Commercial Real Estate Leadership (CRE Success)

Hosted by Darren Krakowiak

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Episodes

290

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

This is the Commercial Real Estate Leadership podcast. The show is hosted by Darren Krakowiak, the Founder of CRE Success. Inside the CRE Success Revenue Accelerator, Darren helps commercial real estate principals to lead their people better, grow their businesses faster and have less stress in their lives. Send an email with 'GROW' in the subject line to hello@cresuccess.co for more information. CRE Success Agent Accelerator is our program for commercial real estate agents who want to upgrade their skills, elevate their mindset and get the accountability they need to grow their production by $100,000 or more. Visit cresuccess.co/waitlist for your invite to join. This podcast was previously known as CRE Success: The Podcast (until episode 158).

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 28, 2026Episode 29315 min

293. Are Your Commercial Real Estate Agents Doing Enough Prospecting?; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

Prospecting is essential for building a consistent pipeline, winning more listings and growing revenue in a commercial real estate agency. But knowing that prospecting matters is not enough. Agents also need the skills, systems and accountability to make it happen consistently. In episode 293 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak walks through five practical masterclasses recently delivered inside Agent Accelerator, our training and coaching program for commercial real estate agents. Each session focuses on one skill and requires participants to put what they learn into practice during the session. From improving cold call opening lines to understanding pipeline coverage ratios, the five masterclasses address the real challenges agents face when developing new business. This episode covers: 🔹 How to make the first 30 seconds of a cold call more effective by acknowledging the interruption, sharing something relevant and asking a question. 🔹 Why agents skip prospecting, how to recognise recurring excuses and how to interrupt those patterns before they derail the day. 🔹 How to structure an ideal week using the Find, Mind and Grind framework to protect time for business development. 🔹 How to use GCI targets and weighted pipeline coverage ratios to make better decisions about prospecting activity. 🔹 Why a structured follow-up cadence, combining calls, voicemails and emails, can help agents reach more property owners. Darren also shares member survey results highlighting the program's practical value and challenges agency principals to assess whether their agents can turn sales training into action. Discover how practical, accountable training can help your commercial real estate agents become more effective. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. If you're a commercial real estate principal who wants your agents to prospect consistently and take greater ownership of their results, visit cresuccess.co/sales to learn how Sales Management as a Service can help you build an accountable, high-performing team without hiring a full-time sales manager. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/293 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

October 21, 2026Episode 29215 min

292. Four Standards Every Commercial Real Estate Agent Needs; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

Why would a commercial real estate agent respond differently to advice from an industry mentor than to the same advice from their boss? In episode 292 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak examines what three experienced commercial real estate leaders have in common, despite operating different business models and serving different markets. Their insights reveal four practical standards that commercial real estate principals can use to improve sales performance, accountability and client relationships amongst their agents. The four principles are simple: play the long game, communicate consistently, work a defined market and measure the inputs that drive results. Using this advice, Darren explains why agents need to build relationships beyond the next transaction, when silence damages trust, and how a clearly defined patch helps agents develop market knowledge and win business. He also explores how activity metrics can help principals identify whether an agent's challenge is prospecting, conversations or presentations. The episode also covers the importance of structured onboarding, with clear expectations for new agents across their first 30, 60 and 90 days. What You'll Learn 🔹 Why advice from an external mentor can carry more weight than the same message from a principal. 🔹 How to build long-term relationships instead of chasing individual deals. 🔹 Why regular client updates and honest communication are non-negotiable. 🔹 How to define an agent's market, track prospecting activity and coach specific performance gaps. 🔹 How to set realistic development milestones for new commercial real estate agents. For agency principals who want stronger accountability and a business that can run without them, this episode offers practical ways to turn good advice into visible standards. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. If you're a commercial real estate principal who wants your agents to prospect consistently and take greater ownership of their results, visit cresuccess.co/sales to learn how Sales Management as a Service can help you build an accountable, high-performing team without hiring a full-time sales manager. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/292 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

October 14, 2026Episode 2918 min

291. Don't Let a Lost Deal Cost You the Next One; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

Emotional intelligence, mindset and resilience can have a significant impact on commercial real estate performance. In episode 291 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak explores emotional hijacking, why it affects even experienced agents, and how developing mindset skills can help agents make better decisions under pressure. Emotional hijacking occurs when one's emotional state takes over and influences professional judgment. A lost deal can lead to a curt email, a discounted listing or a missed follow-up call. These aren't necessarily knowledge or skills problems. They happen when an agent knows the right move but isn't in the right state to make it. Darren explains why the ability to think clearly when others are reacting can be a competitive advantage in commercial real estate. He also explores resilience, including how reducing recovery time after rejection can help agents regain focus and productive momentum sooner. The episode highlights the value of specialist mindset coaching and why commercial real estate principals shouldn't feel they need to coach every aspect of performance themselves. What You'll Learn 🔹 What emotional hijacking is and how it affects professional judgment. 🔹 How rejection can influence emails, negotiations, listing fees and client relationships. 🔹 Why clear thinking under pressure can create a competitive advantage. 🔹 How to measure resilience by reducing recovery time after setbacks. 🔹 Why specialist mindset coaching can complement accountability and prospecting development. For commercial real estate principals and agents, this episode offers a practical perspective on improving performance by managing the emotional state behind everyday decisions. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/291 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

