SERVICE / EXPERTISE
FUN / COMMUNIT Y
WINTER 2013
DAVID BOWDEN, Chief Executive Officer | Canada
10 Habits of Highly Effective Advisors
In crafting the Colliers Way, our proprietary methodology for winning business and ensuring client satisfaction, I turned to our Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys to see, straight from the source, the practices and factors that turn clients into raving fans. There were common behaviours that ran through the perfect NPS scores. I’d like to share these with you to help you be a relevant and successful professional, now and in the future.
1
Build loyalty, not just a client base.
Loyalty is the result of good service and the client’s emotional engagement. Any professional can deliver good service – but what about achieving emotional engagement? Here’s the difference. Good service is about meeting expectations. Emotional engagement is about exceeding expectations. As our Promoter clients say, it’s “about going above and beyond the call of duty”. Did you meet an unrealistic, tight deadline? Did you overcome issues outside your scope of services? Clients know when you are exceeding expectations and they value it – and you become a trusted advisor, not just a broker or property manager.
2
Get to know the person, not just the client.
Personalizing your client approach and dealings goes a long way in establishing the overall client relationship and building trust. Does your client like sports? Invite them to a game. Do they like cars? Get them a car magazine subscription. Show you care about them beyond the project. NPS research shows most Promoters have a higher emotional engagement level with their advisor as a result of interacting with them outside the business realm.
3
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Many Passive and Detractor clients complain that professionals disappear right after the agreement has been signed. Communication is key, especially during and after the transaction period. Return calls. Tell the client the truth; don’t just say what they want to hear or worse, ignore them. Almost all Detractor comments cite a communication breakdown – before, during or postproject. Remember, most unsatisfied clients complain about lack of communication, but very few ever complain about too much.
4
Treat the client right.
Just because you may be alright with having your calls returned late – or not at all – doesn’t mean your client is. Our NPS research shows that simple actions such as returning calls outside regular working hours and visiting the newly secured space have a deep impact on the client’s perception of your service delivery, long after the project has concluded. Yet only some of you regularly perform these acts. It’s time we all get on board. When clients feel you care about them and their success, they become your Promoters, your raving fans. Treating your client right will always result in a long-lasting relationship, not just another project.
5
Ask more than real estate questions. Deliver more than real estate solutions.
Yes, your client is looking to you to find them their ideal space or manage their premises. But what you – or they – may not know is that they are also relying on you to provide solutions to their business problems. These problems could include employee attrition, low morale, a negative culture, a weakening image, and so forth. It’s a fact: The space in which a business operates has a major impact on organizational culture, employee recruitment and retention, productivity, innovation and client perception – it plays a big part in the success or failure of the business. So dig deep and look beyond the square footage and lease rates. Ask your client what keeps them up at night. Ask them about their business and get set to uncover hidden opportunities.
6
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
Business guru Peter F. Drucker imparted these words. It’s easy to go into a client meeting primed for what YOU want to hear, and thus, less in tune with the valuable – sometimes non-verbal – nuances and cues indicating what your client needs. Have an open mind and surprise yourself with the opportunities that arise. One of our brokers took note of a client ever so subtly imply that their company wasn’t well-equipped to promote their property on the web. This broker then rallied his local Marketing team and with their help, presented to the client the proven ways Colliers can market their property online – and won their business.
To learn the remaining four habits, search “10 Habits of Highly Effective Brokers” on Colliers Hub. If you’d like more information on the Colliers Way, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Accelerating success.
02
EXPERTISE
Colliers Converges in Atlanta for Americas Conference By MICHELLE SANTOS, Communications Specialist | Canada
From September 25 to 27, 1,600 Colliers professionals from around the world gathered at the iconic Atlanta Marriott Marquis for the first-ever Americas Conference. The objective for the eventful three days was to increase professional knowledge, network and collaborate. Taking full advantage of face time with members from various parts of the globe, numerous teams, from People Services to Corporate Solutions, Real Estate Management Services to Food Advisory, held strategy sessions to share best practices, further align initiatives and achieve more impactful results. Conference participants also had a smorgasbord of education sessions to attend to gain more insight on hot industry topics including business development, social media and workplace strategy. Of course, attendees made time to meet new faces, expand their network and unwind. The International Dinner at the famous World of Coca-Cola allowed
guests to do so amidst wonderful exhibits and delicious global cuisine. Breathtaking marine life and great entertainment were the order of the night at the Georgia Aquarium event. Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the Americas Conference was the Colliers Exchange, an exhibition of everything Colliers, from our practice groups, to our offices, to our vendors. Colliers Canada spearheaded a global booth that showcased the Canadian, EMEA, LATAM and Asia Pacific businesses, and offered real crowd-pleasers including beers of the world, fun games such as foosball and target hockey, and a $5,000 trip to the Colliers headquarters of the winner’s choice. Congratulations to Melanie Jackson of our Clearwater office for winning this highly coveted prize! Americas Conference attendees can’t wait for next year’s event!
