential to know about great locations as soon as they’re available. You also need to easily coordinate with all parties so the lease can close — in your client’s favor — quickly.
So, what will it take to get the job done? Finding the perfect space for your client in today’s climate means you need to leverage a robust commercial real estate marketplace solution. VTS Marketplace removes barriers in brokerage processes to help you lock in leases faster. While the challenges for tenant rep brokers can be business blockers, VTS Marketplace listings are the most accurate on the market, making it the solution to many of the common issues you face.
Challenge #1: Clients are hesitant to commit to in-person tours
Yes, new COVID-19 variants did accelerate the need for alternatives to in-person tours. However, these alternatives are no longer an option — they’re table stakes — and may have been something on your client’s wishlist even without the threat of a pandemic. 100% of tenant prospects expect to see a virtual tour, digital floor plan, and rent price before committing to an in-person tour. A plain-text listing with a few pictures doesn’t give a client a good idea of a space, and they don’t want to waste time with a tour when they aren’t confident that the property meets their needs.
On top of everything else, your job as a tenant’s broker is to make the leasing process as comfortable as possible. When tenants are interested in touring alternatives, how can you align the reality of an office tour with the client’s expectations for the experience?
Solution: Virtual tours and 3D renderings
Comprehensive video tours of a space, complete with navigable 3D renderings, are essential so tenants can get a full view of the office environment in a cadence that fits their schedule and makes the most of their valuable free time. Deeper insights assure clients that if they decide to tour a space, that location will be exactly what they expect.
VTS Marketplace listings include video assets that create a complete, virtual picture for your client. Enhancing the in-person tour with digital assets means the client has greater confidence in every office they see.
Challenge #2: Prospecting tenants for upcoming subleases
Lately, current trends have made subleases more common for tenant rep brokers. Some clients are looking for a smaller office as their workforce moves to a flexible office, and others are looking to scale their operations and find a bigger space for their team.
As the broker of the lease, you’re also playing matchmaker — pairing an available sublease with a new tenant. You need to find a way to market your sublease to the right audience while also keeping an eye out for new clients who would potentially love the space. Without finding a sublet in time, you could end up with an open office and no one to fill it.
Solution: Canvassing tools connected through the VTS platform
VTS Marketplace connects you with a network of brokers whose clients are eager to find their newest workspace, so marketing a sublease space is easy.
In 2021, VTS Marketplace had over 260,000 tenant rep broker views, and since it gives you access to the same tools top landlords use to create visually engaging listings complete, you’re sure to get your space in front of the right broker and client in no time. Custom photos, a video tour, floorplan, and landlord-verified data make your listing a top contender for prospects. As interest in your space increases, the VTS Marketplace pipeline tracking tool lets you know what stage a deal is in throughout the entire process.
Challenge #3: Getting an accurate analysis of market listings
Potential tenants have lots of choices for which broker to work with, so it’s essential to harness every competitive advantage you can. You need to have the best portfolio of properties with amenities that elevate the in-office experience.
The demand for high-value buildings has increased — VTS reports that in November 2021, the rents charged by the top 10% most expensive office buildings were 50% higher than the rents charged by the rest of the properties on the market. Premium office space is sought after because tenants returning to the office aren’t going back just for the workspace. They’re looking for extras that make their day a little (or a lot) better, and you need to be able to secure these listings for them.
Solution: Browsing landlord-and data-verified listings
Informed by landlord and leasing data from the VTS ecosystem, VTS Marketplace keeps listings up to date in real-time. When a landlord opts to add their listings to VTS Marketplace, any changes are automatically updated on the listing. Not only that, but Marketplace offers a brand-new advanced and intuitive search functionality so you can filter out the noise and find what your client wants. Accurate, up-to-date listings can be filtered by sub-market, amenities, building, and even individual landlord with a redesigned search engine to find the perfect high-value property.
Challenge #4: Staying competitive in a fierce landscape
Imagine this: your client falls head over heels for a listing. When you call to coordinate with the landlord for an in-person tour, you find out that the listing is no longer available. The lease was closed, but the listing wasn’t updated to reflect this change. Now, not only do you have to communicate the bad news to your client, but you also have to put in extra work to find a new listing that would fill that “perfect office space” void.
Staying competitive means finding listings sooner, and that can only happen with exclusive data and insights. But how is this possible when your direct competitors are using the same platform with the same listings?
Solution: Offering clients competitive properties before other brokers
First-to-Market listings are a guarantee when you use VTS Marketplace. What does that mean for brokers like you?
It means access to top-tier commercial real estate listings when they hit the market (and before competing brokers even know the building’s address). For 10 business days after a listing is published, you’ll have exclusive access to the best properties around thanks to the Marketplace platform.
In 2021, VTS Marketplace listed 74 million square feet of first-to-market listings, giving brokers who use the VTS Marketplace commercial real estate tool a clear advantage over those who rely on non-exclusive listing databases. Get your client’s foot in the door before anyone else — literally.
Challenge #5: Inefficient manual processes slow down deals
Creating, reviewing, revising, editing, and submitting tour books is crucial for commercial real estate. And that workflow happens for not just one of your clients, but all of them (and for each property they would like to see). The copy-paste nature of this process is time-consuming and often repetitive.
A tool that reduces redundancies and automatically pulls data from accurate sources saves you time and minimizes the chance for details to be entered incorrectly or without being added at all. This can be especially useful when you’re pulling together numerous tour packages for multiple clients.
Solution: Build tour books faster with automation
Last year, VTS Marketplace added 19,000 more listings to its database. That’s 19,000 more options for you to sift through when you’re creating detailed tour books and itineraries for clients.
Thankfully, VTS Marketplace automates the tour book building process. No more copy and paste needed.
Virtual Tourbooks in VTS Marketplace pull landlord-powered data into a presentation-ready document — all by simply selecting the properties your client wants to see. Every detail is included, from property amenities to company branding, so that you can spend less time building tour books and more time prospecting for new clients and spaces. Plus, the tour book is virtual, so you can send a copy (complete with a digital tour and 3D renderings) to your client before making in-person building visits.
Over 840 tour books were built in the VTS platform in 2021, with countless hours saved thanks to the platform’s automation, making it tried, tested, and ready to support you and your clients.
VTS provides solutions to the challenges faced by today’s tenant rep brokers
VTS Marketplace is more than a search engine — it’s a comprehensive database and powerful leasing management tool that can support your brokerage needs.
From finding the perfect property to enticing tenants with engaging tour books to providing the best listings as soon as they’re available, VTS Marketplace quickly offers solutions to the challenges in your day-to-day as a tenant rep broker.
