By Suzanne De Vita
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Continues to Reach New Markets
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices launched as a network in late 2013—the new home for most Prudential Real Estate franchisees and other brokerages looking for a fresh, distinctive brand. The network has matured nicely in four years, growing to nearly 44,000 agents with a compelling value proposition that continues to attract franchisee candidates.
Under the direction of Gino Blefari, network president and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is growing in new directions and reaching new markets through calculated steps and evolving philosophies.
“With our brand firmly established, we’ve shifted gears to promote long-term, sustainable growth for our franchisees and network,” says Blefari, who also serves as president and CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC, which operates the brand. “We’re also looking at opportunities and challenges through new lenses. We not only anticipate change in the real estate business, but also want to help shape it.”
Blefari instilled the Four Disciplines of Execution at HSF Affiliates, a management system that helps leaders, work groups and individual employees narrow their focus to goals and activities yielding the greatest value to the organization. He also shifted the structure and mindset of the company’s technology operations to better evaluate opportunities and bring to market faster products and services that help franchisees generate even more business with greater efficiency.
With franchise sales and service firing on all cylinders, and the brokerage network poised to begin naming international franchisees, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices continues a path of expansion.
Smooth Franchise Sales Transition
As Prudential Real Estate brokerage transitions wound down, the stage was set for Chris Stuart, who joined the brand in mid-2015, to direct business development. Stuart knows growth: He was part of the executive leadership team at Intero Real Estate Services in Silicon Valley, which rapidly grew to among America’s highest-producing brokerages. With a background in technology, Stuart also helped shape Intero’s IT strategy and implementation, among varied other responsibilities.
Under Stuart’s direction, the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise sales team hit network production records in 2016. The team topped its franchise sales goal by 50 percent—a 200 percent improvement over the previous year—and grew revenue by 173 percent. This year’s totals through mid-July are tracking ahead of 2016, Stuart says.
“Our progress is a testament to understanding the marketplace, setting the right expectations with the sales team, implementing a process that resonates with prospects and supporting franchisees with the right information and support,” he explains.
Experience is equally important. The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ franchise sales team has decades of related experience, and several representatives are former brokerage owners. “We approach business development from the perspective of a brokerage owner,” Blefari says. “Our core differentiator is that we understand brokerage operations from the inside out, and we have a sharp picture of the local competitive landscape and market conditions. “This helps deliver a meaningful consultative experience,” Stuart says. “It’s where two plus two adds up to eight for our franchisee candidates.”
Walking in the client’s shoes is a key factor in the network’s evolving technology development and delivery, which Stuart also oversees. “We’re
From:: Real Estate News
Image Credit: Halstead Property