Nick Carmichael, SIOR
Steven Podolsky, SIOR
.
John Skoglin, SIOR
Bruce Wolfgram, SIOR,
LEED AP, RPA
moments into revenue-generating relationships is
Bill Ginder, SIOR, CCIM, and vice president of the
Caldwell Companies, also in Houston.
“What has helped me most in this business is
learning what my client does,” Ginder says. More
importantly, Ginder leverages that information in
what appears to be casual ways. Knowing what his
client does and needs, Ginder will match that person to someone who may have that solution. There’s
no real estate involved, just good matchmaking, but
when either of those parties need a real estate professional, they know who to call.
One of Ginder’s clients that he placed into an
industrial facility does the reconstruction and renovation of commercial buildings. Another client bought
an old ice cream plant that he wanted to convert into
a manufacturing facility. Ginder introduced one to the
other.
“You introduce them, then step away. It’s up to
them to make it work,” says Ginder. “What they
appreciate is that you made the effort.”
In Steven Podolsky’s world, life is a layer of
networks. An SIOR, and a principal in Podolsky
Northstar CORFAC International in Riverwoods, Ill.,
just outside of Chicago, Podolsky lists his levels of
networking, beginning with the Society of Industrial
and Office Realtors to CORFAC International, an
organization of independently owned commercial
real estate service. These are the top-level, direct
relationships.
As John Skoglin, SIOR, a vice president of
industrial with CB Richard Ellis in Baltimore, notes,
“I just gave a referral to an SIOR in New Jersey. It’s
a matter of making contact, getting to know people in
SIOR. The whole idea is to give them referrals and
they give you referrals. That is the crux of SIOR.”
There are other levels as well, and Podolsky takes
it to the nth degree. “The goal is to leverage relation-
ships in every walk of life,” he says. “I’m philan-
thropically involved. I don’t promote myself from a
business perspective in non-business environments,
but I am upfront so people know who I am and what
I do.”
Podolsky adds, “I have a partner here who does
70% of his business through relationships he makes
coaching his sons’ sports.”
To which Podolsky notes, “ I preach to my guys,
that at the conclusion of every successful transac-
tion, if you have done your job well, you should have
four new networking sources: your client, your cli-
ent’s attorney, the other party and the other party’s
attorney.”
Up in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, Bruce
Wolfgram, SIOR, P. Eng, RPA and LEED AP, a
vice president with Primecorp Commercial Realty
Inc., also is very active in charitable organizations,
United Way and hospital foundations.
“It is a good thing from an overall perspective
to give back, but I also have met a lot of very nice
people who happen to be quite influential people with
companies I have subsequently done business with,”
he says. “In cases like that, it has been much easier to
develop relationships and have that company ask me
to do work for them.”
He adds, “some people might think it’s a fair bit of
time to give up and get involved in charitable or busi-
ness organizations, but I have found it to be a very
good investment of my time. If you call someone you
have already met through an organization, you typi-
cally get a response by phone or e-mail.”
Nick Carmichael, SIOR, the business development manager for the Minneapolis office of Tractus
Asia Ltd., works a unique business, locating factories for U.S. companies in Asia. To that end, he has to
maintain relationships on both sides of the Pacific.
“I work very closely with my colleagues, some
of which are Thai, Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese
nationals,” he says. “We rely on them for their under-
standing of local laws, regulations and culture when
it comes to negotiations.”
These relationships are not just important for
negotiations, he adds, but to also be a source for
information.
On this side of world, Carmichael works with brokers and site selection professionals.
“Close relationships are extremely important
because it is where get a lot of business,” he says.
To keep up with old relationships and create new
ones, Carmichael tries to attend conferences, where
he can meet the right contacts from individual companies and other site selection firms. Hopefully,
these meetings create relationships, which become
long-term.
“A lot of these people we now know personally,”
he says, “and we try to meet with them regularly at
conferences or make it a point to meet with them at
their offices.”
