_{1. Find Companies That Are Growing}

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One of the strongest commercial property signals isn't a property search.

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It's business growth.

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Imagine a company has:

• 35 employees today
• 11 open positions
• Recently raised funding
• Announced expansion into another market

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There's a reasonable chance its property requirements could change.

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That doesn't mean you immediately send:

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"Do you need a bigger office?"

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Instead, add the company to your target account list and research what's happening.

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Look for signals such as:

• New job openings
• New offices
• Funding rounds
• Major contracts
• New locations
• Acquisitions
• Headcount growth

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You're trying to identify potential property demand before the formal search begins.

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That's much more valuable than contacting every company in your city.

_{2. Search for Decision-Makers, Not "Leads"}

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Once you've identified an interesting company, the next question is:

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Who should you actually speak to?

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Depending on the organisation, that might be the:

• CEO
• Managing Director
• COO
• Head of Operations
• Facilities Director
• Property Director
• Expansion Director

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For investors, you might instead target:

• Investment Directors
• Acquisition Managers
• Asset Managers
• Managing Partners

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This is where a B2B database becomes useful.

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Apollo lets you search companies and identify relevant decision-makers using criteria such as industry, geography, company size, and seniority.

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Try it here: Apollo.io

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Free plan available.

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The objective isn't finding 10,000 email addresses.

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I'd rather have 101 carefully selected accounts with a genuine reason to contact them.

_{3. Look for Companies Hiring in Specific Locations}

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This is one of my favourite prospecting signals.

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Suppose a company suddenly advertises:

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23 jobs in Bristol.

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But its current office is in London.

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That's interesting.

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Maybe they're building a remote team.

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Maybe they're opening a new location.

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Maybe they're acquiring another business.

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You don't know yet.

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And that's precisely why there's an opportunity to start a conversation.

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You could reach out with something like:

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Hi Sarah,

I noticed you're currently growing the Bristol team.

I'm researching business expansion across the local office market and was curious whether the growth is being handled remotely or whether you're considering a physical location in Bristol.

Happy to share some recent availability data if useful.

You're not pretending to know they need property.

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You're using a legitimate business signal to start a relevant conversation.

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_{4. Build Relationships With Businesses Before Their Lease Ends}

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This is where commercial real estate becomes a long game.

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Imagine you discover a company's lease expires in 18 months.

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That's not a bad lead.

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It could be an excellent lead with bad timing.

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Add the company to your CRM.

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Then build reminders:

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18 months before expiry

Research the account.

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12 months before

Start relationship building.

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9 months before

Discuss future requirements.

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6 months before

Explore available options.

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3 months before

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Active property search or lease negotiation.

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Suddenly, your CRM isn't just storing contacts.

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It's telling you when opportunities may become relevant.

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A platform such as GoHighLevel can help manage pipelines, reminders, forms, communication, and automated follow-up.

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Try it here: GoHighLevel

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Free trial available.

_{5. Target Property Investors Differently}

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Companies looking for premises and investors looking for assets shouldn't receive the same outreach.

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An occupier cares about things like:

• Location
• Rent
• Transport
• Capacity
• Employees
• Expansion

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An investor might care more about:

• Yield
• Tenant quality
• Lease length
• Vacancy
• Capital growth
• Development potential

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So I'd create separate databases.

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For example:

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Database A — Occupiers

Businesses potentially requiring offices, warehouses, retail units, or industrial facilities.

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Database B — Investors

Individuals and companies acquiring commercial assets.

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Database C — Developers

Businesses looking for land, development opportunities, or repositioning projects.

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Different client.

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Different problem.

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Different outreach.

_{6. Use Cold Email as the Introduction, Not the Sales Pitch}

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Commercial real estate is one area where I think cold email can work extremely well when it's done properly.

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But I'd keep campaigns small.

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Don't send:

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We are a leading commercial real estate agency offering a comprehensive range of solutions...

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Nobody cares.

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Instead:

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Observation → Reason for contacting → Question

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For example:

Hi Mark,

Saw you're recruiting heavily around Leeds at the moment.

We work with businesses evaluating industrial and warehouse space around the area.

Are you expecting the current facility to handle the additional capacity, or is expansion something you're exploring this year?

That's enough.

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If you're running structured campaigns, Instantly can automate the initial outreach and follow-up process.

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Try it here: Instantly

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Free trial available.

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I'd still keep the human involved as soon as someone responds.

_{7. Turn Your CRM Into a Future-Client Database}

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This is where everything comes together.

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Most businesses think:

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CRM = people I'm currently selling to.

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I'd think:

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CRM = everyone I may realistically do business with over the next five years.

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Track things like:

• Company
• Decision-maker
• Current location
• Property type
• Estimated requirement
• Previous conversations
• Expansion signals
• Lease expiry
• Investment preferences
• Next follow-up date

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Then segment prospects:

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Now

Active requirement.

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Soon

Potential requirement within 12 months.

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Later

Long-term relationship.

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Investor

Looking for acquisitions.

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Landlord

Potential future instruction.

Now you're building an asset.

_{Don't Destroy Your Email Deliverability}

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If you're using outbound email, list quality matters.

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I'd verify contacts before putting them into campaigns rather than repeatedly sending to invalid addresses.

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Bouncer is designed for email verification.

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Try it here: Bouncer

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If you're operating dedicated outbound inboxes, you can also use a deliverability platform such as Warmy.

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Try it here: Warmy

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The goal isn't maximum sending volume.

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It's getting relevant messages in front of the right people.

_{Automate the Boring Parts}

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There are plenty of tasks I'd automate:

• New prospect → CRM
• Positive response → Opportunity created
• Meeting booked → Calendar
• No immediate requirement → Future follow-up
• New buying signal → Sales notification

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Make is useful for connecting these different systems.

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Try it here: Make

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Free plan available.

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But I'd draw a clear line.

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Automate administration.

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Don't automate relationships.

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Once someone is genuinely interested, the broker should take over.

_{5 Prospecting Signals I'd Watch Closely}

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If I could monitor only five things, I'd choose:

1. Rapid hiring
2. New geographic expansion
3. Funding or acquisitions
4. Lease expiries
5. Major business growth announcements

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These give you a reason to contact someone.

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And having a reason makes prospecting much easier.

_{What I Wouldn't Do}

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I wouldn't:

• Buy thousands of random "commercial property leads."
• Blast generic emails.
• Contact five people at the same company simultaneously.
• Pretend to know someone needs property when I don't.
• Stop following up because the requirement isn't immediate.
• Measure success purely by emails sent.

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I'd rather identify 51 excellent companies than 5,001 mediocre prospects.

_{Final Thoughts}

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Finding commercial real estate clients isn't really about finding leads.

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It's about identifying future property decisions.

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Companies grow.

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Warehouses become too small.

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Leases expire.

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Investors raise capital.

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Businesses relocate.

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Developers look for opportunities.

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Most of those events leave signals before a transaction happens.

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The opportunity is to spot those signals, identify the right decision-maker, start a useful conversation, and maintain the relationship until the timing is right.

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That's a much stronger strategy than buying another list of people your competitors are already contacting.