SERVICE / EXPERTISE
FUN / COMMUNIT Y
SUMMER 2013
What Do Your Colleagues Think of You? Contrary to popular belief, our business is teeming with referrals. This year alone in the U.S. and Canada, 1,563 referral deals have generated $29 million in fees. david bowden, Chief Executive Officer | Canada
So what are you doing to make sure you grow your fair share of the referral business?
Do your colleagues think of you as “the person who’s great to work with” or “the person who doesn’t share”? In our industry where reputation and identity are gold, which one would you rather be known as? It’s a sobering truth that it’s very difficult for you to distinguish yourself from other professionals in the industry. You work in the same market, compete for the same opportunities, use the same strategies. I know that even when I feel I’m on top of my game, I look over my shoulder because I know that no matter what, there is, and always will be, someone trying to knock me off my perch. Here’s the good news: There is a way to stand out from the competition. You can differentiate yourself with the added value you give clients when you partner with other teams and offer their expertise along with yours. Our competitors are not good at this. So capitalize on it. If you think you can work in a silo and rely on just your knowledge and “personal relationships” with your clients, you’re going to find it more and more difficult to compete. After all, which option would the client choose — one person armed with just his own knowledge or a team that combines their complementary expertise to solve not one, but multiple challenges? In a world where your
contenders are bringing other specialists, capabilities and results to the project, you would be at a real disadvantage if you choose to remain a one-person show. The prize goes to the player who can bring the wow factor to the game; in this case, it’s experience and know-how. So be that person — the person who shares business, gives their client a more memorable experience and also happens to put more money in their pocket. Don’t get left behind. Make sure you get a piece of the $29 million referral pie. Ask yourself, “When was the last time I referred a colleague to my client?” “When was the last time I asked my client, ‘What else? Where else?’” And if you haven’t already, draft a referral plan for the next two, three, even five years. Set a goal for the number of referrals you will make a quarter, a year. Then follow through. The fact is, those who share, receive. I look forward to seeing our referral numbers go up. P.S. Don’t forget the added incentive of our Global $10,000 USD Business Referral Award, which goes to each quarter’s most enterprising referral. Search “Quarterly Business Referral Award” on Colliers Hub for more details on this initiative.
Best Property Campaign: Mississauga Executive Centre
Best New Business Proposal: Flight Centre
> James Smerdon > David Bell > Michelle Santos
> Geoff Arnoldi > Vanessa Garcia > Mandy Gareh > Jason Durham > Meghan McGarrell
> Colin Scarlett > Matthew Carlson > Jin Kim > Nathan Thompson > Doris Yip
> Jason Mok > Marnie Forstner > Domenic Galati > Ron Jasinski
by Keri Fraser, Director, People Services | Canada
Thank you for participating in the 2013 Aon Hewitt Employee Engagement Survey. I’m very pleased to share with you that our participation rate increased again this year to 86%. This rate is well above the average for employers across Canada. Your commitment to sharing your experience working at Colliers and to helping us become an even better place to work, is phenomenal. We continue to make significant progress on our overall engagement score. Our score this year reached 64% — up 6% from when we started our journey in 2010, and only 1% away from the High Engagement Zone. This year, we redesigned and launched our new benefits program, and moved to a new provider — Sun Life Financial, one of the best in the industry. The feedback you offered on the previous surveys was the driving force behind the new benefits plan. And we are very pleased to announce that the impact of the new benefits plan is significant — our benefits score increased 16%. We are also proud to share the top reasons our people love working at Colliers, based on survey responses: • Co-workers • Corporate Social Responsibility • Learning and Development • Physical Work Environment • Sense of Accomplishment • Work Tasks
Winners of the Canadian Marketing & Market Intelligence Awards Best Market Intelligence Initiative: Spring 2013 Retail Report
Employee Engagement Survey: the Initial Results are In!
> Tanya Neuffer > Hari Minhas
Search “2013 Marketing & Market Intelligence Award Winners” on Colliers Hub to see the winning submissions.
Your department/regional leader will provide you with more details on the survey results. If you have any questions about the Employee Engagement survey, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or someone in the People Services Team. Thank you for joining us in our effort to become one of Canada’s Best Employers!
Accelerating success.