October 7, 2026Episode 29011 min

290. When Accountability Actually Improves Performance; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

Commercial real estate agent accountability does not have to mean pressure, blame, or another awkward meeting about the numbers. In episode 290 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak takes listeners inside the monthly Performance Tracking call for Agent Accelerator, CRE Success' program designed to help commercial real estate agents upgrade their skills, improve their mindset, and get the accountability they need to grow their production. The call follows a deliberate structure: wins, learnings, the PDF (Production, Development, and Freedom) Plan check-in, hot seat coaching, commitments, and Q&A. Darren explains how a simple green, yellow, and red traffic light system helps agents be honest about their progress without creating a culture of punishment. He also breaks down how hot seat coaching turns real-life commercial real estate problems into specific, practical actions. You'll discover: 🔹 How structured accountability can support agent performance without blame 🔹 Why green, yellow, and red make performance conversations easier 🔹 How hot seat coaching solves real problems while developing the wider group 🔹 Why five outbound calls plus five deal-moving actions can create a consistent prospecting rhythm 🔹 How agents can ask their principal for specific performance feedback and support For commercial real estate principals looking for better ways to develop agents that don't cost them more of their limited time, this episode provides a practical look inside a structured sales management and accountability system that's already working for 40 agencies around Australia. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/290 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

September 30, 2026Episode 28912 min

289. How Commercial Agencies Are Using AI; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

AI is no longer something commercial real estate principals can leave on the "one day" list. Commercial agencies are already using it to reduce manual work, improve productivity and produce better outputs. In episode 289 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak looks at five practical areas where AI is being used by his clients today. The focus is not on replacing judgement or people. It's on removing unnecessary manual work and making existing processes more efficient. In this episode, you'll discover: 🔹 How AI can draft responses to client emails and enquiries without replacing human judgement. 🔹 How content plans, social media posts and email campaigns can be produced faster with better prompts and inputs. 🔹 How AI can help build targeted prospecting lists and score leads so teams can focus their attention. 🔹 How raw business and property data can be turned into useful analysis and clear client-facing insights. 🔹 Why principals should learn to use AI themselves before expecting their team to utilise it. The episode also explains why a single successful AI use case can create the curiosity and momentum required to find many more applications across a business. If you're a CRE principal still doing too much manually, this episode gives you practical places to start. It also brings together the broader seven-part framework of pipeline, people and process that we've been covering over the past six weeks. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. If your commercial real estate agency is looking to save time and get more done with AI, grab the free 100 ChatGPT Prompts for CRE Agencies guide at cresuccess.co/chatgpt and start putting AI to work in your business. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/289 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

September 23, 2026Episode 28811 min

288. A Documented Process is Worthless If Nobody Follows It; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

A commercial real estate agency becomes harder to scale when processes live inside people's heads and principals remain the default owner of every important client relationship. In episode 288 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak explains how commercial real estate principals can grow revenue faster by getting clear on two critical questions: how tasks get done and who is responsible for doing them. The episode explores why documented standard operating procedures (SOPs) only create value when they are actually followed, how consistent processes help teams deliver the client experience without requiring the principal to personally handle every task, and why clear roles and performance metrics are essential for accountability. Here's what we're covering: 🔹 Why a client is likely attached to a standard, not a specific person 🔹 How documented and followed processes create leverage for principals 🔹 When to introduce management capability within the largest department 🔹 Why clear roles, responsibilities and performance metrics matter 🔹 How the rule of 2,000 hours reveals opportunities to move low-value work away from high performers For commercial real estate principals who want an agency that can operate without everything running through them, this episode provides a practical framework for improving processes, team structure and delegation. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/288 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

