Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Christy Budnick, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, where she manages the global network brokerage franchises. Christy talks about the new direction of the franchises, how to be both client- and agent-driven and the addition of services to the brokerage.
Here is a small preview of today’s interview with Budnick. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:
Tracey Velt: Okay. I want to talk about a trend that I’m seeing — a mind shift in the disruptor part of real estate. A lot of these companies that were disrupting, they wanted to disrupt the agent, are no longer doing that. They’ve decided that it’s not working and instead they’re partnering. And I see this also with brokers, obviously the agent, most of the time, is their client. However, consumers are asking for more options.
Christy Budnick: Absolutely. So, it’s funny, I’ve seen the same thing, where instead of putting all of the focus on the agents — which was a trend for at least a handful of years — I’m starting to see some companies make a switch back to focusing more on the client.
We’ve always been a very client-driven company, client-focused company. By saying that, it’s funny because some people take that as, “Oh, it means you’re not supporting your agents.” Absolutely not. We are extremely supportive of our agents and provide them with the highest caliber of tools, training, technology, you name it. But, at the end of the day, we need to make sure that we are providing the client what they want. Otherwise, they’re not going to be there.
So, yeah, to your point, absolutely, core services are extremely important to us — certainly mortgage, insurance. We’re looking at taking those out to the franchise network.
We’ve already started launching mortgage with. We have a company Prosperity Home Mortgage, that is outstanding. And consumers have very clearly shown, they’ve demonstrated over the last many years that they want a one-stop shop. They don’t want to have to run down the street to their bank and then run down the street to another title company and get insurance from somebody online or, again, down the street.
They want to do it all under one roof where they have the ease, but also the costs. When you are able to leverage all of those under one roof, it’s actually a savings for clients. So, not just in dollars but time as well. So, it really does provide a robust client experience and that’s something that we 100% believe in.
RealTrending features the brightest minds in real estate. Twice a month, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.
