Commercial Real Estate Experts Shift Focus from Pitching to Listening

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

17 Sep 2025

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The biggest mistake commercial real estate brokers make in presentations is focusing on market data before understanding client needs, according to Jim Kruse, Director of Brokerage at NAI Capital Commercial.

“The most important thing in presenting or in creating a presentation, is sitting down with the ownership and finding out what they want. It’s their agenda,” Kruse says, challenging the common industry practice of leading with market analytics and comparables.

Beyond Market Analysis

Drawing from his experience training hundreds of brokers at CBRE, where he led presentation skills workshops, Kruse argues that technical expertise alone isn’t enough.

“Anybody can put the dots on the map and run the analytics, and write a good narrative and come up with the pictures,” Kruse notes. “But if you’re not listening and understanding what that client wants to hear and what the client wants addressed, you’re going to lose.”

The Decision-Maker Dynamic

According to Kruse, another critical element often overlooked is ensuring all relevant decision-makers are present for presentations. “Make sure you’ve got every decision maker in the room,” he advises. “If there’s a wife that has a real say in the going forward, or a brother-in-law or a golfing buddy or other family members or a trust. Make sure they’re all in the room.”

The stakes of missing key stakeholders are high. “If you don’t have all those people that you’re presenting to, you’re just going through a rehearsal,” Kruse warns.

Building Lasting Relationships

For Kruse, successful presentations are about more than just winning immediate business – they’re about establishing long-term relationships through understanding and addressing client concerns.

“This is a business that’s about people. It’s about relationships,” he says. “And you cannot afford the luxury of pissing somebody off. If you’ve upset someone, you better go mend that fence in a hurry, build the bridge.”

The Information Exchange

Kruse challenges brokers to rethink how they view market intelligence. “A lot of times, brokers will think that their information is like solid gold, and they’re very protective of it,” he observes. “That information is bait. That’s what you use to get in and get that audience with that owner.”