Reasonable reasons you're not top priority 📶

Sometimes, it feels like I specialize in mind games. I try my best not to play them with my partner (Dio, if you’re reading this, that’s definitely NOT what’s happening when I stop doing the laundry at the same time as I’m trying to win a multi-day argument), and yet, as a broker, interpreting the subtext on the other side of the negotiating table is a big part of my job advising Pedal Retailers.

If you’ve signed a retail deal, you know what I mean - and the worst of it is when the other side goes quiet, which happens all. the. time. If you’ve never signed a retail deal, you might assume that going quiet may as well be killing a deal - and you’d be wrong. Over the course of negotiating an LOI, there are often periods of radio silence - sometimes a few days, sometimes even a week - that don’t amount to killing the deal.

When it happens, it is so easy for our minds to go to dark places - just like when you send that risky text that gets left on "Read" for HOURS.

“What if they don’t think my business is a good fit for the space anymore?”

“What if they think I’m a fraud and my business will fail?”

“What if there’s someone else? Ohmygod what if they’re trading paper with THAT OTHER COFFEE SHOP?!”

“That disrespectful warthog armpit - how dare she leave me waiting for this long! I’m killing the deal myself!”

STOP THE MADNESS! While these scary hairy fears are possibilities, they are not the only explanations for a broker going AWOL. They’re not even the most common explanations. First, take a deep breath and remember that, as unfair as it may be, no one else involved in your deal has as much emotional investment as you do. No one else - not the landlord, or the brokers - is making a major life decision by signing this deal. It may not be fair, but it is the truth.

Here are the three most common, non-sinister explanations for radio silence in a deal:

PEOPLE HAVE OTHER STUFF TO DO.

It may sound a little crass, or at least offensively obvious, but your deal is not the landlord’s only priority. It is one of many demands on their time in their day job. Think of your day job prior to non-retail business ownership - you had a set number of tasks and responsibilities you had to accomplish each day, and most of us don’t get through the whole list.

The particulars of what is keeping your landlord busy may vary depending on whether they work for a big developer or an independent owner, but whether they’re putting together a deck for the big budget presentation or hiring a new property manager, landlords are booked and busy!

And BTW - just like a regular day job, occasionally, they are entitled to let personal things, be it a planned vacation or a family emergency, take priority over their tasks and responsibilities. And yes, that may well mean your deal.

THEY NEED FEEDBACK FROM OTHERS

Most of the time, there will be more than one person on the other side of a negotiation. Most often, there is a landlord and her broker, but it’s pretty common to have multiple landlords and multiple brokers. The more people that are on a dealmaking team, the less speedy and nimble that team is likely to be. Just think about how long it takes your group text to plan a dinner if everybody has to agree on the date, time AND the venue. Don’t forget, we’re inviting Jess who’s gluten-free paleo, Robin who doesn’t like to eat after 7:30, and Cody who doesn’t want to go anywhere he can’t plug in his EV.

Above and beyond the struggles of modern communication, the landlord may have questions for architects or property managers, or need approvals from bosses or third-party lenders. All of this can easily add up to a few days' delay.

THEY HAVE POOR TIME MANAGEMENT AND/ OR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Landlords and their brokers are people too, right?! It is definitely possible that they have more work than they can effectively complete. Or that they’re the “I don’t want to communicate until I can relay the full story” type. I’m not making excuses, I’m just stating facts - we can’t all be perfect. And even if the landlord’s broker doesn’t seem to be as effective at her job as we would like, in the long run, that really doesn’t make a deal worth abandoning if the space and terms are good.

If you’re working with a broker, they should have a better sense than you of whether the landlord’s delay is because of one of the above common explanations, or because of something more problematic. Brokers have spidey senses about these things, and should have relationships on the other side of the table to whisper through the silence so you’re not waiting six weeks only to learn that you actually have been ghosted.

So, if you’re on the verge of a meltdown waiting to hear back from a landlord or their broker, take a deep breath and carefully consider whether there might be normal explanation for their lack of communication. If the answer is yes, I invite you to brew a mug of tea and whip out a sudoku - no point in giving yourself an aneurysm trying to make meaning of silence.