Bob Scullin, SIOR, CEO
News Flash: Congratulations to Bob Scullin on receiving the President’s Award
May 17th
NEWS FLASH
Transition Brokerage: Conclusion
Dec 12th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
Understanding the Process
The Transition broker used to be one of the hordes of Haystack brokers crammed into a territory in competition with one another, vying for the attention of decision makers. They will always be there, constantly coming and going. What separates the Transition broker from this horde will be his ongoing commitment to the contacts within the four corners of his community. More >
Transition Brokerage: The Persistent Bastard
Dec 5th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
Before concluding our discussion I would like to share the story of “The Persistent Bastard” (we will call him Tim). I want to tell you about Tim’s brief career as a commercial real estate broker because he was the ideal case study of what faithful implementation of the concept of Transition brokerage can do for a broker’s income. More >
Transition Brokerage: Execute the Transition
Dec 5th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
The best example of the dynamic of Relationship brokerage is a letter I recently sent to one of my most successful brokers. He has been a commercial real estate broker for more than 25 years and considers himself as a perennial Transition broker. Despite his remarkable and consistent success, he takes seriously the tenets of Relationship brokerage and considers each year to be a five-quartered challenge to be as successful the next year as he was the prior year. More >
Transition Brokerage: Plan the Transition
Dec 5th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
Just imagine: all this time you have been thinking that there are four quarters in a year. But when it comes to business planning, the idea of a four-quartered year is so last century. It may be hard to get beyond that misunderstanding, but it is major jump forward once you realize that there are five quarters to the business planning year. Okay, maybe I need to explain that in a little more detail. More >
Transition Brokerage: String Theory
Dec 1st
By Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
Have you ever heard of String Theory? If you are not too well versed in particle physics, quantum mechanics or general relativity, you can breathe a sigh of relief. The title of this chapter applies all the concepts and principles we have discussed to this point in the context of commercial real estate brokerage. So let’s get to work applying String Theory to Transition brokerage. More >
Transition Brokerage: Thinking in Threes
Nov 30th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
The Transition broker’s assistant is working at a 9-to-5 job. The broker has no expectation of his assistant working before- or after-hours because the assistant is working a “job” for a set compensation. But the Transition broker himself is not working at a job. He is establishing a career in a profession which far exceeds the demands of a 9-to-5 job.
Transition Brokerage: Four Corners
Nov 16th
By Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
Now that we understand the importance of establishing and prioritizing the objectives of Transition brokerage, we need to consider how best to get the job done. If the broker is to know and be known by every contact in his community; know every transaction before it happens; have a finger in every transaction; and finally make money, then the basic building block is determining a four-cornered community. More >
Transition Brokerage: Five Objectives
Nov 9th
By Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
There are five prioritized objectives for Relationship brokers which must be accomplished in this specific order.
- Focus on a four-cornered territory
- Know and be known by every contact in the territory
- Know every transaction before it happens
- Have a finger in every transaction
- Make money
Since we have already discussed each of these objectives in previous chapters (see here and here), it is worth spending time discussing what brokers might assume is the first objective, but which is in fact the last objective of commercial real estate brokerage: make money. More >
Transition Brokerage: The Rule of 500
Nov 2nd
By Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
I contend that every successful broker has to establish personal relationships with 500 decision makers with whom the broker will do business directly, or from whom he will generate referrals. Those 500 contacts form the backbone of the broker’s business and distinguish the Transition broker from the Haystack broker. More >
Transition Brokerage: Introduction
Oct 26th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
We can all picture in our minds Wile E. Coyote, the Looney Tunes cartoon varmint whose hapless life is a never-ending pursuit of The Road Runner. Wile E. has a lot of arguably desirable traits, including his creatively single-minded commitment to realizing his goal of having The Road Runner for dinner (as an entree, not as a guest). But the poor canine always seems to over-pursue his objective. We all laugh as Wile E. chases The Road Runner down the desert trail, runs off the cliff, realizes that he is in mid-air with his legs wheeling at terminal speed, then falls haplessly to the valley floor far below. More >
Haystack Brokerage: Polar Opposites
Oct 18th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
The end of last week’s blog mentioned that Haystack brokerage is the polar opposite of Relationship brokerage. Therein lies the problem: Haystack brokers are as far away as they can get from Relationship brokers who maximize the effect of their labors by establishing relationships with their contacts and generating referrals from their friends and colleagues of their contacts. More >
Haystack Brokerage: “Trust, but Verify”
Oct 12th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
President Ronald Reagan famously said, “Trust, but verify” in his relations with the Soviet Union. (After the president used the phrase at the signing of the INF Treaty, his counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev responded: “You repeat that at every meeting,” to which Reagan answered, “I like it.”) More >
Haystack Brokerage: Too Many Zeroes
Oct 4th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
The Haystack broker is prone to desperation because he is betting the farm (or at least his next mortgage payment) on closing whatever deal is on the horizon. His pipeline is not dependable and he has to do whatever it takes to close every potential deal, regardless of whether they are beneficial to his principals. Such desperation leads to a lack of flexibility in negotiating commissions with clients as well as in mediating commission disputes with fellow brokers. More >
Haystack Brokerage: Frustration is Avoidable
Sep 28th
by Bob Scullin, CEO, SIOR
For the past five weekly blogs we have been discussing Haystack brokerage. In case you could use a refresher, Haystack brokerage is a common mistake made by many brokers new to commercial real estate. In an effort to find prospects for transactions, they resort to cold calling in the mistaken assumption that they will uncover the needle in the haystack, the buyer or seller, tenant or landlord who will lead them to their next deal.