02
Fun
Service
Cleaning up Bragg Creek
Work Hard, Play Hard.
By Melissa Mugridge, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Real Estate Management Services
By Amy Bosch, Team Lead, People Administrative Services | Vancouver
On June 20, Alberta was hit with some of the worst floods this country has ever seen. As the level of the Elbow and Bow rivers rose, people located in downtown Calgary and some surrounding areas received evacuation orders. Bragg Creek, located 30 kilometres west of Calgary, was one of the first areas to flood. As the property management provider for Bragg Creek Retail Centre, Colliers was on-site immediately to assist the owner and tenants whose businesses had been affected. Margaret Trautwein, Property Manager and Nathan Andreucci, Assistant Property Manager, worked with tenants to clean up the site and coordinate contractors to fix the extensive damage. The property management team also met with insurance adjusters who advised tenants on next steps they should take to start rebuilding their businesses.
Our client had the following to share: “I wanted to express my thanks and appreciation for the support we have seen from Margaret, who took a leadership role in the Bragg cleanup. She has become invaluable to me and my tenants, having done a wonderful job so far on this event and in general, on the property as a whole. We are so very glad and lucky to have her with us and look forward to doing more work with her over time.” There is still a lot of work to be done in Calgary and other cities such as Bragg Creek, but with the commitment and support of friends and neighbours, the strength of the region will shine through.
Colliers and Electronic Arts: Celebrating 15 Years of Service By Melissa Mugridge, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Real Estate Management Services
When Electronic Arts (EA) opened the doors to their oneof-a-kind Canadian campus in December 1998, Real Estate Management Services was by their side, providing customized facility services. EA is a leader in interactive entertainment software, producing and distributing video games around the world. The EA campus, located in Burnaby BC, is 420,000 square feet and consists of state-of-the-art facilities. During the campus’ initial construction phase, Colliers worked with EA to ensure minimal disruption to their employees. Colliers offered recommendations on building systems early on, saving EA a significant amount of money over the following years.
Colliers continues to provide on-site services five days a week. The team of facility service experts specializes in a variety of areas — this broad range of skills is necessary to meet the needs of this unique property. “They truly do go above and beyond the call of duty and I’m very confident that Colliers does a phenomenal job protecting and optimizing Electronic Arts’ real estate assets,” explained Frank Basset, Senior Director, Facilities, Real Estate & Corporate Services, Electronic Arts. Over the past 15 years, Electronic Arts has become more than a client — they are truly part of the Colliers family.
The event presented the yearly temptations at almost every hole such as the ATB $10,000 Hole-In-One Contest; Bavaria BMW Hole-In-One Contest, granting $50,000 dollars towards the BMW of your choice;
Edmonton Faces off at 19th Annual NHL Playoff Draft By Nandini Ramachandran, Marketing Coordinator | Edmonton
On April 29, Edmonton held the highly anticipated annual NHL Playoff Draft. 31 teams bid on the top eight players from each playoff-bound club. With only 100 Colliers Dollars to spend, each team had to strategize on who should make their final team cut. There were big stakes for the winning team: a total of $2,480 was up for grabs.
With their presentations in hand, teams ran to the finish line where refreshments awaited them. This event made it clear that the Vancouver Brokerage Operations team knows its city and has quite the sense of humour — there were a lot of great photos and a lot of BIG laughs! The judges had their work cut out for them. While the desire to win was as serious as it could get, it was a great opportunity to connect and focus on having fun as a team.
Mission: Get a photo with a fire truck. Jessica Heighton and Nathan Thompson checked this task off their list, in style.
LandShare Hits the Shelves!
By Nandini Ramachandran, Marketing Coordinator | Edmonton
The day commenced at noon, and after a delicious buffet lunch sponsored by Scott Builders, 36 foursomes spent the afternoon playing on the beautifully laid out course.
Each team received a series of clues, had to take as many pictures as possible, and create a presentation to show to the judges, who were waiting at a secret location. The rules were simple: You must stay with your team at all times. You must try to score as many points as possible. And you must have fun.
