Which of these 4 types of Leasing Managers are you dealing with?
When it comes to Leasing management style, or the personality of a Leasing/Letting manager, many think they can spot a friendly helper or an aggressive despot. However, within those broad categories are more profiled interaction styles that can have a direct impact on how a Leasing manager deals with his tenants. Hence what commercial rental conditions he sets to them.
4 common types include:
#1. Tenant-Hater
Tenant-Hater tends to be extremely friendly when greeting you and meeting you for the first time at a meeting. Sometimes you even obtain a mistaken impression that he wants to be your true friend. Do not fall for him!
His true opinion of a tenant is – „you are just a weed, who has to pay the rent, follow the rules and keep the head down“. Sad story.
Most probably he will scan a tenant´s outfit when entering into a meeting room with the „3-sec-Mannhattan-look“ assuming that tenant can afford a higher rent when wearing upper class branded handbag.
Emotions and feelings go aside. Goal oriented, self-confident and assertive. This is how they are and how they´ll push you into a signature of a lease agreement. Do not expect compromise of any type.
#2. Poker Face
This type of manager is more concerned with the idea of „being there“, than with the picture of „how to get there“. Although he is a planner, he doesn´t care when everyone is NOT on-board. Moving in the same direction is the common team goal, but he somehow counts on overboard losses.
Keeping a poker face on at work is not easy. The workplace often is an emotional roller coaster. Signing a leasing contract might bring him joy or satisfaction, while criticism and tenant´s withdrawal from negotiations could unleash tears or anger. Poker face manager has to keep his emotions in check.
The key is not to overreact. The course to victory follows the route of making mistakes, learning from them, capitalizing on key moments, and not getting too high or low.
This kind of behavior of a leasing manager may be problematic for emotionally tuned tenants who feel a slight discomfort in this position. Discomfort can cause stopped interest of a tenant for discussed premises. Emotionally tuned tenant will rather go to a different shopping center, than to deal with poker face manager.
If you are a tenant, just try – try – try, until poker face manager will make concessions. If he does, lucky you! You can set the right negotiation strategy. Master your emotions and you’ll be better able to win over your counterpart. You’ll then be in a better position to negotiate potential financial incentives in fit-out, or a step-rent calculation, lower deposit allowance or a nicer premises to rent.
#3. Does not care
The only thing he cares about is the signature on a leasing contract.
He just can´t stand when a retail unit stays empty. The fully leased shopping center, ideally for higher rent than an ERV shows, is what makes him feel a piece of mind. Why? Because it means a nice yearly bonus on his yearly salary bill.
Being fully aware of his strong position when working for a well-known company allows him to „go over dead bodies“. Just to get what he wants. Dealing with several potential tenants at a time is a common business, although he signs the leasing contract with a different one. Who just came by today and offered one Euro more per square meter than the rest.
He loves to be promoted and to be presented in public (between colleagues in a meeting room) as a rising star of the team.
Skinflint. That is what he is in his personal life. When it comes to a lunch with colleagues he always chooses the cheapest menu, even though he is in the taste of the most expensive. You can bet he´ll have the most expensive one during the business lunch when paid by the company or counterpart.
Wanting every favor from his tenants for free is a common habit of „Does-not-care-Leasing-Manager“.
#4. A Friend
This typically extroverted friend-manager has a direct language towards the audience. He is comfortable telling people what to do, how to do and what the landlord wants. But don’t mistake them for emotion-ruled — they know what needs to be done, even if they’re not the most goal-oriented horses. They look for a result that is required by the top management.
No wonder that a friendly leasing manager often gets an invitation to a Christmas dinner from his tenants. Chatting with them while sipping the coffee in local café, making cheers while hanging out in the city bar… these are the meeting points where a tenant can sign better commercial conditions than one would ever get in an official meeting room.
Heavily focused on good relationships and friendliness during a meeting, these managers tend to want to set achievable goals — those that can clearly be accomplished: Give a tenant nice proposal, so he will be more than happy to pay more.
Happy tenant = happy landlord. Simple as that.
Understanding these types of Leasing/Letting Managers can help you recognize the PROs and CONs of every project they´re representing and will help you set the right way of communication when talking to them. Once you find out what type of manager is sitting in front of you, you´ll be able either to tickle their ego or invite them to your home place for a nice friendship-based dinner.
In both cases, good luck in negotiations with your Leasing manager!