Studley’s Woody Heller on the value of a commercial broker

Shaun Osher, founder of boutique brokerage and advisory firm Core, recently sat down with Studley’s Woody Heller to discuss where the commercial brokerage industry is headed. Heller, who is Studley’s executive managing director and head of the capital transactions group, said he believes the Internet has transformed the role of a broker and made the job more interesting and challenging. “The brokerage paradigm, for a long time period, had been about accessing information, and I think the whole value proposition changed. I don’t think I, as a broker, am being paid to provide general information to a buyer. If someone wants general information we’ll just give it to them…we don’t charge for that. It’s not difficult, it’s not relevant,” he said. The value of a broker today, Heller said, lies in his ability to navigate through that information to arrive at a successful transaction.