B2B real estate prospecting is neighbourhood work
Commercial real estate prospecting still happens largely on foot: walk the area, note the brass plates, call the front desks. It works, but it’s slow, and it quickly becomes hard to remember who you contacted, when, and what they said.
Most of your targets are publicly listed, though. A law firm, a clinic, a travel agency or an IT services company almost always has a Google Maps listing with an address, a phone number and often a website. And growing companies show it on LinkedIn through their job openings.
Who to target, and which search to run
A Google Maps search is a keyword plus a place: a city, a neighbourhood, or your GPS position. You can filter by minimum rating, status or verified listings, and sort by most reviews, since a busy practice may be running out of room. Examples by property type:
| Your property | Targets | Example search |
|---|---|---|
| Offices to let | Service firms, practices | “accounting firm” in Les Berges du Lac, Tunis |
| Off-plan medical floor | Doctors, dentists, physiotherapists | “dentist” in Sfax, sorted by most reviews |
| Retail unit | Established local shops | “bakery” in La Marsa, minimum rating 4+ |
| Offices for growing teams | Companies that are hiring | LinkedIn: “IT services” companies in Tunis, 51–200 employees, with job openings |
| Joint mandates and referrals | Agencies, architects, engineering firms | “real estate agency” in Sousse |
On LinkedIn, follow up with people search: titles like “Office Manager”, “CFO” or “Managing Director” in the companies you found. LinkedIn search runs through your own account and returns profile data, without emails or phone numbers.
Organise prospects by property and profession
Create one list per property or development (“Medical floor – Sfax centre”), tag by profession and note what matters: estimated current space, who you met on site, when to call back. Then reveal contact details for the leads you keep: email and phone come from the public listing, then the business’s own website and social profiles. You can also import past contacts by CSV (up to 500 rows per import) to track everything in one place.
An example sequence for a commercial property
- 1Day 0: introduction email
From your Gmail, Outlook or IMAP mailbox: the property in one line, how close it is to the prospect, one question. No heavy brochure attached.
- 2Wait 3 days, condition: email opened?
If yes, a follow-up with something concrete (floor plan, photo, delivery date). If not, a different subject line, A/B tested.
- 3Condition: has a phone?
If yes, a short WhatsApp message that refers to the email and offers a viewing. WhatsApp works better as a follow-up than as a first contact.
- 4Wait 5 days: last follow-up
A brief message that leaves the door open, such as: “Shall I get back to you if a larger unit comes up in the area?”
- 5Stop on reply
As soon as a prospect replies, the sequence stops for them. The AI copilot tags the reply and drafts an answer proposing a viewing slot.
For decision-makers found on LinkedIn, swap the first two steps for a profile visit, an invitation, then a message once it’s accepted. See also WhatsApp outreach and multichannel outreach.
A sample first message
Messages that land talk about the prospect’s situation (distance, space, access, parking) rather than the development’s superlatives.
What to watch out for
- Geographic fit: a practice that has served its local patients for years rarely moves across town. Target a sensible radius.
- Pace: buying or moving premises takes months. One well-spaced follow-up beats five messages in a week.
- WhatsApp: as a follow-up, in office hours, with a professional message. Our guide to WhatsApp prospecting messages has templates.
- Personal data: GDPR in Europe, Organic Law 2004-63 in Tunisia. Introduce yourself, say where you found the contact and remove anyone who asks.
- Accuracy: only describe what’s true (size, price, timing). Wrong information costs more than a message you never sent.