Leveraging SIOR
To Create a
Global Business
By Chris Cuff, SIOR, MCR
Everybody wins when SIORs leverage the organization’s
global network of real estate professionals to create deeper
and broader client relationships.
Most top commercial realtors have excellent relationships with large corporations, but often the relationship is
based on a single service line (typically office or industrial
brokerage) in a single geographic location (a city, state
or country). The SIOR network offers all members the
opportunity to provide additional services (deeper relationships) across a global platform (broader relationships)
to improve client satisfaction while creating higher revenue per client.
In addition to office and industrial brokerage, SIOR
members and their firms around the world offer other services, including consulting, valuation, retail brokerage,
facilities management, and investment sales. The client
benefits from having the services they need coordinated
globally by a trusted local partner while the referring and
receiving SIOR professionals benefit from additional fees
and a more secure, long-term client relationship.
Ask real estate professionals who haven’t made a long-distance referral why they haven’t done so, and generally
the response is that they didn’t feel the potential referral
income was worth the effort or the risk to their relationship. While the concern is understandable, the risk of not
referring the business may be higher. In a world that’s
increasingly global, professionals who demonstrate the
willingness and ability to coordinate a full range of services everywhere they’re needed may end up with all of
the client’s business—including yours!
Consider a global U.S.-based corporation in the current economy. Their focus may be on growing revenue in
developing markets in Eastern Europe, Latin America, or
Asia. Because of this focus on developing markets, even a
small overseas project may get more of the client’s management attention than a large project at home. If that corporation experiences great service working with another
professional in those markets, it might just be a matter of
time before that professional requests (and gets) a piece of
the higher fees being generated in the more mature markets of North America and Western Europe — as compensation for the hard work of managing smaller projects
overseas. On the other hand, if you, as their trusted local
resource, are able to coordinate global work, the relationship will likely remain with you.
Some real estate firms are already global or belong to
a global network and encourage internal referrals between
service lines and countries. SIOR is also a global platform, and you can make referrals with confidence, knowing that all members meet SIOR’s strict standards for
