If Steven Greenbush, senior vice president of CBRE, Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut, knew what it was about him that keeps customers coming back, he’d definitely kick that aspect of his personality into overdrive. “I’d double or triple it,” he chuckles.
Trust him on that. No, seriously. Trust him, especially since, if he were forced to hazard a guess, he’d say that his honesty is the trait that propels his success. “Everything I’ve done in the business since I started has evolved from that. It’s something I was taught very early on,” says Greenbush.
Ironically, he says he also learned, very early on, that he chose a profession that “doesn’t always have the best reputation [with the general public].” To compensate for that, Greenbush strives to be exceptionally transparent with his clients. “I think it comes through when you meet me. I’m sincere; I don’t put on an act,” he says, adding that he’ll research a project until he turns it inside out. “It’s important to really do right by your clients, even if it’s not best for commission. It’ll pay you back in spades.
“When I was first learning the market, I learned it from the bottom up,” he continues. “I didn’t come in and, all of a sudden, try to get the clients. I learned about buildings and their history, the history of the landlord, the market. I got to know the market cold.”
Which warms his clients. “The most value you can have to someone is knowing everything that they don’t know about a property, and that’s something I do—whether it’s Yonkers, Tarrytown, or White Plains. Wherever we go, I know that market,” he insists. “If you didn’t come into this business with relationships and things like that, which I didn’t, you’re counted on for your work ethic, personality, and reputation.”
Still, even with all that working in his favor, Greenbush says he absorbs his share of rejection. “You need thick skin to be a broker. I don’t do as much cold calling as I should, but I still have to deal with people hanging up the phone on me. It’s not personal; it’s business. You get through it.”
For his part, Greenbush doesn’t like rejecting others. “I’m a salesperson’s dream,” he quips. “I’d buy anything someone’s selling.”
Trust him on that.