Metro Vancouver Industrial Inventory Undergoes Overhaul By CURTIS SCOTT, Market Intelligence Coordinator | Canada
Market Intelligence Coordinators across the country have been meeting on a monthly basis to discuss research initiatives and challenges within their markets, and to understand opportunities for training. The coordinators recently completed a survey to pinpoint their biggest challenges; not surprisingly, the top issue was the quality and accessibility of market data. Addressing this barrier, the Vancouver industrial research team initiated a muchneeded project. Sabrina Speianu, Industrial Market Intelligence Coordinator in Vancouver, along with James Lang, Manager of Market Intelligence, and Interns James Starke and Sean Bagan, performed an industrial inventory overhaul of Metro Vancouver during the summer months of 2013. Sabrina and team used municipal Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map every industrial site block-by-block and then used third-party databases to verify the building sizes and accuracy of the data. Thanks to this project, the Vancouver Market Intelligence team can now accurately track and document the entire industrial inventory of Metro Vancouver. This comprehensive information overhaul has resulted in a market dashboard that shows the micro-market trends and indicators in each submarket. This dashboard undoubtedly increases Colliers’ competitive advantage – accelerating our success in the market by illustrating the “why” behind each market indicator in various submarkets across the region.
Edmonton REMS Announces Big Win By ANTOINETTE TUMMILLO, Executive Vice President | Real Estate Management Services
The Edmonton Real Estate Management Services team recently won management of 10405 Jasper Avenue (formerly Standard Life Centre). The property, owned by Northam Realty, consists of 400,000 square feet of Class A office space. Anchor tenants include ATCO, Alberta Infrastructure and Matrikon/Honeywell.
SERVICE
Ana Julio, who recently joined the Colliers team, will manage the property.
Service Excellence – REMS Style By DAVID WILSON, Managing Director, Vancouver Island | Real Estate Management Services
Colliers Real Estate Management Services’ NPS pilot program concluded on July 31. The survey solicited feedback from tenants and clients regarding our property management services. The information we collected is invaluable in improving our business approach and developing long-term relationships with both tenants and clients. Our goal in actioning the feedback from both the pilot program and the official program (which launched November 1) is to enhance tenant retention and client loyalty as we will survey all our tenants and clients annually. We have received an overwhelming number of positive comments from many of our clients and tenants: “Daniel Mok is so helpful. Whenever I call for any assistance or any issue, he responds in a fast way and he’s an expert in what he’s doing. He knows and he always has a solution for the problem.” - IBM Canada Limited, Vancouver, BC
“Michael George responds quickly to any concerns or requests. There is open communication going on. Whenever anything is going to be happening in the plaza, we’re notified ahead of time. It’s just a very comfortable relationship.” – Structube, Toronto, ON “Krista Halvorsen has been very good about anything that we need to have done. She has been very quick to react and I haven’t had any issues with her on any requests that we’ve had. She seems to be very easy to work with.” – Alberta Industrial Control & Drives Inc., Edmonton, AB Real Estate Management Services aims to find ways to use the feedback to strengthen our tenants’ satisfaction and clients’ experience. We are committed to providing service excellence, and NPS is one tool we will use to gauge our success in this area.
This win is a true testament to the hard work of our Edmonton Real Estate Management Services team and the momentum we are gaining in this market.
03
COMMUNITY
Calgary Tournament Raises $75,392
Colliers Toronto Comes Home for Dinner at Ronald McDonald House By VANESSA GARCIA, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Toronto
By RAINA BHASIN, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Calgary
With the help of 39 sponsors, more than 160 participants and 25 volunteers, Colliers Calgary raised $75,392 net for the Colliers Cares Foundation at the 20th Annual Golf Tournament that took place on August 8 at the Heritage Pointe Golf Course. The Colliers Cares Foundation is a Calgary-based fund the partners of Colliers Calgary formed to raise and direct support for people in our community who need it most. Net proceeds are going to Heartland Agency and the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Calgary.
October 10 was Community Day at Colliers offices across Canada. For the fourth year in a row, employees from the Toronto office cooked dinner for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House, a “home away from home” for families of seriously ill children coming from out of town. Lisa Cerenzia had this to say about her experience:
From left to right: Troy Barker (First National Financial), Mike Hammerlindl (Prestigious Properties), Eric Horvath, Mitch Brody (Century West Management Inc.)
Calgary REMS Helps with Flood Efforts By SARAH NGUYEN, Proposal and Communications Assistant | Real Estate Management Services
Due to the flood that hit Calgary and Southern Alberta at the beginning of July, the Calgary Real Estate Management Services team decided to swap their “Fun – People Appreciation Day” to their “Community – People Appreciation Day”. There were initial efforts to help flood victims in High River; however, the Alberta Health Region restricted access to volunteers due to unsafe conditions. On August 1, the Calgary REMS team worked with Neighbourhood Link Support Services – a nonprofit organization – to assemble hampers for people in need, particularly flood victims who had lost everything. The hampers included personal hygiene kits, bedding, bagged clothing and other various items. It was great to work together and enlightening to be able to help out the flood victims.
Colliers Team Conquers Cypress for Pancreatic Cancer Research Roy Pat (Captain), Suzanne Bedford, Marco DiPaolo and David Thistle rode up Cypress Mountain (host to the 2010 Olympic Games) in West Vancouver in an effort to raise money for pancreatic cancer research. More than 500 participants raised in excess of $400,000. Well done!
