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STEVEN
GREENBUSH
Senior Vice President
CBRE, Inc.
envisioned doing those things.” Insights like those can enhance his ability to strike deals, he notes. “It’s a combination of understanding that people have a different side to them” and his ability to piece together what they “like to talk about.” It might be family, particular transactions, their business, or favorite sports. No matter. Ultimately, it helps knock down or at least minimize possible barriers. “Everyone’s passionate about something; you want to be able to connect with them on that level,” says Carcaterra, who leased about 275,000 square feet of office space last year.
The trick, he says, is “figuring out a way to get them to let their guard down.” For instance, he
describes “a gentleman who was a very substantial and impactful landlord in New York." While “he’s not the warmest individual, he’s passionate about his school.” Well, wouldn’t you know it, Carcaterra had attended the same university. “It was tough to get through early on, but I developed a rapport through that and we became fast friends. I really got to understand him and learn about him from a dif- ferent perspective.”
At the same time, Carcaterra realizes that, “if you’re too optimistic, you can be cast as a salesman, and I probably fall into that. But it’s just who I am. It often leads to friendly debate.”
No argument there.
“If you didn’t come into this business with
relationships...
you’re counted
on for your work
ethic, personality,
and reputation.”
If Steven Greenbush, senior vice president of CBRE, Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut, knew what it was about him that keeps customers coming back, he’d definitely kick that aspect of his personality into over- drive. “I'd double or triple it,” he chuckles.
Trust him on that. No, seriously. Trust him, espe- cially since, if he were forced to hazard a guess, he'd say that his honesty is the trait that propels his success. “Everything I've done in the business since I started has evolved from that. It's something I was taught very early on,” says Greenbush.
Ironically, he says he also learned, very early on, that he chose a profession that “doesn't always have the best reputation [with the general public].” To com- pensate for that, Greenbush strives to be exceptionally transparent with his clients. “I think it comes through when you meet me. I’m sincere; I don't put on an act," he says, adding that he’ll research a project until he turns it inside out. “It's important to really do right by your clients, even if it's not best for commission. It'll pay you back in spades.
"When I was first learning the market, I learned it from the bottom up," he continues. "I didn’t come in and, all of a sudden, try to get the clients. I learned about buildings and their history, the history of the landlord, the market. I got to know the market cold.”
Which warms his clients. “The most value you can have to someone is knowing everything that they don’t know about a property, and that’s something I do—whether it’s Yonkers, Tarrytown, or White Plains. Wherever we go, I know that market,” he insists. “If you didn’t come into this business with relationships and things like that, which I didn’t, you’re counted on for your work ethic, personality, and reputation.”
Still, even with all that working in his favor, Greenbush says he absorbs his share of rejection. “You need thick skin to be a broker. I don’t do as much cold calling as I should, but I still have to deal with people hanging up the phone on me. It’s not personal; it’s busi- ness. You get through it.”
For his part, Greenbush doesn’t like rejecting oth- ers. “I’m a salesperson’s dream,” he quips. “I’d buy anything someone’s selling.”
Trust him on that.
Chuck Green has been a writer and reporter for more than 30 years, specializing in topics such as business, real estate, finance, sustainability, and healthcare. He's contributed to various publications including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, WallStreetJournal.com, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Washington Post.
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