Personal Is Professional: Top Producer Douglas Sharpe
NAI Global is proud of our status as the largest independent broker organization in the world, which translates into an incredible wealth of insight and expertise in our business. In our recent blogs, we’ve been tapping into that insight, asking our commercial real estate (CRE) experts to tell us about their day-to-day schedules, their hot tips, and share their advice – both client and broker-focused.
This edition’s insight comes from Douglas Sharpe, executive vice president of NAI Northern California who brings almost 30 years of CRE experience to the table. Douglas has been named one of NAI Global’s Top Producers for 2022, as part of our annual showcase and celebration of brokers handling top business volumes in the group. The Top Producers awards will be presented at the NAI Global Convention later this year.
Agility and flexibility
There’s no “typical day” in the office for Douglas, who likens his job to the fire department, quipping: “when the bell rings, we go…”.
Q. Tell us something you love about your specific role?
I really love the challenge of searching for and finding the perfect fit for unique and challenging requirements.
Q. What CRE trend are you keeping an eye on at the moment?
The flexible work environment and its impact.
Q. What was your biggest achievement, or moment that particularly stook out to you the most, in 2021?
Closing transactions that have a direct impact on climate and environmental improvements.
Q. What is your favorite hobby or way of winding down on the weekend?
I enjoy weekend getaways and time with family and friends.
Q. What would be your top broker tip or words of advice for people starting out?
People do business with people they like—so be likeable and work really hard at it!
A personal touch
Douglas says that he most enjoys the trust, relationships, and professionalism of the NAI community. These “softer” skills – which are utterly crucial – are a bit of a theme for this exemplary broker. As he explains, getting this right is really important to differentiate yourself from other brokers in the field, and underpins some of his biggest deals.
“The relationship with the client is all that matters; size of a transaction is not important. My largest transactions were all results of relationships that started with deals too small for others.”