Expertise
Edmonton’s 17th Annual Charity Golf Classic a Winner Yet Again Edmonton’s 17th Annual Charity Golf Classic was a huge success, with many on a waiting list, eager to take part. The tournament took place on June 3 at Blackhawk Golf Club with all proceeds supporting University of Alberta Diabetes Research, a not for profit, charitable organization committed to the search for a cure. ATB Corporate Financial Services was again our title sponsor for the event.
In early June, the Vancouver Brokerage Operations team took some time away from their desks to engage in some fierce competition… and of course, team building! Seven teams of five had to complete a Photo Scavenger Hunt in downtown Vancouver in a race against time, and a test of creativity and wit.
Left to right: Glenn Fisher, Shaun Wuschke, Darin Rayburn and John Frederickson
Colliers Valuation & Advisory Services Scotch & Cigar Hole; Sleeman Beer Hole; ATB’s “Beat the Banker” Farthest Drive Contest; the Marble Slab Creamery Putting Challenge, where one could build their own sundae; and the Margarita Hole with a Chipping Contest. The post-tournament dinner and silent auction were a great finish to the long day. The day’s first place team received four Best Buy gift cards. Special thanks to the sponsors, golfers, and prize and auction donors whose commitment and generosity never fail to amaze us. GRIT was the charity of choice for this event and we were happy to donate over $4,000 to this extremely worthwhile cause. After presenting the Stanley Cup, we presented our own trophy to this year’s tournament winners — the team from Bentall Kennedy, who donated their winnings to their very own Calgary flood victims. Thank you to all the volunteers, teams and sponsors for another wildly successful draft.
By James Lang, Market Intelligence Manager | Vancouver
Colliers Vancouver’s Market Intelligence team proudly presented our first edition of LandShare, a series of semiannual reports providing critical insight into the factors that affect the residential land market in Metro Vancouver. The report highlights major transactions and notable rezoning and development applications against a backdrop of economic drivers in each submarket. In addition, it discusses average land values for key areas throughout the region. The intent of this report, available on collierscanada.com, is to support informed decision-making by providing market participants with comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the residential land market in Metro Vancouver.
03
Expertise
Meet the National Market Intelligence Team
Marketing and Market Intelligence Gurus Across Canada Learn to Mix a Potent Content Cocktail By Michelle Santos, Communications Specialist | Canada
By Curtis Scott, Market Intelligence Coordinator | Canada
The Canadian Market Intelligence team is committed to accelerating our partners’ success through three key avenues: Market Identity, Business Development and Client Engagement/Retention. Our overarching objective is to translate thought leadership into a competitive advantage. We build strong relationships, and produce original and ground-breaking content.
knowledge”. To further bring the point home, David mediated landlord and occupier client panels so attendees could hear straight from the source, the type of information they seek to ensure the success of their business.
Over the past couple months, we have been busy with a variety of projects - here are a couple underway: Real Insights Video Series Part 1 – GTA Industrial Market featuring Adam Kosoy and Scott Addison Check it out at youtube.com/collierscanada
On July 18 and 19, close to 50 marketing and market intelligence gurus across Canada, along with marketing experts from both Global and U.S., and Canada’s corporate executives, gathered in beautiful Vancouver for Content Cocktail 2013, Colliers Canada’s first-ever joint Marketing and Market Intelligence Conference. The flavour, and ultimately, the goal, of the event was to share best practices and insights to produce the best content medley — from market reports to white papers, to insider web content and innovative property campaigns — that will provide added value to both our professionals and clients.
Tenant Survey To better understand the decision-making process behind office design and location, we issued a survey to Executives and C-Suites at top firms in major Canadian markets. This survey will provide a unique insight on office and business trends across the country, and produce a one-of-a-kind report reemphasizing Colliers as a knowledge and industry leader. The survey launched on August 1, and we expect to analyze and distribute the results sometime in the fall. For more information on national market intelligence initiatives, please contact me or Ian MacCulloch.
