The SEQUENCE Framework: A Q&A with Industry Veteran Allen Buchanan

Why Read This: 

• Learn the 8-step SEQUENCE framework used across 2,000+ transactions

• Master the 7-letter QUALIFY system that predicts deal success

• Discover how strategic networking can transform your sourcing

Allen Buchanan, SIOR, has completed over 2,000 transactions in his commercial real estate career and recently published "The Sequence: A Personal Journey and Proven Framework for Brokerage Success in Commercial Real Estate." Allen and I connected on Twitter, and turned into a friendship when he took time to call our office just to encourage me and support what I was doing on social media.

Allen mentioned he wrote the book for two main reasons: he believed he had something valuable to say and wanted to create a legacy for his grandkids. But the unintended consequences have been remarkable.

He gets six people daily who randomly reach out saying the book impacted their life. As Allen puts it, "When people don't have to reach out but choose to anyway, you know you've hit something correctly."

The SEQUENCE and QUALIFY Frameworks

Jake: Who is the book intended for, and what is "The Sequence"?

Allen: It appeals to commercial real estate brokers. Whether you've been in business five minutes or 50 years, there's actionable information that will help your career. But it's also written for anyone in a sales profession because "The Sequence" is a double entendre.

The first meaning is the steps of a transaction:

• Sourcing - Finding and generating leads

• Evaluation - Assessing the opportunity

• Qualifying - Ensuring all elements align for success

• Under control - Getting the quality lead committed

• Execution - Managing the transaction process

• Negotiation and close - Finalizing terms and getting paid

• Catalyst - Using wins as the foundation for future success

• Expanding - Leveraging completed deals into new opportunities

The second meaning is the sequence of your career. The decisions you make, the person you love, where you live, the career path you choose. It's how you conduct your life and ultimately your career.

The Power of QUALIFY

Jake: Of those letters in SEQUENCE, are some more important than others?

Allen: I really like the Qualify piece. QUALIFY is actually an acronym within The Sequence. Unless all seven letters are aligned, chances are you're not going to have a successful deal:

• Quantitative need - Do they have an actual measurable requirement?

• Urgency - Are they acting with urgency?

• Authority - Are you dealing with the decision maker?

• Loyalty - Do you have control through an engagement agreement?

• Intentions - Is there alignment of what both parties want?

• Fuel - Do they have the bandwidth to actually transact?

• Yearning - Is there a catalyst driving them to act?

I use this framework to qualify new business and as a post-mortem on deals that don't happen. One hundred percent of the time, if a deal doesn't close, it's because one of these seven items wasn't properly addressed.

Jake: Do you have stories from early in your career where you learned this lesson?

Allen: Absolutely. Very early in my career, I had a plumbing contractor I was trying to help find a building. I was chasing the deal, and it didn't close. I realized the reason was I didn't have control—no signed engagement agreement. This was 1985, before tenant representation was really a thing.

That experience propelled me to never go through that again. I designed a whole presentation around representing tenants exclusively and would ask them straight up for the order: "I'm not right for everyone, but here's what I'm going to do, and here's what I'm asking of you in return."

The Evolution of Tenant Representation

Jake: So tenant rep was basically pretty new in the 1980s?

Allen: Correct. Roger Staubach popularized tenant representation. Because of his name recognition and stellar football career, he could go into companies like AT&T and say, "We're going to pay for space planning, legal, architectural services ourselves as part of our service. If we can't save you money on your lease transaction, we'll rebate our fee to you."

Before that, you still had people representing tenants, but it wasn't their craft. There wasn't a specialty that only represented the buyer side. Staubach could go in and say there's zero conflict of interest because he wouldn't take clients to Staubach-listed buildings.

Sourcing and Expanding in the Modern Era

Jake: What's the easiest part of the SEQUENCE for young brokers versus the hardest?

Allen: The easiest is the Source piece because that's how you spend your hours as a new broker—beating the bushes, making calls, talking to bankers, CPAs, business attorneys.

I think the Expand piece is the most underutilized. When you look at someone like Bob Knakal or what Ed Winslow preaches about "proof stacking"—when you do a deal, that's a wonderful catalyst for your next deal if you let the appropriate people know about it. That doesn't mean posting "just sold" on LinkedIn. It means putting together a story and shipping it to others who might have similar buildings, similar tenants, or other brokers who know you by reputation.

Jake: How has sourcing and expanding changed with technology and social media?

Allen: In 2009, I started both my social media marketing journey and strategic networking journey—both absolute game changers. When I started blogging in 2009, people in my office thought I was crazy: "Why are you spending time on that? No one's going to read it."

At the same time, I realized the power of strategic networking. If I make friends with a CPA who services 30 family-owned manufacturing businesses, rather than cold calling all 30, I can provide that CPA with referrals, and they provide introductions to me. It's a wonderful marriage where I'm a referral source to them and they're a referral source to me.

Business attorneys, business bankers, folks that help small businesses sell and acquire, commercial insurance professionals—these are all great referral sources. I embarked upon this whole journey and was the only one in the business doing both things.

Had I not made those two paradigm shifts, I don't think I'd be where I am today.

What Can Be Delegated

Jake: Of the SEQUENCE framework, what can be delegated versus what should the producer handle?

Allen: Certainly the sourcing piece can be delegated with AI and creative content generation. In the execution stage, pulling surveys, calling brokers, arranging tours, getting site plans. That's definitely work that can be delegated.

The expand piece can also be delegated: "Here's the story, here's the deal, now figure out how to broadcast this to those who care."

The steps that shouldn't be delegated are when you're in the throes of negotiation. That's the reason you delegate the other letters, so you can be involved in what truly matters: client-facing activities and income-producing activities.

Tuesday Traffic Tips: 421 and Counting

Jake: Tell me about Tuesday Traffic Tips.

Allen: They started in 2013 because I had a bad case of FOMO watching Linda Day Harrison and Matt Smith tweet to each other. I was driving to work thinking, "How can I create bite-sized content that's a differentiator people will consume?"

I knew video was going to be big, so I grabbed my phone while driving and filmed my first Tuesday Traffic Tip. Linda called me immediately and said, "Oh my, don't ever do that again. You can't drive and film at the same time. You're going to kill yourself or kill somebody else. Oh, by the way, those Tuesday Traffic Tips are magic. Keep it up."

That was the last one I did while driving. Now we're up to 421 tips spanning over a decade, with incredible views and visibility. I bump into people at conferences who say, "Oh, you're the guy that does those little vignettes!"

Thanks for reading until the end!