Sometimes, It’s Time to Part Ways

A longtime client and I parted ways today. It was time. We both knew it.
 
You read my columns each week. I dispense market updates, advice to owners and occupants of industrial buildings, and occasionally a bit of brokerage nuance.
 
But I still make my living brokering commercial real estate. There is no safety net, no salary, no draw, no guarantee. We wake up unemployed every day. It can be sobering and yet rewarding. No one tells us whom to serve, how to spend our time, or where to concentrate our efforts.
 
Giving up a relationship is tough. They are built over years of trust and solid performance.
 
In this case, the relationship spanned many years, numerous transactions, changing market conditions, and more than a few complicated decisions. We navigated expansions, contractions, relocations, lease renewals, and acquisitions. Along the way, I came to know the people behind the business, their priorities, their challenges, and what mattered most to them.
 
That is one of the great privileges of my profession. We are invited into conversations that extend well beyond square footage, rental rates, and purchase prices. We learn how companies operate, what keeps their owners awake at night, and how a real estate decision can affect employees, customers, and sometimes entire families.
 
Over time, the relationship becomes about much more than the next transaction.
 
Which makes saying goodbye difficult.
 
I have been at this since 1984. During those years, I have learned that relationships, like businesses, evolve. Leadership changes. Priorities shift. Companies grow beyond their original structure. What worked exceptionally well for many years may no longer fit what comes next.
 
And sometimes the broker changes, too.
 
Experience brings perspective, but it also brings a clearer understanding of where we can provide the greatest value. Early in my career, I was inclined to pursue virtually every opportunity that crossed my desk. After all, when you are compensated only upon the successful completion of a transaction, turning away business seems counterintuitive.
 
Today, I view things differently.
 
Not every assignment is right for every broker, and not every client relationship should continue indefinitely. The challenge is recognizing when the circumstances have changed sufficiently that both parties might benefit from a different arrangement.
 
There is another consideration that rarely receives much attention.
 
Commercial real estate brokerage is an intensely personal business. We invest our time, judgment, reputation, and often considerable resources in pursuit of an outcome that may never produce a commission. We make recommendations that clients sometimes reject. We deliver unwelcome news. Occasionally, we advise against a transaction even though completing it would generate income.
 
That is what professional representation requires.
 
But professional representation also requires mutual confidence. Without it, even the most experienced broker will struggle to deliver the results a client deserves.
 
So, what happens when that confidence changes?
 
You acknowledge the history, appreciate the opportunities, and recognize that the relationship has reached a natural conclusion.
 
I am grateful for the years we worked together, the trust extended to me, and the many successful outcomes we achieved. Those accomplishments do not disappear simply because our professional paths are diverging.
 
Tomorrow morning, I will wake up unemployed again, just as I have on countless mornings over the past four decades.
 
The difference is that I will have a little more time to devote to the relationships and opportunities that lie ahead.
 
And perhaps that is the lesson.
 
Knowing when to move on is every bit as important as knowing when to begin.

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at abuchanan@lee-associates.com or 714.564.7104. His website is allencbuchanan.blogspot.com.