Walker of Citi Commercial Bank: Know your existing clients, colleagues and centers of influence better than anyone else

Name: Laura Walker Title: Senior Vice President Company/Firm: Citi Commercial Bank Years with company/firm: 20+ Years in field: 20+ Years in real estate industry: 14 Telephone: 203.975.6867 Email: [email protected] URL: www.citibank.com Real Estate Associations/Affiliations: NYCREW, AREW, NAIOP, REFA, ACG, AHA What do you consider to be the most successful way to increase referrals? Know your existing clients, colleagues and centers of influence better than anyone else. Consistently add value to all that you interact with and the referrals will follow. Educate your "network" regarding the solutions that you provide. Specific examples are always key. Inform your network on how they can best help you. Ask for the referrals. Most recently, I was nominated for the "Career Advancement for Women" Impact Award @ the National level of the CREW network. Karen Dome who is senior associate from Marcus & Millichap and the former past president of NYCREW had nominated me for this tremendous honor. A key element to my success has been constantly working my network for referrals. What is the BEST advice you have ever received? Plan all of the time, or you will end up working for someone that plans better than you. What is your favorite tip for balanced living? Time management and the daily prioritization of items on the to do list. Leverage the few hours on Sunday evenings to fine tune your schedule for the upcoming week. Where would you like to be in 10 years? Double my business while adding value to all. Giving back so that the next generation can benefit. A small example of this is to recycle daily.