Interview with Willie Dowling - Commercial Real Estate Developer
We are honored to welcome Willie Dowling to The House of Etiquette. As one of Ireland’s most respected figures in commercial real estate, Willie has spent over 30 years shaping Dublin’s office market, leading high-profile transactions, and influencing the city’s evolving business landscape. His recent move from CBRE to Colliers marks an exciting new chapter in his distinguished career.
In real estate, deals aren’t just about numbers they’re about people and relationships. How important is etiquette in building trust and securing successful deals?
Large leasing transactions typically take four to six months and there are always speed bumps along the road.We deal with clients all over the world now so its important to be able to build up a rapor with your client or opposite broker.I try to stay up todate in current affairs and and I really like all sports which I find this often helps.As a deal gets into the final stages of negotiations the agent will be asked to break the deadlock after the lawyers have played email tenis! Wheather its going to meet someone for a quick coffee on st stephens green or doing a teams call to Singapore the rules don’t change: you have to be able to build up a relationship or some common ground with your opposite number and the first few minutes -discussing the superbowl result or trumps latest press conference often helps to put everyone at ease and leads to a more productive meeting.We might all imagine that meetings are like encountering Beth Dutton in Yellowstone but that’s not the reality of normal business-90% of the time both parties will be focussed on achieving a successful result.Often being respectful to your opposite number and asking them did they do anything interesting at the weekend can lead to a shared interest in music or sports.
Personal presentation plays a key role in how professionals are perceived. What are your thoughts on the power of dress, body language, and first impressions in business?
I think very carefully about how I dress before I go to meet a client-suit no suit? Tie no tie? Shoes or smart trainers? I would like to think that we are all now judged on our overall performance but the reality is first impressions always matter. How can you go to view an apartment or house for sale at the weekend and form quick first impressions and then not immediately apply the same criteria to your everyday business life. What I like to try and achieve is to seamlessly fit in from the first moment and then as the presentation or pitch progresses grow into building the relationship. All out attack and full on assault can be interesting but is not really fair to your collegues and pitching team. I will always advise graduates to stay within the lines when it comes to dress code. Sure it's nice to dress like Mark Zuckerberg and wear a black tshirt every day but he wasn’t wearing that at the presidential inauguration!
Negotiations often rely on subtle nuances tone, phrasing, and timing. What are some key elements of professional diplomacy that have served you well in high-stakes discussions?
Interesting question - well I once told a female lawyer to relax and I will never do that again! Having the confidence to ask for a 5 minute break can often be effective just to allow everyone reset rather than dig deeper and get more entrenched. I always try and leave the meeting summarizing whats been achieved so while a deal may not have been fully concluded both parties have a good feeling for what's been achieved. Often we are under pressure to conclude everything and don’t leave the room until everything is sorted! Usually this is not possible so its important to reflect on the positive progress rather than being disappointed.
Networking is a cornerstone of success in your industry. What are the unspoken rules of conduct at business lunches, corporate events, and client meetings?
If you have the misfortune of ever working alongside me you will know I am big on being on time and not chewing gum in meetings! I think it's so important to listen properly to the person you are sitting beside and practice the ability to ask leading questions that will get a conversation going. Yes, before you go to a lunch or dinner you can have thought about areas of politics, sport and world affairs that you have read up on and therefore will have the confidence to get the chat going. Silences are awkward so rather than hoping it won't happen put the prep in beforehand. Like many things in business, people just assume it's easy to be funny, witty and full of chat all the time but it's not and requires thought. I don’t usually tell jokes because I will mess up the punchline but I find I am ok at telling a funny story. Know your strengths.
With more business conducted over email and video calls, have you noticed a decline in traditional business etiquette? What are some key mistakes professionals should avoid in digital communication?
We can be too comfortable in preparing for Teams calls, particularly if we are working from home. Driving or walking to a solicitors office gives you time to focus and mentally prepare whereas the fact that you decided to join a Teams meeting 10 seconds before it started usually comes across in the first exchanges. Dress code can also get lost - sure you are nice and relaxed working from home but many of the others on the call may be in offices. Try to schedule a clear 10 minutes alone time to mentally prepare rather than rolling from one call to another. Historically, we did this before when travelling between meetings.