CRE Brokers: The Moment Behind Every Missed Deal

All morning, you told yourself the first thing you’d do today was hit the phones.

After spending an extra thirty minutes scrolling LinkedIn and tweaking a post that didn’t really need tweaking, you finally sit down at your desk.

Now it’s just you and the call sheet.

Then your phone buzzes.

An email comes through about a listing update you already saw yesterday. Nothing urgent. Nothing that needs you right now.

You breathe a small sigh of relief, put the call sheet aside, and start reading the email more carefully than it deserves.

Then you clean your desk (again).

You open your CRM to “get organized.”

You check market news to “stay informed.”

You make another coffee you don’t really need.

Before you know it, it’s lunchtime.

Zero calls made.

All of that “preparation” wasn’t preparation at all.

It was fear.

Because none of those actions actually moved you forward. They just kept you busy enough to avoid the one thing that mattered.

This newsletter is about the most important of the four fears holding CRE brokers back.

The fear of rejection.

Why Rejection Feels So Personal

Rejection rarely feels logical in the moment.

You are not actually afraid of the call itself. You are afraid of what the call represents. The possibility of being dismissed, ignored, or shut down.

Your brain doesn’t consider that this is in your job description. It sees rejection as a social threat.

That wiring kept humans safe thousands of years ago. Today, it quietly sabotages your income.

This is why fear of rejection shows up as avoidance. You do not feel scared. You feel busy.

Rejection Is Not a CRE Problem

This fear does not start when you become a broker.

It shows up when you:

• Ask for a raise.
• Introduce yourself to someone new.
• Share an opinion that might not be popular.
• Pursue something you actually want.

Commercial real estate simply exposes it more often, because the job requires you to ask, initiate, and risk hearing “no” repeatedly.

Remember this: Every relationship you want in life sits on the other side of potential rejection.

The Shift That Changes Everything

It’s important to remember that the top CRE brokers, many of whom we coach weekly, do not eliminate fear.

They learn to live with it, which means they stop asking, “How do I get rid of this feeling?”

And start asking, “What action am I avoiding right now?”

Then they do that action. They just do it.

Once you do this a few times, the momentum you build makes fear of rejection a little easier to overcome.

Your Simple Challenge This Week

Buy a cheap wristband or wrap an elastic band around your wrist.

Now, for the next week, pay attention to the moment you hesitate.

• The pause before the call.
• The urge to check something first.
• The instinct to delay.

Each time you become conscious of this, flick the band on your wrist and do the thing.

Not later. Not after one more task.

Right in that moment.

That single decision, repeated daily, does more to change your career than any script, system, or strategy.