BrokerageIndustrialCold OutreachDeal Sourcing

Prospect Research Brief

by William Alcorn

000

What It Does

Generates a pre-call research brief on a prospect — company background, likely real estate needs, and tailored talking points before you pick up the phone.

Who It's For

CRE brokers preparing for cold calls, owner outreach, or first meetings with prospects.

How To Use It

Provide the prospect's name, company name, and any context you already have (property they own, industry, size, etc.).
Optionally paste in any public info you've found (LinkedIn bio, company website blurb, news article).
Use the output to sharpen your pitch and anticipate objections before the call.

Before / After Example

Example Input

Prospect: Bobby Theis, owner of Theis Distribution / Theis Co (theisco.com)
Industry: Food distribution — distributes to HEB grocery stores across South Texas
Property: Owns an 88,964 SF metal distribution building at 17984 Red Iron Rd, Schertz TX
Context: 2-year relationship. He's near retirement. HEB recently shifted from DSD to warehouse-to-warehouse distribution model, which may be changing his space needs.

Example Output

COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Theis Distribution is a South Texas food distributor that has served HEB grocery stores for decades. Bobby Theis is the founder/owner and is approaching retirement age. The business operates out of a single owned facility in Schertz, TX — an 88,964 SF metal building on I-35 that Bobby has owned for years.

LIKELY REAL ESTATE PROFILE
• Single tenant, owner-occupied — likely no lease payment, high equity in asset
• Building is functional but older vintage metal construction — may be harder to finance conventionally
• Space needs may be shrinking: HEB's DSD→warehouse shift reduces Bobby's last-mile delivery obligation

POTENTIAL PAIN POINTS
• Retirement timeline creates urgency — he may want liquidity more than continued operations
• HEB model change could reduce his space need at Year 3, creating risk if he signs a long-term leaseback
• Older metal building may limit buyer pool — he needs someone who understands the asset

TAILORED TALKING POINTS
• Lead with the retirement angle: 'You've built something real here — let's talk about how to extract full value on your terms'
• Differentiate as a buyer, not just a broker: 'We're looking to acquire and hold — not flip'
• Address the HEB shift directly: 'We've modeled multiple scenarios around your space needs at Year 3 — let's walk through them'

QUESTIONS TO ASK
• 'What does your relationship with HEB look like over the next 3-5 years?'
• 'Have you thought about what you want the next chapter to look like — do you want a clean exit or stay involved?'
• 'If we could structure a sale where you stay in the building for a couple years, does that appeal to you?'
• 'Are there other stakeholders involved in this decision — family, partners?'
• 'What's your sense of what the building is worth?'

The Prompt

You are a commercial real estate research analyst preparing a pre-call brief for a broker. Based on the information provided, generate a concise prospect brief covering:

1. COMPANY SNAPSHOT (2-3 sentences: what they do, size/scale if known, how long they've been operating)
2. LIKELY REAL ESTATE PROFILE (what type of space do they probably occupy? Owned or leased? Likely SF range? Any expansion signals?)
3. POTENTIAL PAIN POINTS (3 bullets: what real estate problems might they have right now? Lease expiration? Growth? Underperforming asset?)
4. TAILORED TALKING POINTS (3 bullets: how should the broker position the conversation? What angle will resonate?)
5. QUESTIONS TO ASK ON THE CALL (3-5 discovery questions that will surface real estate needs)

Keep the brief tight — this is prep material, not a report. Bullet points over paragraphs.

Prospect info:
[USER PROVIDES PROSPECT NAME, COMPANY, INDUSTRY, AND ANY KNOWN CONTEXT HERE]

LikeFork

Comments

No comments yet.