Forty Under 40: Alan W. Cole
by January 1, 2013 12:00 am 423 views
A decade ago, armed with degrees in marketing and finance/management from the University of Arkansas, Alan Cole was hired by a small startup, Lane Real Estate in Bentonville.
He was brought along slowly, strictly learning and assisting in transactions, until the firm was acquired in 2005 by the state’s largest CRE firm, Colliers International, as its Northwest Arkansas branch office.
The slow pace was almost immediately a thing of the past, and Cole hasn’t looked back. Today, he exclusively represents more national retail tenants than any other broker in Arkansas, putting together deals in four states for several prominent names.
The constant activity is what makes the job fun, and customer service – he was raised in a family of sales people – is a primary objective.
“If you’re deal focused and not client focused, the deals will go away,” he said.
Cole is membership director for NWA Young Professionals and serves on the executive committee of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of NWA.
He was named the organization’s Big Brother of the Year in 2011.
“There is no better time to go in to business in this market,” he said of his advice to up-and-comers. “There are so many different things you can do here to be successful and be happy.”