Turning a $1.5M Profit in Eight Months with Crexi PRO
Meet Kaylan Knitowski and Justin Walker
Kaylan Knitowski is a Senior Associate specializing in retail investment sales at Franklin Street, focusing on value-add retail assets throughout the Southeast. Since entering commercial real estate in 2022, she has closed over $57 million in transactions, with an additional $50 million under contract.
Justin Walker, Senior Director at Franklin Street, leads the retail investment team in South Florida and the Southeast. With a career spanning over $100 million in transactions, Justin is known for driving growth and success in retail investment sales.
Together, Kaylan and Justin bring a results-driven approach to retail investment, leveraging data and technology to deliver exceptional client outcomes.
Painting the Scene
With the Southeast's competitive retail investment sales landscape, brokers Kaylan Knitowski and Justin Walker from Franklin Street have successfully leveraged Crexi PRO to streamline lead generation, build stronger client relationships, and close high-value deals.
Before adopting Crexi PRO, Franklin Street's retail team faced limitations in sourcing and managing buy-side opportunities. Kaylan initially lacked access to a centralized tool for listing and client management and joined Franklin Street specifically because they were willing to provide Crexi PRO. Justin, who had already used Crexi's full suite of tools for years, wanted a system that allowed his team to communicate efficiently and encouraged Kaylan to adopt the platform to use in their partnership.
"I could see how effective Crexi was for other brokers – so much so that I changed companies just to have access. Now, clients are asking if properties are on Crexi because it's become a benchmark for what's real and available." - Kaylan Knitowski
Results
Kaylan and Justin integrated Crexi PRO into their daily workflows, utilizing its contact management and collaborative features to connect with clients and drive transactions. PRO allows the team the ability to:
- Instantly Contact Leads: The team uses Crexi's lead management tool to sort and prioritize leads based on recent activity, focusing on strategic follow-up, targeted outreach, and capitalizing on buyer interest within seconds of an interaction. Using the notes function and star feature also allows them to track each other's client interactions and build on relationships without missing a beat.
- Export Leads & Email Lists: Kaylan and Justin regularly export leads into a master file to create email lists, driving engagement with daily email blasts tailored to clients' interests. This feature has become indispensable for keeping clients informed about new listings and updates.
- Maximize Listing Search Filters: Kaylan and Justin find Crexi's occupancy and listing filters especially helpful for buy-side retail clients. With the ability to search and narrow down properties quickly, they're able to uncover value-add opportunities faster than with other platforms, offering the value as a competitive advantage.
After onboarding Crexi PRO and learning the tool, the team has successfully closed several deals, including one that stands out in particular. With Crexi, Kaylan proactively sent a new retail listing to a potential buy-side client two hours after it was listed. The client asked her to put in an immediate full-price offer, and the deal went under contract for $1.5 million in less than 24 hours.
Eight months later, Kaylan and Justin sold the same building for $3 million, using Crexi to fill in the vacant parcels and drive up value. The team then earned 8-10 additional new listings from that one deal.
"Crexi PRO is not just a tool; it's a necessity. If you want to be the best in the business, you have to have the best tools. For us, that's Crexi. It pays for itself with just one deal." - Justin Walker
It's a necessity; sign up for a demo of Crexi PRO today.
