CEO Secrets: The Strategies And Tips Of Being A CEO With Christy Budnick

Posted by John Livesay in podcast0 comments

 

Being a CEO of a company requires great responsibility. It demands excellent leadership skills and strategies to help the company grow. In this episode, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Christy Budnick, shares her secrets about being a CEO. She provides insights about her strategy in leading her agents and staying aligned with the company’s growth. Tune in to this episode as Christy shows how culture, diversity, and inclusion play a role in leading her company towards success.

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Listen to the podcast here

 

CEO Secrets: The Strategies And Tips Of Being A CEO With Christy Budnick

Our guest is Christy Budnick, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. We talk about how they are not only a forever agent and a forever brand, but for everyone and how important it is to paint a picture when describing something to someone. She believes that nose-to-nose and toes-to-toes is the best way to connect. Find out what her biggest surprise was becoming the CEO. Enjoy the episode.

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Our guest is Christy Budnick, who 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.

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Christy, it is an honor. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and joining me on the show.

Thank you, John. It is so good to see you again, and I appreciate you inviting me.

It’s great. 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?”

[bctt tweet=”Raise your level of professionalism by going the extra mile. ” username=”John_Livesay”]

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.

What a great story of standing out in a sea of sameness when the competitors are not doing that. Do you have a big surprise now that you’ve been the CEO for a few years? Is there a happy surprise to being the CEO you hadn’t expected?

The thing that I’ve enjoyed about it is getting out, spending time with the network, getting to meet the agents, and hearing their stories. Every time I go out and spend time with any company, I love to be able to sit down with a group of agents and say, “What are you doing that’s working? What are you doing that’s not working? Where are your struggles?” The amount of information they share and share with one another, which I love, is so tremendous. That truly has been my favorite thing. Certainly, working with the CEOs as well. I have to say working with the one-on-one with the agents. I absolutely love that.

You’re traveling and you’re opening up offices. I believe Rome was a recent one, correct?

We did. We opened up in Rome and they have three offices there already. We’ve got some additional non-US locations opening up. We’re rocking and rolling and very excited about the future.

The other thing that impressed me was your marketing team. Let’s give a shout-out to them. They came out with this adorable, clever concept called Pawfect. It is a little video of the house and then it’s how many square feet. It seemed small to me and then no bathrooms. I’m like, “What in the world? Tell us what that is. It’s finished executing now and how it’s successful.

[bctt tweet=”Have a plan and execute it daily.” username=”John_Livesay”]

That was so much fun. John and BBDO are the marketing firm we worked with that helped bring that whole idea to life. They are incredible, but our marketing team did execute it beautifully. The inspiration for it was in 2021. When we were first talking about it, COVID was still weighing people down, and it felt like everything was heavy. We said, “We need to do something that’s fun and brings joy.” One of the things that we all realize is during the COVID time, so many people adopted pets.

Dogs, in particular, but there were cats, birds, reptiles, and all different sorts of pets, and home became more important than ever. We thought, “Why not do a sweepstake that is a lot of fun and silly, but it speaks to people’s hearts?” It is because that’s where their hearts are. It’s with their pets. We had an overwhelming response to it and we have already selected the sweepstakes. People have selected three of the winners so far. I believe we still have two more that were vetting the process. I’m really excited. Those folks are over the moon. They are so excited that they were selected.

What you do is if you win, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices will create a replica of your actual house for your dog. That’s why there’s no bathroom in the house.

Not even just for the dog. Let’s say you have an iguana. We didn’t exclude it. It’s for everyone. Back to our forever agent, forever brand, for everyone. It could be a bird cage or for a fish. So far, I believe the winner does have dogs, but you’re exactly right. It’s a replica of their home. It’s pet size and pretty special.

Let’s double-click on that. Before the show started, we had a little pre-chat about you’re not a forever agent and forever brand. You are for everyone, which includes a real culture, brand of diversity, and inclusion for who you want to work with and who you want to talk with. That’s a very important criterion for so many people.

