1. WHAT IS IT AND HOW TO GET THERE?
Several years ago, I attended the Maui Real Estate Agents' Annual Spring Conference. My wife had accompanied me on the trip so that we could also do a lot of sightseeing. Colliers International, a worldwide 241 office firm, sponsored their own company cocktail the night before the official start of the Conference and my wife and I attended the party.
Shortly after the introductions, a colleague entered the golf course and sat at our table. Andrew Friedlander introduced himself and we discussed our home in Philadelphia, his original home in Brooklyn and his new home in Honolulu. As for how he ended up in Hawaii, Andrew told us that in R&R during his travels in the Army in Vietnam, he decided to take a break in Hawaii after finishing his last tour of duty. He rented an apartment, waited for tables, washed cars, etc. to have some extra money. He said he paid his apartment rent to an older man who came once a month and finally asked if it was his business. Andrew said he never thought of property management as a business, but the more he talked to the man, the more he realized how diverse a commercial real estate business could be, particularly in Hawaii. The rental agent began to show Andrew the basics of the business and Andrew decided not to return to Brooklyn.
Forty years later, Andrew is the manager of approximately six Colliers International offices in Hawaii, with more than 40 brokers and vendors as his responsibility. In addition to selling and leasing commercial real estate and traditional brokerage transactions across the islands, Andrew's team is involved in all other aspects of commercial and industrial real Commercial Real Estate.
As a concierge person said to me and my wife while we were on tour there, "Yeah it's a great place, now where would you think of moving once you're here?"
Last year, a young army captain and friend called me from Hawaii. He and his wife were taking some R&R after their last tour of service and he called me up for advice on commercial real estate companies. I gave him Andrews' phone number after checking with Andrew for availability. Andrew invited my friend over for lunch and introduced him to the Colliers business on the islands. As it turned out, my friend and his wife later decided to move to Florida to be closer to their parents. Our Colliers office in Ft. Lauderdale was eager to interview him and he did. He found a better option to focus on office brokerage with another company, but I think it is clear that there are opportunities with major companies for someone who has an interest, who can demonstrate that they are motivated and whose behavior (manners, speech, grooming, business attire) are all positive. A longtime friend told me one night after we and our wives checked in, very late, at a hotel owned by a well-known hotel group: "That receptionist is the person who represents the clients of this hotel company and I know the CEO. That employee's slight rudeness towards us does not at all represent what his CEO wants his company to be known for in his business. He will have to learn that if he is going to be more than the night employee. "
I mention this because a company like Colliers or any of its competitors must ensure that a seller or broker who first encounters a potential customer adequately represents the image of the company. So much money is spent defining that image for the business community that each person, including all staff, must reflect that effort. Otherwise, a potential customer will choose to hire a competitor whose act is joint. I understand that customer relationship training at Wal-Mart is quite robust for all staff. I think any major restaurant chain has implemented a comprehensive staff training program and it can be helpful to see if, if the customer is not always right in an establishment, how the staff person handles a customer who is a little bit particular .
Several years ago, I attended the Maui Real Estate Agents' Annual Spring Conference. My wife had accompanied me on the trip so that we could also do a lot of sightseeing. Colliers International, a worldwide 241 office firm, sponsored their own company cocktail the night before the official start of the Conference and my wife and I attended the party.
Shortly after the introductions, a colleague entered the golf course and sat at our table. Andrew Friedlander introduced himself and we discussed our home in Philadelphia, his original home in Brooklyn and his new home in Honolulu. As for how he ended up in Hawaii, Andrew told us that in R&R during his travels in the Army in Vietnam, he decided to take a break in Hawaii after finishing his last tour of duty. He rented an apartment, waited for tables, washed cars, etc. to have some extra money. He said he paid his apartment rent to an older man who came once a month and finally asked if it was his business. Andrew said he never thought of property management as a business, but the more he talked to the man, the more he realized how diverse a commercial real estate business could be, particularly in Hawaii. The rental agent began to show Andrew the basics of the business and Andrew decided not to return to Brooklyn.
Forty years later, Andrew is the manager of approximately six Colliers International offices in Hawaii, with more than 40 brokers and vendors as his responsibility. In addition to selling and leasing commercial real estate and traditional brokerage transactions across the islands, Andrew's team is involved in all other aspects of commercial and industrial real Commercial Real Estate.
As a concierge person said to me and my wife while we were on tour there, "Yeah it's a great place, now where would you think of moving once you're here?"
Last year, a young army captain and friend called me from Hawaii. He and his wife were taking some R&R after their last tour of service and he called me up for advice on commercial real estate companies. I gave him Andrews' phone number after checking with Andrew for availability. Andrew invited my friend over for lunch and introduced him to the Colliers business on the islands. As it turned out, my friend and his wife later decided to move to Florida to be closer to their parents. Our Colliers office in Ft. Lauderdale was eager to interview him and he did. He found a better option to focus on office brokerage with another company, but I think it is clear that there are opportunities with major companies for someone who has an interest, who can demonstrate that they are motivated and whose behavior (manners, speech, grooming, business attire) are all positive. A longtime friend told me one night after we and our wives checked in, very late, at a hotel owned by a well-known hotel group: "That receptionist is the person who represents the clients of this hotel company and I know the CEO. That employee's slight rudeness towards us does not at all represent what his CEO wants his company to be known for in his business. He will have to learn that if he is going to be more than the night employee. "
I mention this because a company like Colliers or any of its competitors must ensure that a seller or broker who first encounters a potential customer adequately represents the image of the company. So much money is spent defining that image for the business community that each person, including all staff, must reflect that effort. Otherwise, a potential customer will choose to hire a competitor whose act is joint. I understand that customer relationship training at Wal-Mart is quite robust for all staff. I think any major restaurant chain has implemented a comprehensive staff training program and it can be helpful to see if, if the customer is not always right in an establishment, how the staff person handles a customer who is a little bit particular .