The conference keynote speaker was Ariad Communications’ Mark Michaud, who explained the vital role content plays in the B2B space. His main takeaway message was to “help buyers buy, not sellers sell”, which strongly resonated with participants. David Bowden also presented, touting content as an “industry and game changer” and emphasizing the need to reach our target audience and provide “uncommon
As well, Lex Perry, Hari Minhas, Geoff Arnoldi, James Lang, Shawna Rogowski, Ian MacCulloch and Quinn Russell (with Optify’s Marko Wollschlaeger) all gave compelling presentations, arming marketers and researchers alike with information and techniques to ensure they not only create powerful content, but also effectively deliver it to their key audience. Amidst all the sharing and learning, participants found the time to relax, unwind and have fun aboard a dinner boat cruise where they enjoyed a delicious dinner buffet, the stunning Vancouver scenery — and a photo booth. The winners of the 2012/2013 Marketing and Market Intelligence Awards were also announced during the cruise – see front page for all the details. Content Cocktail 2013 was a great success, with attendees eager to take home best practices and learnings to their respective markets. Watch out for industry-leading initiatives from our Marketing and Market Intelligence teams, coming your way soon!
New Marketing Toolbox to Save $100,000+ a Year in Productivity By Quinn Russell, Digital Marketing Specialist | Canada
beautiful, brand-compliant marketing emails. Superior client reporting analytics enables users to generate reports, measure success and track leads with ease.
Calgary Holds 4th Annual Changing of the Guard By Raina Bhasin, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Calgary
Colliers Calgary held the 4th annual Changing of the Guard event on June 20. Changing of the Guard is a sponsored program Colliers International’s young associates organize. It aims to develop young executives’ professional relationships at the early stages of their careers, with the mentorship of highly regarded and successful members of both the industry and community. This year, we were proud to have Tom Droog, the founder of Spitz International, as our guest speaker. Spitz is Canada’s leading sunflower seed company and generates more that $30 million in annual sales. Tom addressed over 100 young professionals, taking us through his journey of founding the Spitz brand in 1982 in Ontario after immigrating from the Netherlands, and expanding the business over 25 years.
Marketing Toolbox (MTB) is an online repository of all marketing applications that users can easily access via the Internet with single sign in, eliminating the need to remember a separate password. The email marketing system is the first of many tools within MTB — it allows users to create, manage, send and track email campaigns. It has built-in integration with collierscanada.com (specifically Property Listings, News Articles, Research Articles and colliershub.com People Profiles), enabling users to pull existing information to populate their email campaign, while also allowing flexibility and customization. This integration significantly reduces the time required to create an email and data entry points, and helps users easily create
The new MTB system reduces our overall cost structure, thanks to its cost per delivered email setup — so we only pay for what we send, which also increases cost allocation efficiency and gives offices incentive to keep their marketing lists as accurate as possible. MTB’s further integration with our CRM (Link) and its automatic marketing list cleanup feature eliminate risk by ensuring all Colliers Canada email communications comply with Canada’s new Anti-Spam Legislation. We officially launched MTB on July 12, and in just three weeks, have already seen over 800 visits (excluding internal Colliers professionals) to our website from MTB emails alone! We estimated that prior to the launch of MTB, users spent 60 minutes creating an email; now, with MTB, it takes them an average of 15 minutes. Based on MTB usage in the first two weeks after launch, MTB is poised to save the Canadian business $136,500 a year.
04
COMMUNITY
Charity Begins at the Home for Life Auction By Vanessa Garcia, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Toronto
Left to right: Vanessa Garcia, Meghan McGarrell, Graeme Young, Katie Hutt, Erika Streich
On June 5, Colliers staff attended the Eva’s Initiatives Home for Life Auction at the Evergreen Brick Works. The
Hug it out, Toronto By Meghan McGarrell, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Toronto
On May 11, Colliers colleagues, friends, family members and even four-legged friends gathered to take part in the 12th annual Meagan’s Walk, held in honour of fouryear-old Meagan who passed away from brain stem glioma in 2001. This marks the third year Team Colliers has participated in the five-kilometre walk, which starts at Fort York and ends at SickKids Hospital, where all
annual event is held to raise funds for the organization, which works to help homeless and at-risk youth get off the streets permanently. Graeme Young (pictured at right) has been active with this organization and had this to say: “Whether you were helping as a Colliers volunteer, buying tickets, tables, or attending to one of the Colliers or client-related tables, I really appreciate you taking the time and giving as you did. There are a lot of demands on your time and I want you to know Colliers’ contribution was gigantic and appreciated by all those hard-working Eva’s folk who spend their days on the front lines of the tough work they do.” Colliers was a feature sponsor for the home-themed event, where guests were encouraged to bid on home accessories and experiential items like boat cruises and helicopter rides. Thanks to everyone who attended as a guest or volunteer. Eva’s met and exceeded its goal of $180,000 and raised a total of $187,000! participants join hands to form a giant hug around the hospital. When the hug is complete, it’s hard not to be moved as you look up at all of the tiny faces staring back at you from inside the hospital. This year, Team Colliers raised a total of $24,300.36, beating last year’s total of $20,472. To date, the event has raised more than $3 million in support of brain tumour research. Many thanks to those who volunteered their time by taking part in the walk or supporting and sponsoring Team Colliers!