In addition to this amazing program you’ve discussed where you’re giving clients this analysis of all their homes, is there something that successful agents are doing? Maybe it has to do with a mindset or resilience that other people who aren’t in real estate that couldn’t say, “I could take that and use that to make my career more successful.” The people I met winning consistently year-after-year top awards. Is there something you see them doing that would be useful for everybody, whether they’re in real estate or not?

For the top people in the business, one of the things that they do is you typically find top agents working from some sort of a plan. It may not be a formalized business plan, but they know exactly what they’re going to do the next day before they go to bed the day before. They’ve got it planned out. Most of them will work from an office at some point because you do get energy and inspiration from others. There are also so many learning opportunities and even referrals that come out of being in the office. The top agents I’ve worked with over the years, the biggest thing I would say they do is look toward and plan for the future. That’s important. A lot of people get into this business.

One of the things that can be very difficult is you’re an independent contractor. There isn’t a set plan that you have to work from. As a matter of fact, the broker is not allowed to tell you that you must do this, clock in at this time, or anything that. For somebody who has been an employee and is used to a very rigid schedule, that can be a real difficult change.

Make sure you’re not shooting from the hip, working from a plan, and having a morning routine so that you’re hitting the ground with the right mindset every single day. Going back and evaluating yourself, how did you do on your day? What went well? What didn’t go well? What do you need to do differently next time? Those are some of the things that I see top agents doing very regularly.

It’s the old make your plan and work your plan. That’s as smart as driving all over the place if you’re going to start somewhere. Make sure that you’re driving, especially with the price of gas. When you think of professional athletes who practice or actors who rehearse before they get on set or on stage, yet a lot of us feel we don’t have to practice or rehearse what we’re going to say, what our stories are going to be, or what we’re going to share. I’ll just make it up. As you said, from the hip or wing it in the moment, yet nobody does that getting ready for the Olympics.

 

Here we are dealing with people’s largest asset in most cases and people that wing it makes me wacko, actually.

One of my favorite quotes is from Arthur Ashe, the famous tennis pro. That is, “The key to confidence is preparation.” It seems to me that’s right on target with your philosophy here.

The other thing that I would say that top agents do is they do a good job of staying connected to their clients. Whether it’s through lunches, coffees, networking events, charitable activities, or whatever it is, they stay very connected, face-to-face, nose-to-nose, toes-to-toes with your clients. They’re not afraid of picking up the phone too. It seems that’s somewhat of a lost art. People are trying to use texting as a replacement. There’s something to be said about the human voice and the connection that it creates. Those are some simple things, but they’re very important.

I tell people your voice is a musical instrument. The volume, the pauses you take, and the intonation create an emotional feeling because we know everyone makes their decisions on what broker to use and what house to pick. Emotionally, they back it up with logic. If you’re the one that has those tones, as you said, nose-to-nose, toes-to-toes interactions and that emotional connection are there, that’s what’s going to separate you.

You touched on something that I know is near and dear to your heart, and it certainly is to mine, which is a charitable part. Let’s describe what Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is doing around charity that makes people feel like, “That’s something I want to make some of my choice and support.” What is one charity that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is focusing on?

The Sunshine Kids is the charity that the network as a whole focuses on and that charity helps families who have children that are battling cancer. To listen to these children tell their stories and then the parents as well tugs at your heart and you want to do anything you can to help them. We give them all sorts of different experiences, whether it’s trips or help in terms of financial help. Many of our brokerages participate very heavily in that.

We have a number of different things, too, besides making donations. When we did the Pawfect campaign, we also had a day where you could take your dogs for a walk and make a donation to the Sunshine Kids, where you got a little bandana for the dog, a water bowl, and that sort of thing. It’s a great way to make it fun and make a difference, as well as closing gifts and things like that. The thing that tugs on my heart strings is to hear those children tell their stories and the strength they have at such a young age. What they’ve been through is chilling, but it makes a big difference in their lives and their families.