September 16, 2026Episode 28710 min

287. An Agency That People Never Want to Leave; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

Leadership is not just about hiring and developing great people. It is also about creating the culture and setting the vision that makes good people want to stay. In episode 287 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak explores employee retention and explains why company values written on a wall are not necessarily what people experience every day. He breaks down the three things that shape workplace culture: what leaders do, what they praise, and what they call out or let slide. He also explains why a strong business vision needs to move from the principal's head into something the team can understand, believe in, and help them to achieve. You'll discover: 🔹 Why stated company values can be very different from the culture people actually experience 🔹 How leadership actions, recognition and tolerance shape workplace culture 🔹 The three questions every commercial real estate business vision should answer 🔹 The difference between employees complying with a vision and becoming genuinely enlisted in it 🔹 Why weekly one-on-one meetings are one of the most powerful tools for reinforcing culture, vision and retention For commercial real estate principals who want to build a high-performing team that stays, this episode offers a practical framework for turning values and vision into everyday leadership. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/287 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

September 9, 2026Episode 28611 min

286. You Talk to Your Agents Daily. But Are You Actually Leading Them?; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

How can commercial real estate principals develop their people while reducing the constant interruptions that consume their week? In Episode 286 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak explains why regular one-on-one meetings are one of the most effective leadership mechanisms in a commercial real estate agency. Many principals believe they already communicate enough because they speak with their team every day. But ad hoc conversations about deals, clients and immediate problems are not the same as giving someone your full and undivided attention. Darren explains how a structured weekly one-on-one can improve relationships, surface concerns earlier, support employee development and create more focus for the principal. The approach is simple: schedule 30 minutes every week, protect the meeting, and make sure the team member's agenda comes first. What You'll Get: • A practical structure for weekly one-on-one meetings • Why consistent cadence matters for team development • How one-on-ones can reduce ad hoc interruptions • Why the team member's agenda should come first • How better people development supports agency growth and momentum For commercial real estate principals looking to build a stronger team, improve leadership and create an agency that can operate with less dependence on the principal, this episode provides a practical system for purposeful action. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/286 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

September 2, 2026Episode 2859 min

285. You Have Enough Leads. You Just Need to Convert Them.; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

Generating more leads is not always the answer to a commercial real estate agency's revenue problem. In episode 285 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak explores the other two critical parts of the deal pipeline: qualifying opportunities and converting them into revenue. Many commercial agencies generate plenty of leads through prospecting, referrals and inbound enquiries, but still fail to hit their revenue targets. The real constraint is often what happens after an opportunity enters the pipeline. Darren shares two practical qualification frameworks, including BANT for enquiries and a simple three-question filter for listings you're pursuing: Is it real? Can we win it? Do we want it? He also explains why commercial real estate principals need visibility into conversion rates at every stage of the pipeline, from qualified opportunity through to closed deal. You'll discover: 🔹 How to identify whether leads are your revenue constraint 🔹 How BANT helps agents effectively qualify opportunities 🔹 The three questions to ask before going after a listing 🔹 Why tracking conversion between pipeline stages reveals bottlenecks 🔹 How postmortems can improve future conversion rates If your commercial agency is generating opportunities but revenue is still falling short, this episode will help identify where deals are getting stuck and what to fix next. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/285 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

August 26, 2026Episode 28410 min

284. How Top Commercial Agencies Generate Opportunities; Commercial Real Estate Leadership

In episode 284 of Commercial Real Estate Leadership, Darren Krakowiak reveals how commercial real estate agencies can build a stronger, more reliable pipeline by deliberately generating opportunities from four key lead generation channels. Many CRE principals don't really know where their last five deals came from. Business arrives through a mix of prospecting, referrals, existing clients and inbound inquiries, but without tracking and deliberate systems, it is difficult to know what is working, what is being neglected and where leads are leaking. Darren breaks down the four channels every commercial agency should be running: outbound prospecting, referrals, existing clients and inbound leads. He also explains what combination makes outbound prospecting work, and why better follow-up may be more valuable than spending more on marketing. You'll discover: 🔹 The four lead generation channels every CRE agency should manage 🔹 Why prospecting needs to be consistent, persistent and proactive 🔹 How to create two deliberate referral systems 🔹 When to ask existing clients for referrals and repeat business 🔹 Why inbound leads are often lost through poor follow-up If your pipeline relies too heavily on one source of business, this episode will help identify the gaps and create a more deliberate lead generation system. --- Email hello@cresuccess.co and put the word "GROW" in the subject line to take the first step towards accelerating revenue growth in your commercial real estate agency with the right people on your team, serving ideal clients inside a business that just works. Visit the CRE Success website: cresuccess.co Read the episode anecdote, get the transcript and watch the video recording of the podcast here: cresuccess.co/blog/284 To share this episode or your thoughts on it, tag us on socials: @cresuccess or use our hashtag: #cresuccess If you enjoy the show, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Connect with Darren Krakowiak on LinkedIn Podcast music sourced from audioblocks.com

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