Top broker
Charlie Polk consistently racks up more deals than other brokers in larger markets. What’s his secret?

by Rob Walker
for Virginia Business
June 2007

Charles M. “Charlie” Polk III went into real estate 17 years ago after losing his job selling phone systems. “I got lucky,” he says. Yet it takes more than luck to be a top producer for several years running at a commercial real estate company that in 2006 had annual transactions valued at $2.1 billion.

Polk is the all-time top-producing broker at GVA Advantis and the company’s top producer in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Last year, he was responsible for transactions valued at $40 million to $50 million.

In addition to its Atlanta headquarters, GVA Advantis has 12 regional offices across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, in such high-growth markets as Washington, D.C., Raleigh-Durham and Tampa. It leases and manages more than 35 million square feet of commercial space.

Polk, 42, is an executive director in Richmond, who specializes in serving office and industrial clients. Virginia Business sat down with him to learn about his sales and leasing savvy. But first a little background:

A native of St. Louis, Polk came to Richmond to attend the University of Richmond. In 1987, he earned a business degree with a concentration in finance and marketing. After college, he went to work selling phone systems for Contel/Executone, but a competitor bought the company five months later. So Polk was out of a job. “My sales manager/mentor directed me toward the real estate profession,” says Polk. “He said I could do pretty well.”

At GVA Advantis, some of his largest sales and leases include: 1.6 million square feet to Capital One; 118,000 square feet, build to suit, for Charter One Mortgage; 2 million square feet of dispositions for Universal Leaf; and more than a million square feet of sale and lease transactions for SuperValu.

Q. What about the real estate business do you find most rewarding?

A. The day-in and day-out variety and the creativity that it requires is a lot of fun. We are servicing customers, which may mean a lea se deal one day and a portfolio the next. We represent tenants; we represent landlords. Every customer is different. A new day means a new challenge.

Q. As the top performing agent with your company, what is the secret to your success?

A. I remain unwavering in my discipline and focus on serving the client. Never waver from that. Pay attention to who the customer is and work hard to give them what they want. In general, that means great service.

Q. How do you approach a client to secure a deal?

A. The secret is to do your homework, evaluate their needs and then come to them with a deal that meets those needs. I like to think I’m about the best-informed broker around here. I have the inside scoop on what’s going on so I can provide good information on when to move, when not to move, when to make a decision to wait for the deal to come to you. Everyone knows that whoever I’m representing in a deal, start to finish, is getting the full benefit of my effort. No ambiguity.

Q. What is the most challenging deal you’ve brokered?

A. Without revealing names of a specific deal, I prob ably got the most satisfaction from one where I called a firm maybe 50 times and could not get a response. One of the big national firms had them locked up, but that deal went a little sideways. They brought me in to clean it up, and I ended up getting them a better deal than they thought they could. It was challenging to get in the door. The client had been told no one would be able to deliver. The time frame had gotten real tight, and then we put together something that met their needs 120 percent. It’s always satisfying to clean up another broker’s mess and then create loyalty with someone who hadn’t come to you in the first place.

Q. How has technology changed the business?

A. It makes it possible for almost any broker to deal across time zones and in any market. You’re more available. You’re there 24/7, but the important thing about technology, from my perspective, is you can’t rely on it to teach you the market or the fundamentals of negotiating a deal or how to be the best advocate for your client. Those fundamentals have never changed. A lot of brokers just don’t get that. It doesn’t matter when or where you work, experience and that unwavering commitment to every client is what you have to have to succeed.

Q. Any “aha” moments over the years?

A. One would be when a broker in my office told me I was not going to be able to represent a certain customer in a certain way because it had never been done in this market before. I went out and got the client and approached the deal in a way that was different from how brokers here would have approached it. It worked. I realized that if you are creative and entrepreneurial, you can make your own rules. The rules are ever-changing and if you are nimble and willing to change, you can stay ahead of the game.

[Another deal involved a law firm that was holding and paying for too much space, following a split off of one of its divisions. The lease posed a threat to the company’s viability. Polk renegotiated the deal with the landlord so the firm could move ahead.] It showed me clearly that this business is about a lot more than just finding space. What we do can help make or break a company.

Q. What’s your perception of the Richmond market for the near future?

A. Richmond’s poised for tremendous growth ... The fundamentals are all solid. It’s the state capital, there are great universities here, great corporate citizens, low unemployment, diversity in employment. Geographically, this is a very attractive place ... Look at how retail has changed in just the last few years. There’s that kind of potential in every segment.

Q. What suggestions would you offer to younger brokers just starting out?

A. Never forget who the customer is and never compromise your integrity. Stick with those basic principles and the best companies; the best deals will find you.