CEO Secrets: The Strategies And Tips Of Being A CEO

Christy Budnick serves as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, a global residential real estate brokerage franchise network. In her role, Christy oversees the global real estate brokerage franchise network, which is made up of more than 50,000 real estate professionals and nearly 1,500 offices throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, India, and The Bahamas.

The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings us to the real estate market, a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability, and longevity. Christy is listed among the Swanepoel Power 200, which ranks 1 of the 200 most powerful and influential executives and leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry. I’ve had the privilege and honor of speaking at two of her events.

Christy, it is an honor. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and joining me. We’re going to have a lot of fun. I touched on the surface of your incredible background, but I would love you to take us back to your own story of origin of when you got interested in real estate and how that all happened.

First of all, I love your phrases “your story of origin.” It paints a picture in my head. Our family was a Navy family, and we lived overseas, among many other places. For the first 10 years of my life, we lived in 17 different places. When we moved back from Japan in 1979, my mother decided to divorce my father at that time. At the same time, she earned her real estate license. It was something she’d wanted to do, but because we moved around so much, she hadn’t been able to do it up until that point. As a single mother of two young girls, my career was born out of necessity.

She needed help with marketing, walking flyers around the neighborhood, the open houses, measuring houses, and all of the things that you do as a real estate agent. At the age of 11, I began my career in real estate. I have told the story a few times. I did not intend to stay in real estate. As a matter of fact, in 1988, my mother opened our family’s company, which was Prudential Network Realty at that time. That was the same year that I went to college.

I had decided that I was retired from real estate at that point, and I was going to do anything except real estate. It’s funny that it has a way of getting in your blood and staying there because, post-graduation, I did do some other things. What I found was every time I’d get together with my mom, which was real frequently, we were talking about real estate, like how things were going in the market, challenges she was having, successes, etc. I was getting drawn in more and more every time. I joined the company many years ago and have never looked back since. I love it almost every single day.

There’s a term when you’re a daughter of a real estate agent. What’s that term called? Isn’t it an acronym? 

I’m trying to think of what it is.

It is DOR or DAM or something.

Something like that. We never use that, but I’ve heard others use it.

It’s more common than people realize.

It is interesting to see. As a matter of fact, when I would bring on new agents to our company, I’d always ask the question, “What made you decide to get into real estate?” If we brought on 10 to 15 people, both experienced and inexperienced, to the company each month, we found about 1/3 or more had family ties to real estate, like mother, father, grandparent, or something very close.

What that does for you when you’re evaluating if someone’s going to be a good fit for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is they know what they’re getting into. Firsthand, this is not like, “I might want to try this,” but, “I’ve lived with it, and I know what I’m getting into.” I love it because what I have seen with the friends that I have that are successful is, for them, it’s like a childhood birthday. They love seeing open houses, even if it’s not their listing. That passion is you’re in the right job.

The one thing I’ll say about real estate compared to my prior career is every day is completely different for every client and their needs, desires, and emotions. That, to me, is what I love. The other part of it is it doesn’t ever shut down. You’re running. I love the challenge, it’s fast-paced, and every day is so different. I never think to myself, “I wish I could shut this off because I love what I do.”

Take us to the moment in your career where you’re running this successful business and managing some people in the Florida region, and then you’ll get the phone call or the tap on the shoulder, “We’d like to promote you to be the CEO.” What did that feel like? What do you think made them pick you?

I was running our family’s company. I was President and CEO, and it’s a fairly sizable company. I will tell you, becoming the CEO of the franchise was never on my radar. I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing. I loved being a part of the franchise. I believe in the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices name and all that we stand for.

That day, I got the call from Gino Blefari, our chairman. He said, “Do you have a moment?” It was a Saturday morning. I said, “Sure.” It wasn’t that uncommon for him to call me on a Saturday morning, so that part didn’t surprise me. He said, “I’d like to talk with you about something confidential. We’re going to have an opening in the CEO role. I’d like you to consider putting your name in the hat.” My daughter was sitting right next to me. She didn’t know what was going on, but she could see me. She was looking at me, and she said, “Are you okay?”

You could have blown me over. I truly wasn’t expecting it. The emotions I was feeling were I was proud that Gino would even consider me for the role because we have some talented people that make up the franchise network. It would be very easy to select several people from the network. Pride was the 1st thing and then the 2nd thing was, what in the world does the CEO of a network do? It was funny. That was the question I asked. I said, “I’m thrilled that you’ve made this call and I’m very honored, but I have to ask you, what does the position entail?”