Suzanne Bedford Goes on the Run of Her Life – and Changes the Lives of 408 Others By Michelle Santos, Communications Specialist | Canada
On June 2, an intensely hot day in her home country, South Africa, Suzanne Bedford completed the 90-kilometre Comrades Marathon (one of the world’s greatest ultramarathons) in nine hours and 29 minutes — and changed the lives of hundreds of children. Suzanne ran for a cause — Joint Aid Management South Africa (JAM), which launched a campaign called 90for90: pledge ZAR90 for the 90-kilometre race, basically $10 CAD, and feed a child for three months. Suzanne, with the support of her family and friends, raised R36,785, which will feed 408 children for 3 months or 102 for a whole year. “The support and enthusiasm of my family and friends, the supporters and runners along the way, and of course, keeping in mind all of the children we were raising money for, made every step worthwhile. I have never been so happy to see a finish line!” Suzanne shared shortly after completing the marathon. Suzanne covered close to 2,000 kilometres to train for the “run of her life”. So what’s next? She’s doing it again. She has her eyes – and feet – set on Comrades Marathon 2014.
Colliers Vancouver Steps up to the Plate for BC’s Kids! By Tanya Neuffer, Marketing and Communications Manager | Vancouver
Colliers Vancouver went to bat for the kids, participating in the 23rd annual Slo-Pitch for BC Children’s Hospital on May 25. Putting together a team of 25, the Colliers Heavy Hitters headed to Softball City in Surrey for some baseball and good times. Colliers continues to help create a brighter future for children and families throughout BC.
The team raised more than $3,700 of the grand total of over $422,500 and counting. The generous contributions will support research, equipment purchases and upgrades, education and programs.
By Carla Girvin, Marketing Coordinator | Victoria
FUN
Colliers Crushers Take First in Montréal Demonstrates Legendary Skills at Spartan Race Power to Play Victoria By Heidi Picard, Senior Marketing Specialist | Montréal
By Carla Girvin, Marketing Coordinator | Victoria
Colliers Montréal participated in the challenging Spartan Race obstacle course in Morin Heights on May 26. The three-mile run in very muddy conditions, combined with more than 15 obstacles, tested the team’s resilience, strength, endurance, decision-making skills and ability to face adversity. It was one, tough day that gave the participants a real adrenaline rush.
On May 26, four of Colliers Victoria’s toughest took part in a 17-challenge adventure race and emerged victorious, despite having to finish the final challenge twice.
Jack Gaudreau, Senior Associate, recorded the best time for the Colliers team at 53:01.
Victoria Raises more than $60,000 at 25th Annual Charity Golf Tournament
Gail Reaney, Emily Barz, Ty Whittaker and Sean Jacklin represented Colliers in the 31-team corporate race. Finishing the estimated four-hour race in only 2:59:05, the team also raised more than $2,500 for Power to Be programs, inclusive nature-based programs for local youth and families living with a barrier.
Celebrating our silver anniversary, Colliers Victoria raised $61,175 for the BC Cancer Foundation at the 25th Annual Charity Golf Tournament that took place on June 20. Colliers staff and BC Cancer volunteers hosted more than 110 golfers at the Cordova Bay Golf Course where a slew of activities including a putting contest and a silent and live auction were in full swing in an effort to raise funds for the second year of a five-year contract with the Foundation. Speakers Alyssa Grace and Dr. Brad Nelson presented on the current focus of the BC Cancer Agency: immunotherapy, a personal cancer vaccine program being researched and developed based on genome sequencing. Colliers Victoria thanks all the sponsors and participants of this year’s golf tournament.