Whenever I have speaking engagements, I always end with a Q&A session and inevitably someone will ask, "How will the merger between CBRE and Trammell Crow impact the industry?"  My response is usually, "Which part of the industry?"  I'd like to address it here in the hopes that the next person who might ask will read it and save me the time of repeating myself. 

The impact to real estate development and investment segments will be significant in that CBRE now has the development resources to support the supply of investment capital that it has raised, and they've moved into position as one of the top ten owners (not just third-party landlords - actual owners) of office properties.  As a brokerage operation, and specifically as a corporate service provider, I can't see any advantages.  Focus is extremely important to providing cutting edge strategies in an ever changing environment for unique business requirements, and it is not something that adapts easily into a one-size-fits-all delivery model.  They may pull it off, although I can't find any examples of companies that have done such larger mergers and been considered industry innovators five years after the fact.  If you can cite one, please drop me a line.  Business books are filled with companies that could not make it happen.

"Bigger is not better - bigger is worse", says Richard Kovacevich, the now retired former CEO of Wells Fargo.  Surprising words from a man who engineered one of the largest bank roll ups in history. 

McDonald's is bigger than the bistro down the street from my office, although the quality of their food is certainly not better.  Ford is bigger than Ferrari, and it doesn't help them to make a better sports car.  Of course, it is easy to compare products like these.  How do you compare services?

There are literally hundreds of real estate service firms that proclaim "our people are the best and brightest", "local knowledge, global reach", "integrity and commitment are our key values".  How do you sort that pack and what does size have to do with it?  The first value to look for is personal commitment.

World class service delivery, and particularly with corporate real estate services, starts with a team of people who really care.  While that may sound  a bit hokey, it is the single most important factor in assuring client satisfaction.  We look for project and transaction managers who, if a client has an urgent issue, would never walk out the door at 5PM and say, "time is up, I'll deal with it tomorrow" or refuse to return a call on the weekend.  While we don't expect our staff to neglect their families, we do expect them to make sure that everything reasonable has been done to solve a problem or answer an urgent question - even if that is passing it off to someone else in our firm. 

Assembling a team of people who really care is not easy.  Can CBRE make sure that all 24,000 employees care?  Time will tell.  What do I think?  Less is more.