His response, I will never forget this, “It’s pretty much everything that you do now except you’re over 500 agents, mortgage company, a title company, insurance company, relocation, builder, etc. Now, you’ll be over 50,000 agents globally.” I thought I’d never been one to back down from a challenge, so I said, “Let me talk with my family and I’ll get back to you.” I did, and I called him back the next day. I said, “I want to throw my name in.” He said, “You’re my first choice. I would love to have you take the position.” It was a complete whirlwind. I was static.

From 500 people to 50,000 is almost like you’re looking at a home. You’re like, “Add a bunch of zeros.”

I’ve been a part of the network for so long. The other franchise network members and all of the CEOs that make up, particularly the top companies, are like family to me. I’ve grown up with them. That part was special because they wanted to see me succeed and they took great pride that one of their own had taken the helm. It was the right move at the right time. I’m so grateful to Gino.

When I was your sales keynote speaker, I saw you meeting some of your team for the first time after the pandemic in person. One of the things that stood out to me consistently at both events was you’ve been in our shoes and understand our challenges, so respect is there. You then did something you and I are so in sync on, which is everyone has to figure out how they’re not going to drown and what I call a sea of sameness. You have a clever, unique way to do that. That reef solves a bit of a problem of drowning in a sea of sameness, but you do it in a way that elevates your team that other people aren’t doing. Would you share that strategy with us in terms of perception and becoming not a transaction but a forever agent?

At my former company, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty, we were big on real estate portfolio reviews and serving our clients. We’ve never been a lead generation type of company or anything like that. We’ve always been about relationships. As a part of our service, one of the things that the agents do is a real estate portfolio review. What that consists of is, in the world of real estate, we scratch our heads and wonder why in the world we are looked at in the realm of ambulance chasing attorneys and used car salespeople. Good agents are some of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. They provide an incredible service and deal in people’s largest asset. For us to be considered in that realm bothers me to my core.

Everything I do is to raise the level of professionalism, as my mother would say, in real estate. If we want to be seen as similar roles as financial planners, CPAs, and things like that who provide those financial services, we have to do similar activities. Anybody that works with a CPA or a financial planner sits down with their clients at least once a year and reviews their portfolio and financial situation. They consult with them to see how they’re doing. Are they on target to reach goals? I believe in portfolio reviews for that reason. Basically, the crux of it is an agent reaches out to their client. You do this for about 50 clients a year to start because it does take time and it is a commitment.

You reach out to your client and let them know that one of the services you’re going to be offering for your best clients is a realistic portfolio review. That takes into account the value of not only the home they live in your local area but also any other home they may own, whether it’s abroad outside of the United States or in another state. Because we have such a big network, we’re able to work with agents across the globe and this needs to be a sit-down, face-to-face meeting.

It is not intended for a sales pitch or anything like that. It is truly to review that person’s value of their properties so that the next time they meet with their CPA or their financial planner, they’re able to take them. I strongly suggest that the agent bring two extra copies of the review, one for the CPA and one for the financial planner. That person is then able to update their financial outlook with the true value of their real estate portfolio. Doing things like that is very client-centric and client-oriented. Again, it raises us in the eyes in terms of professionalism.

Two things you said there that stand out for me is you asked your team to start with 50. One a week and take two weeks off. It’s not overwhelming. It is a very bite-size action item workweek. It makes them think, “Who are my top 50 clients?” You’re then providing a level of service without trying to sell something. You’re showing empathy. What you and I love is the storytelling part, which is you then have a story of, “Here’s a story of somebody in Florida who started with 50, went to 100, went even higher of doing this multiple times, and the results are astounding.”

It’s off the charts. If you do that alone and focus on your client’s needs, you won’t have to do anything else to succeed in real estate. That is my true belief of how powerful this one thing is.

When you were talking about a client that has a high net worth and owns homes literally around the world, of course, that’s very lucrative as a real estate agent to have that client, they need that VIP service. My favorite definition of luxury is anticipating a need before somebody knows they need it. That’s what this program is.

I love it because if I have multiple homes, the fact that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has multiple offices around the world is no longer a feature to me but a benefit to me because you’re going to give me multiple reports of what my current home is worth everywhere. I can make a decision with my financial planner about, “Is it time to sell one,” or whatever the issue is.

I’m no longer guessing of the Zillow estimate that is not that accurate, or I’m going to say what I think it’s worth if it’s gone up. I have a finger on the pulse and the consistency that you tell your team to do this. Whether they sell anything or buy anything from you or not, they know what’s going to happen. Those people are going to talk about you. They’re wealthy high net friends, and they’re going to be like, “My agent is not doing that. I don’t even remember the last time I talked to them.”

The CPAs and the financial planners, too, have people that want to buy and sell real estate. I guarantee they don’t see people that provide that service. It doesn’t need to be for high net worth. It’s for any client period that you consider your top clients. Frankly, if you can ultimately extend that to all of your clients, that’s even better.

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