I often ask people what they take with them while canvassing. Some people answer their business card.
Pretend you go into a store and there’s a clerk at his or her desk in the back of the room. You give your business card to the clerk.
You’ve given your business card to the gate-keeper.
The owner of the business will come in that night to come to check on the business.
On his desk, there’s your business card, or there’s my flyer. The clerk might not know what you offer from your business card, so where does that business card go? The business card circular file (the garbage can).
If you have a flyer that has your property, the location, the traffic counts, the other tenants in the flyer, your contact information, and information like that, they’re going to look at your flyer.
We know that when mom and pop entrepreneurs open their first location, they want to open a second. That’s the American Dream. Mom and pop entrepreneur like talking about real estate. Having a flyer vs. a business card is very important to start a conversation.
Additionally, flyers are essential if you have space that has valuable infrastructure, like a former restaurant space, former medical space, former hair salon.
I had a client with an empty hair salon that had been available for a year, and couldn’t understand why they couldn’t lease it. He wanted me to canvass with his leasing agent. I asked if the hair salon had valuable infrastructure and he replied it had 15 chairs, eight sinks and a bunch of mirrors. I asked them to have a flyer ready with a picture of all of that.
We handed out the flyer to 30 hair salons within half a mile of the center, and we had an LOI and a lease signed within 30 days.
Hair salon operators don’t travel around the neighborhood shopping centers, vacancy by vacancy to look in the window to see the chairs and sinks on their days off. They’re busy in their store.
We have to make it easy for them. If you have space with valuable infrastructure, like a restaurant, put the size of the hood, put the ADA bathrooms, put the amps, put the size of the grease trap. Make it easy for the prospect. They would be interested if you do.
Lastly, if you have multiple properties, have a flyer will all of them.
You’re able to walk in and say, “I have 30 shopping centers in Portland. What are your expansion plans?” The question to follow is usually, “Where are they?”. On that flyer, you have a map pointing to where they are and it starts a dialogue: “Oh, I live by there,” or “I shop at this one.”
You won’t do the deal on day one. The goal of the first-day prospecting is to start a dialogue.
LEARN MORE:
What To Do When You Can’t Lease Space
How Do You Compete Against Much Lower Rent
How To Find Spaces That Are Not Yet On The Market
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