Thoughts on Leadership: Retreat to Progress

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me first in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena, celebrating the acquisition of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty by Northwood Realty Services. Effective now, the merged company will operate as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwood Realty Services.

When the official celebration of two real estate giants coming together began, the energy in the arena—also home to the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins—was infectious. You couldn’t help but feel inspired to be among hundreds of passionate, excited Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network agents. The crowd was addressed that evening by Ron Croushore, previous CEO and owner of The Preferred Realty, who remains active in the company as the board’s vice chair, followed by James Saxon, co-president and COO, then me, and finally, Tom Hosack, co-president and CEO of the newly merged brokerage.

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How to Work Your Referral Database

Kat Hitchcock, agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties and member of the national REthink Council, is a huge believer that your database is the lifeline of an ever-expanding real estate business. In this vlog, she explains how to work your referral database to generate leads and reach new levels of success.

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Is It Time to Hire an Assistant?

By Andy Blake

A question I’m asked frequently is, “How do I know when it’s time to hire an assistant?”

As a real estate agent, it’s easy to get used to doing everything yourself; you work hard to cut costs and try to juggle it all. However, there is a point when too much work can burn you out and hurt your business. Here are a few things to take into consideration when trying to decide if it’s time to send for help:

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Thoughts on Leadership: Do Whatever It Takes

By Gino Blefari

This week’s travels took me to Minneapolis for the HomeServices of America, Inc. board meeting then to Louisville, Kentucky for a leadership meeting hosted by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Parks & Weisberg, Realtors. After Kentucky I flew to Knoxville, Tennessee—where I write you this week’s blog post—and from here I’ll travel tomorrow to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting. (Expect a recap next week.)

So, all in all it’s been seven days of travel and to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way because every stop along this trip has been necessary to create lead measures that will help us accomplish our organization’s goals. Remember, a leader does whatever it takes. As the saying goes, “If you’re interested, you’ll do what’s convenient. If you’re committed, you’ll do what it takes.”

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Thoughts on Leadership: Focus on the Top Line

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Irvine, CA at our HSF Affiliates headquarters for alignment sessions with prospective brokerages and meetings with our teams. The alignment sessions are always exciting opportunities to meet with innovative companies eager to grow. My personal mission, as you may know, is to help people achieve their goals faster than they would in my absence and for brokerage owners that translates into devising the right strategies that will lead to increased profitability and success for their brokerage.

One way to grow is by increasing your top-line revenue.

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The Power of a Handwritten Note

By Megan Owens

In an age where technology and digital communication have become so prevalent in our society, we can often overlook the power of a handwritten note. There are two different kinds of handwritten notes: personal and business.

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Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: Business Plan Now!

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Northern California, taking meetings, organizing calls and just this morning, leading a teleconference with Debbie De Grote, founder/CEO of Excelleum Coaching & Consulting all about business planning. For all of us, a business plan is vital because even as an agent we must think of ourselves as a business, and all businesses must have a plan. Remember the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Some may think it’s strange though to have a business-planning call at the end of August but there’s a reason for this exact timing. During my 30+ years in the real estate business—as an agent, a manager and an owner of a company—I’ve always found that there’s a cash flow problem in the months of January and February. This applies to agents as much as it does to owners.

Why? Because real estate operates on a 90-day cycle, so what we do 90 days before gets paid out 90 days later. This means a lag in business during the fall months will show up in Q1 of the new year. The lag is understandable, though avoidable; it’s obvious to notice right after Halloween a great number of agents go into hibernation. There’s Thanksgiving, the holidays … life gets busy and business gets put on the back burner. (Extrapolate those 90 days during this lull and you’ll understand clearly why cash-flow problems plague us in January and February.)

To get you started, access our Business Planning Essentials by clicking HERE.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Facebook and a Reminder for the Future

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me back at my Los Altos, CA home office following a restful family vacation in Hawaii. On Wednesday, I made a short drive to Menlo Park for a visit to Facebook and its sprawling, world headquarters.

I admire Facebook, its philosophy and corporate culture. From CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Sinmi Tinubu, an intern who helped greet my small group, everyone is encouraged to “be bold” and “focus on impact” – constantly collaborating and innovating to solve the most important challenges.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Be Relentless

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels found me first in Northern California for a lunch with best-selling author and communications guru, Carmine Gallo, then in Southern California—specifically in the City of Industry, CA—for Relentless. The annual event, through interactive educational sessions and keynotes, details ways attendees can navigate daily obstacles while improving their lives both personally and professionally. As always, it was hosted by my friend Danny Morel, also broker/owner at Intero Real Estate Services of Southern California and a real estate coach. I’ve known Danny for almost 20 years, even well before his Intero days and then when he came to own an Intero real estate franchise. Now, he’s crushing it in his brokerage’s market of Rancho Cucamonga, CA, on social media, and through the inspiration he imparts to tens of thousands of aspiring real estate agents nationwide.

Relentless is all about that passion Danny so clearly possesses, and it’s a passion not only to make his own wins a reality but also to help others accomplish their goals, too. I couldn’t have been more honored to join Danny onstage to talk about such an important topic.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Rethinking Your Perspective

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me in Irvine, CA and the trip to Southern California has afforded me a healthy dose of perspective. On Tuesday morning, I moderated a lively Book REview session—if you don’t know, Book REview is our quarterly online discussion of a business book—then sat in meetings with our national REthink Council for the next two days.

For me, reading (and listening) to books is a way of life. I’m never NOT starting a new book. Why? Because new eyes see old things in new ways. Reading about the perspectives of others helps broaden, sharpen and focus your own. Our book for this week’s Book REview was The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, all about small changes (I call them small wins) you can make to ultimately drive big results. Olson also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive mindset from the minute you wake up so that lasting success is less of an uncertainty and more of an inevitability.

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