“I find volunteering for Ronald McDonald House very fulfilling. It’s nice to know I’m making a difference with something as simple as a meal. There is never a dull moment with my colleagues when preparing the meal and the staff at Ronald McDonald House are a wonderful and dedicated group of people; I feel privileged to be able to cook for the families.”
Winnipeg Builds with Habitat for Humanity
Growing the Next Generation of Gardeners
By COLLEEN HEINRICHS, Senior Administrative Assistant | Winnipeg
By MELISSA MUGRIDGE, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Real Estate Management Services
On September 4, Colliers Winnipeg accepted Habitat for Humanity’s Adopt-a-Day Challenge. Several employees traded in offices, computers and cell phones for hammers, nails and building supplies as they spent the day building with Habitat. The challenge provided a fabulous teambuilding experience and gave each member a sense of pride for their accomplishments and contributions to the community. Mobilizing volunteers and community partners, Habitat for Humanity Manitoba works with people from all walks of life to build safe, decent, affordable housing for purchase by low-income, working families. Colliers Winnipeg is proud to be a supporter of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba and looks forward to accepting the Adopt-a-Day Challenge next year.
Lorina Keery, Energy Manager for Real Estate Management Services, spends her Wednesday afternoons going back to school – elementary school, that is. For the last few months, Lorina has been volunteering for Norgate Elementary’s afterschool program to promote sustainability in her community, as well as at work. She works with the students in the school’s garden, teaching them how to plant vegetables and flowers, weed garden plots, plant seeds, and maintain all plants and vegetables. The afterschool program is designed to show kids where their food comes from and how it’s grown. They learn to identify plants and vegetables, and are also encouraged to eat and try new foods grown in their very own garden. Lorina has helped the students plant seven garden beds that are filled with beans, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber and kale. Each week, five to six kids take part in the program.
04
FUN
Montreal Takes to the Water for Fun Day By HEIDI PICARD, Senior Marketing Specialist | Montréal
Colliers Vancouver Celebrates Staff Day Hawaiian Style! By TANYA NEUFFER, Marketing and Communications Manager | Vancouver
On July 25, the Vancouver office put on colourful leis in celebration of our annual staff day festivities at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Last July, Colliers Montréal organized a team-building activity for Fun Day. The Montréal Downtown, SaintLaurent and Québec City offices held a dragon boat tournament at the Montréal Olympic basin and enjoyed a delicious barbecue in the evening.
The participants started with a preparatory course to learn the technical navigation basics of dragon boating, then practiced on the water for 90 minutes to prepare for the friendly tournament. Colliers Montréal employees had an exciting day, which included sweat, hard work and team-building fun.
The luau party was filled with excitement from beginning to end. The day kicked off with some entertaining trivia on the bus ride out to the stadium. Then attendees enjoyed an amazing barbecue lunch. The fun really picked up after lunch when everyone joined forces with their assigned teams in preparation for some friendly competition. The field featured 10 challenging stations from musical chairs, bench ball and a water balloon toss to an obstacle course, Egg on Spoon, bocce ball and limbo. Each of the stations required lot of teamwork and a little luck. The day concluded with an epic Tug-o-War tiebreaker.
There’s No Crying in Baseball By MEGHAN MCGARRELL, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Toronto
After multiple weeks of intense training camps, an allstar team of softball players emerged to represent Team Colliers for the second annual Dundee World Series Broker Slo-Pitch Tournament. On August 22, 14 of Colliers’ finest athletes took to the field and faced some fierce competition from other brokerage firms. Despite finishing the day with a 3-0 record, the team ended up in third place overall. Colliers will continue to scout for more talent from the GTA offices in hopes of bringing home the trophy in 2014.
Team Colliers
COMMUNITY
Colliers Hot Steppers Raise $5,060 for Cerebral Palsy Association By KELSY GABRIEL, Marketing and Communications Coordinator | Valuation and Advisory Services
This past September, Stephanie Bird, Laurel Edwards, Lisa Herchak and Christine Mau of the Calgary Valuation and Advisory Services team took on the challenge to each take 10,000 steps a day for 30 days to raise funds for the Cerebral Palsy Association. The team tallied 1.24 million steps, averaging 308,918 steps each, enough to climb the highest peak of every continent. The Hot Steppers raised $5,060, ranking them second in Canada. Way to go, team!
Colliers Mid-Island Raises more than $14,500 for the Columbian Centre Society By CARLA GIRVIN, Marketing Coordinator | Victoria
Colliers Mid-Island hosted their 3rd Annual Charity Golf Tournament on September 11, raising more than $14,500 for the Columbian Centre Society (CCS), a registered, non-profit society focusing on psychosocial rehabilitation in the Nanaimo region.
Island Timberlands, the winning team, accepting their prizes
With 16 teams in attendance, the event featured golf, dinner and a silent auction. Guest speakers from CCS spoke about overcoming the stigma attached to mental illness and the importance of social inclusion, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.
Colliers Hot Steppers