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See you in Vegas! |
May madness has erupted at our office in preparation for the ICSC Convention in Las Vegas. It looks like it's going to be a good show. Last year at this time, I was losing my mind about the health and welfare of Ted, so I was out of touch with what was happening. Now, I'm actually on the phone selling ads and it's a hell of a lot more fun!
Business around the country appears to be okay, but in the past few weeks some brokers have been complaining about a slowdown, developers are aware of potential vacancies and lenders are either digging holes to bury their heads or refreshing their resumes.
It's interesting to see the changes in how and what advertisers are promoting at this year's show. Last year, we had a lot of institutional, "feel good" type of ads. For the 2001 convention, we have mostly site-driven ads, i.e., list after list of properties for lease or sale, which means that developers, brokers and management companies are more interested in actually making deals than just looking good.
I always have a good time when I call people to buy ad space. You hear the most interesting and sometimes insane comments. In one conversation, a developer had almost 100,000
sq. ft. for lease in 10 or so centers. He initially approached us about including his centers in our Space Place section (a free service), and obviously we tried to convert him into a paying customer. His reasoning behind NOT placing an ad was that he had several brokers working on the centers. So I asked him who the brokers were so we could put them as the contact rather than list his company's phone number, and also so I could call them direct for an ad. He explained that he didn't want to give me the brokers' phone numbers, since he wanted the calls to go to him, so he wouldn't have to pay a commission if he got a lead from being written about in The Dealmakers. Geez, what a gonif!
Another conversation that I had was with a marketing director at a regional construction company. She explained that she does a budget annually and earmarks 100% of the dollars by November for the following year. I replied no problem, can I send you a media kit to review for next year's marketing campaign and just in case she might have a "special project" before 2001 ends. Her response was don't bother and if "you send anything I'll just throw it in the garbage." Whew! Glad I don't have to work with her! I know most of the higher-ups at the company, since they've been subscribers forever, and they're nice guys, so it's not the company's fault she has no social skills. When I talk to marketing directors who allocate every dollar a year in advance, I have to wonder what they do when a project needs extra help and they have no budget left. Do they just ignore it until next year? Has anyone ever heard of a reserve for the unexpected? I'm not bashing marketing directors, they have a sometimes difficult job, and they have to please everyone, and money doesn't grow on trees, so they have to be discriminating on how they spend it. But anyone can say no gracefully. It doesn't cost money to be nice.
I was talking with a potential advertiser who's a broker in downtown Seattle. He deals mainly with local mom and pops. I asked him, “Don't you want to get the word out to regional and national chains, or at least get the ear of their exclusive brokers?” His explanation was grand: The regional and national chains don't return any of his phone calls, so he gave up trying to reach this crowd. I told him that we often call a retailer thirty (30, no lie!) times before we'll get a return phone call and update their expansion plans, so in turn we can give you a 100 or so leads of expanding retailers every week. He didn't feel that leaving 30 messages for a big chain was worth the time, so I moved onto my next call. But I have to give him credit, since he did return my calls. How unprofessional can retailers really be... they need to look at it as responding to fan mail rather than considering a call on a potential site as intrusive. Don't they understand it's quicker in the long run to give a fast no, rather than duck 30 voice messages?
In a conversation with a developer about his proposed center, I noticed that the anchor had changed three times in the past 18 months, so of course I was curious about why the deals kept falling apart. His first deal was with a major discount department store and they backed out. The second deal was with a housewares chain and he put them on the back burner, because a national powerhouse chain stepped up to the plate. He spent big bucks on legal fees, architects, etc., meeting all the powerhouses' dreams and desires BEFORE the chain presented it to the "committee." After numerous unreturned calls to the prospective tenant, the developer received a one-page fax consisting of one sentence saying that the powerhouse was no longer interested in the site. The real estate department from this much-sought-after chain has yet to return any of this fellow's calls. He's now back to resurrecting the second deal, and I asked him what he would do if the powerhouse ever called him about other sites in his large portfolio. He responded that 1) he wouldn't spend any money on legal or architectural fees until he had a LOI, and 2) he would make a point of being extremely responsive and then at the 11th hour he would not return any of their phone calls. Revenge really is best served cold. I bet this guy will have a field day if he ever gets the chance.
We’ll see most of you in a few weeks in Vegas. Make a point to stop by our booth at 667 6th Avenue and say hello. We’re serving lemonade again this year and on May 21, join us for a Beer Bash at 4:30 p.m.
Ann O’Neal
Publisher