We Almost Didn't Answer the Phone. It Was the Best Deal of the Year — Plus, Free Caviar

By Joe Killinger, Partner of Commercial Brokers International

Gourmet House Caviar

There was only myself and one other agent in the office on a Friday around 5 PM.

The phone rings, and it's a caviar company that said they were looking for a brokerage to represent them with their U.S. expansion. They said, "We are near your office, can we come in and meet?"

We were skeptical at first, but we said to come on by and let's meet.

They were at the office within 30 minutes — two men in their late 30s or early 40s with fairly heavy European accents. They came in and introduced themselves and laid out the history of their caviar company, from origin story to distribution, to growth plans, and said they would send their financials in the AM.

They were extremely prepared and very focused, and the next morning their financials were in our emails.

We were set.

Sometimes, Answering the Phone Is All It Takes

The most interesting part of the conversation was that they had been in Los Angeles for the past week, and had reached out to numerous brokerages; however, no one had called them back, or had agreed to take a meeting.

We were the only company that accommodated their schedule, and because of that, we were awarded the job.

The Search Begins

The goal was to find a warehouse for their distribution and packaging.

They were very detailed on the power they needed, size, loading doors, small office, conference room, refrigeration, and the ability for large trucks to have ingress and egress.

They headed back out of town for a couple weeks, but we started sending them the available inventory that was on market and immediately started cold calling and canvassing owners of properties that met the parameters the client had set forth for us, in hopes we could find an off-market deal to present.

When they returned to the U.S., they brought some samples for us, so that was a nice treat — but they were also ready to get started looking at the inventory we had sent them.

Most of it was on-market inventory, but some were properties we had come up with from cold calling and canvassing the areas they wanted to be in.

Dream Clients Do Exist

A dream client is someone who knows exactly what they want and the area they want it located in, and these guys were about as close to that as we have ever had.

They were completely prepared in their requirements they needed, preparing for the timeline for a quick move, and knowing the locations they wanted to be at.

We did the first day of showings — about five properties — then sat down with them and went over the day's properties and what they liked and disliked, and prepped for more showings in a couple days.

At the very next set of showings, we found the perfect property with an almost perfect location.

They could make it work the way it was, it had everything they wanted, but also had some great skylights that added some incredible lighting.

We immediately got everything we needed to present the LOI, were in contract within a couple days, and moved in within 45 days.

Prepared, Focused, and Ready to Move

This one moved fast, but it was due to the client being prepared, with their plan and their financials in order — dream clients do exist.

Plus, the caviar is amazing.