Christian Barnes, Better Homes

every home that goes up for sale. Fortunately, we service areas where the median price point is still below the national average. It’s incredibly important to make sure you are fully pre-approved with a trusted lender before you begin your search. If you have a home to sell and can move into temporary housing, you’ll be able to write a stronger offer with fewer contingencies. We want to minimize the number of reasons why a seller wouldn’t pick our offer over another while protecting a client’s best interests.

Where do you see your business in five years? There will continue to be disruption in the marketplace from outside forces that are out of our control. Internally, we strive to disrupt our own business model before someone else does it for us. With our ERA affiliation, I’m able to collaborate with brokers across the country to hear what they’re experiencing before it hits our market. That kind of intel helps me plan for what our company may look like as we expand into new markets. RE

For more information, please visit www.era.com.

-Jameson Doris

Helping Agents Build Business

Christian Barnes

President and CEO Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes Overland Parks, Kansas www.kansascityhomes.com

Region served: Greater Kansas City Metro Years in real estate: 14 Number of offices: 8 Number of agents: 450 Best advice for new agents: Align yourself with a company that offers the support you need.

What made you choose to work with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) Kansas City Homes, and how did you get to where you are today? Culture and values are really important to me, and the alignment and synergy with those at BHGRE Kansas City Homes is a perfect match. I saw the potential of having an impact within the industry as a whole and with our agents to help them grow from a leadership capacity. As I started training, mentoring and coaching agents, I quickly realized that’s where my passion lies. I

Barnes

love the company, I love the agents, I love what we have here—I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

How have you helped your agents build business throughout the pandemic, and how are you incorporating these new strategies into your business moving forward? We provided an outlet, every day, offering a place for them to come to gather virtually and feel connected. Being able to offer a platform for them to connect across offices and throughout the entire city was a silver lining of the shift we made during the pandemic. You can’t replace the face-to-face communication, but being able to have that as a resource in our back pocket is something that will carry us into the future.

“I’m always looking to open agents’ eyes to other resources and tools that are out there that they’ve not yet seen.”

-CHRISTIAN BARNES President and CEO, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes

When it comes to training, specifically, how do you help your agents? Whether you are new to the business or have been in it for 10 years, we tend to get our blinders on and try to find the repeatable things in real estate. I’m always looking to open agents’ eyes to other resources and tools that are out there that they’ve not yet seen, or things they’ve heard about but haven’t taken the time to learn, and see how it can have a posi-

tive impact on their productivity and profitability. The ultimate goal is to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Why is it so important to support and develop your agents and be dedicated to their success? As president and CEO of a company, we have nothing if we don’t have agents—agents who are valued, productive and achieving the goals they set for themselves. Helping support that is at the core of what I do as a leader of this company.

What is one of the challenges your market is currently facing, and what are you doing to overcome it? Like every market across the country, inventory shortages right now are incredibly challenging. To combat this, we’re going back to training and looking at things from a different perspective. We’re also offering our agents tools and focusing on what I call the “Hunt vs. Hope” method with inventory and listings, which is doing things differently than how we’ve done them in the past in regard to procuring listings. We are getting really creative with how our agents are finding inventory for buyers.

What would you point to as your greatest achievement with BHGRE? I think it comes down to the support and value we are able to offer our agents in their own growth through training and professional development. There is nothing greater than seeing the lightbulbs go off, and having an impact in that way has been a humbling experience. That’s what drives me—the success of others and being able to see that I can have even a small impact. RE

For more information, please visit www.bhgre.com.

-Paige Brown

The Gold Standard

Candace Adams

President and CEO Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England, New York and Westchester Properties Wallingford, Connecticut |www.bhhsneproperties.com

Region served: 4 states from Rhode Island to New York Years in real estate: 30-plus Number of offices: 52 Number of agents: 1,850

Adams

Tell us about the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties strategy. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties/ New York Properties/Westchester Properties has a strong foundation built on core values that leverage the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand, our people and our resources. In addition to the proprietary systems we’ve built that enable our agents and clients to seamlessly transact business, our strong education and training give our agents an advantage over the competition.

What programs do you offer that differentiate the brand? Our Agent Advantage program is a gamechanger in the industry. We also offer affordable plans for disability, vision and dental, which can really make a difference in an agent’s life. Years ago, these types of benefits would have been unthinkable.

“In addition to the proprietary systems we’ve built, our strong education and training give our agents an advantage over the competition.”

-CANDACE ADAMS President and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England, New York and Westchester Properties

Describe your management style. I empower people and foster team spirit and respect. We work with a flat business model, which is to say I do not like bureaucracies or any type of hierarchy. As members of the management team, we aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves and do whatever is needed.