It also gives us a perspective of we’re having a tough daw, somebody went with a different agent, or whatever, and you’re like, “In the scheme of things, I don’t have any problems. I need to focus on what I do have and be grateful for that.” This thing you said about tugging at the heartstrings is what stories do. When we have the ability to share a story of a child or the client that we’ve helped, or we talk on those heartstrings, people open the purse strings because it’s an emotional connection that that’s where you want to put your investments, time, and money with someone.

You made me think of a story. In 2022, we have the Sunshine Kids front and center as we do every year. Our entertainment was Lenny Kravitz, who I am crazy over. One of the things that we did is we had the kids perform some of his songs because it so happened that the kids that are the spokespeople in 2022 are very musically and theatrically talented. The night of Lenny’s performance, the kids got to be right upfront at the base of the stage. and they were so excited. After the event, Lenny invited a couple of us, the Sunshine Kids, and their parents backstage for a meet and greet. To watch him talk to the children, listen to them, and draw stories out of them was so special.

It’s something I’ll never forget. One thing that was neat was one of the young ladies named Maya, when we were about to wrap up, Lenny was asking, “What do you all have going on coming up here soon?” She was going to star in an off-Broadway production, and she didn’t tell him that. Lenny’s daughter is an actress, so I knew that this was something that he’d be very interested in. I said, “Maya, you’ve got to tell Lenny about your off-Broadway performance that’s coming up.”

[bctt tweet=”So the top people in the business typically find top agents working from a plan that knows what they will do the next day.” username=”John_Livesay”]

Here it was, it was going to be at the end of May 2022 and Lenny was like, “What? You’re staring in an off-Broadway production. That is so cool.” She was like, “I’m so excited. I don’t even know Legally Blonde.” He said, “When is it?” She said, “it’s at the end of May. I don’t remember the dates offhand.” He said, “Isn’t it in New York City?” She said, “Yeah.” He goes, “I’m going to be in New York at the end of May. If it works out, I would love to come and see it.” Here’s the superstar who immediately made this connection with these kids. It was so special.

That’s why you’re such a great CEO. You connect the dots for people. Without you having heard and shared that story, that would never have happened. He then gave the gift of being completely and fully present with each and every child and you as well. That is a gift that we can all eat. We don’t have to be a superstar to give the gift of being completely present with people. You also do that.

I saw when someone’s speaking to you, or you’re meeting somebody for the first time, you are 100% present with them. That is a gift that makes them want to have their picture taken with you and makes you memorable. That is how we all stand out from the sea of sameness. Christy, what a joy it’s been to catch up with you again and hear all your words of wisdom. Is there any last thought or a quote that you’d want to leave us with?

One of my favorite quotes is from a former business partner and a dear friend of mine. He’s been a very successful career person. He’s always given me sage advice over the years. His name is Tom Petway. The thing that always resonates with me, whether it’s personally or professionally, he would tell me from a young age, “There’s no such thing as a shortcut. You have to do the hard work in order to get the results.” That is in business as well as personally. Anytime I’m thinking about, “I could do this, and we’ll get this result. What does Tom say?”

It’s sage advice for all of us. Christy, if somebody wants to follow you on social media or find out more about Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, where should they go?

I’m on Facebook and Instagram. Of course, BerkshireHathawayHomeServices.com or BHHS.com is our web address.

Christy, thanks again. It’s been a pleasure to catch up. I am so excited to watch you as you continue to make a difference and help the company grow.

Thank you so much, John. It is such a joy talking with you. I appreciate you.

I sure appreciate you as well.

Take care.

 

Important Links

• Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
• Holding The Calm
• Pawfect
• Sunshine Kids
• Facebook – Christy Budnick
• Instagram – Christy Budnick
• Better Selling Through Storytelling Method Online Course

 

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Tags: Berkshire Hathaway HomeService, culture, diversity, Emotional Connection, inclusion, Staying Connected