We also have a marvelous culture. Our core values incorporate growth, relationships and authenticity—and our values are very important to us. Since we strive for authenticity, when an agent or broker goes on a listing call, we tell the sellers the true value of their home rather than inflating the number to get the listing. Because we are authentic, we build relationships. And we always want to know how we’re doing, so we survey all of our clients. We take their comments regarding their experience very seriously, and we learn from them.

My biggest frustration is that I do not have enough time to talk to everyone. Prior to the pandemic, I went to as many office meetings as possible. Reaching out is the most important part of my job, so I’m committed to being on Zoom meetings, and I consider myself very hands-on.

What is your best advice for agent retention? It is extremely important that our agents know that we see them as individuals. The education we offer is specific to them. We also make sure they have the most innovative technology and automation to make their jobs easier. And, most importantly, our agents know they have a very experienced, caring team behind them. Not only do they have our full support, but we also provide a platform for people to grow at their own pace.

Where do you see the industry in five years? Will there still be a role for traditional brokerages? Absolutely. This is a relationship business. Agents do not have the time to develop systems, so they need a company to stand behind them and provide them with the systems and services they need to do their jobs. I believe the traditional model will be even more important as we head toward the future. On a personal level, being in real estate will continue to be all about enjoying the relationships I build while watching my agents and sellers work with each other and grow.

As pandemic restrictions ease, what do you see going forward? We’re in a place where we’re opening up again. We’re doing open houses and allowing inperson viewings again. That being said, we listen to our sellers and do what is important to them. If they want lots of open houses and in-person viewings, we do that. If they are uncomfortable with in-person interactions, we utilize Zoom and do online viewings. RE

For more information, please visit www.bhhs.com.

L to R: Sheryl’s son Leland Chinowth, president; Sheryl Chinowth; Lee Cohen, CFO and co-founder, commercial division; and son Taylor Chinowth, title company president.

Setting Agents on the Path to Success

Sheryl Chinowth

CEO/Co-Founder Chinowth & Cohen REALTORS®, a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Tulsa, Oklahoma | www.cctulsa.com

Region served: Tulsa and Northeast Oklahoma Years in real estate: 43 Number of offices: 15 Number of agents: 850-plus Best time management tip: Lists, lists and more lists. Also, delegation is key. Make sure you are doing the jobs that fall within your pay grade. Top tip for getting buyers and sellers to work together: My father taught me that contracts are only as good as the people involved in them. And the REALTOR® must always be the calmest, kindest one in the transaction. Key to staying profitable: Never live beyond your means. Set aside tax money from every check and plan way ahead on expenses. No. 1 tip for motivating agents: Bring them knowledge and show them the path to success. Keep awareness of market changes—and how to deal with those changes—ever-present.

As the world continues to reopen, what trends are you seeing across your markets? As is the case in most of the country, inventory is our largest challenge. Our agents are also eager to get back together personally. Most of our REALTORS® are true “people-people” and have missed the face-to-face connections they had with their colleagues. Chinowth & Cohen began conducting inperson sales meetings last month, with a virtual option for

those who still aren’t comfortable being in front of others. Real estate classes also resumed the same way in June.

You’ve increased your salesforce from nearly two dozen in 2004 to over 800 today. How do you successfully manage and inspire your team? Great tools. Whether it be education, marketing, technology or support of any kind, we work hard to keep our people inspired with the latest and greatest. We have support teams to help with social media, websites and design work. We also have agent assistants to help with showings, inspections, etc., for when agents are doublebooked or on overload. Knowing they have support people to do many of the things they may not be the best at keeps them in front of buyers and sellers, which is what they love most.

What are some of the biggest benefits associated with being part of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) network? LeadingRE leads the pack in sales volume in comparison to any other real estate network, franchise or brokerage brand among the top 500 U.S. firms, so just being affiliated with something as large and prestigious as LeadingRE is a huge benefit in and of itself. The online training has also been great for our agents. In addition, Luxury Portfolio for our luxury agents—and access to the website for their luxury clients—has been a huge benefit. Chinowth & Cohen takes a lot of pride in its luxury brand and status.

“Whether it be education, marketing, technology or support of any kind, we work hard to keep our people inspired.”

-SHERYL CHINOWTH CEO/Co-Founder, Chinowth & Cohen REALTORS®

How is LeadingRE supporting you when it comes to connecting with luxury buyers and sellers? LeadingRE has a great network of agents and relocation directors who trust one another and send us clients from across the nation and across the world. The national/ global referrals we receive through LeadingRE give us a significant advantage in our markets. RE

For more information, please visit www.leadingre.com.

-John Voket

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