Articles by Sherry Chris

The Queen Mary 2 (QM2) happens to be one of the world’s largest and most elegant cruise ships. It seats 3,056 passengers when at full capacity, averaging one crew member for every two guests. To put it into perspective, the length of the ship is just about the height of the Empire State Building - approximately 1,200 feet long. The guests pay a lot of money for a cruise experience like no other, and the Commodore (Captain) and his crew ensure that everyone’s expectations are exceeded. One of the reasons I have such a great interest in this ship is because my brother Patrick is the director of music for the QM2. He lives on the ship about six months out of every year, and oversees a staff of more than 30 musicians who provide the entertainment for the guests on board. Since I don’t get to see him very often and the ship is currently sailing out of Brooklyn NY, he invited me on board for lunch a few weeks ago before it disembarked for a 14-day cruise. What was supposed to be a nice lunch on the QM2 with Patrick and his girlfriend, Lisa Vroman (for you Broadway buffs, she played Christine in Phantom of the Opera), turned into a day of an epiphany for me.

My other interest in this ship and the Cunard Cruise line, in general, lies on how they have taken service to an entirely different level. Yes, there are other hospitality brands well known for their service, but what I like about Cunard is that service encompasses not just the guests, but also the employees.

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Posted by Sherry Chris

Whenever I’m asked to share an important piece of business advice, here’s my response: Develop a network of business friends and remain committed to helping each other build upon your dreams and exceed your goals. I’m fortunate to have Brad Inman as one of the people in my network. When news about Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate broke out, Brad suggested that two of the people whom I should brainstorm with were Pat Kitano and Kevin Boer of Domus Consulting Group. Some of you will know Pat from his Transparent Real Estate blog, and Kevin as the broker/owner of 3 Oceans Real Estate.

Both of these guys are well known in the blogging world, but there’s a lot that most people don’t know about them. For example, in a previous life, Pat was a Wall Street investment banker and a Silicon Valley consultant. He also holds an MBA from Columbia. Kevin was a consultant with McKinsey and Company, has an MBA from Yale, and is well known as an expert in online marketing strategies. Their knowledge of social networking and Web 2.0 strategy is very impressive. I caught up with the two of them for breakfast on Day 2 of my recent California Road Trip. We shot a short video in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco after breakfast. Immediately following the shoot, the hotel security tried to confiscate my camera. Apparently, you have to ask permission prior to filming in a hotel lobby! Thank goodness that part did not get filmed … Take a look at this clip of Pat, Kevin, and me.

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A business trip to the West Coast always seems to be more exciting for some reason than trips to other parts of the country, and my trip to California last week was no exception. As I landed in San Francisco armed with a schedule that would exhaust my “Genex” team, I was promptly informed that Market Street and several of the surrounding streets were closed because of a war protest. Of course, that was the area I needed to get to quickly for the first of a series of meetings that day. As it turned out, last Wednesday was the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, and where better to protest than downtown San Francisco. Being Canadian, I always defer to the fact that because I can’t vote, I don’t really have a strong opinion one way or the other on political issues. Of course, that is not entirely true, but that is my story and I am sticking to it.

What I will say is that in true San Francisco fashion, it was a peaceful protest, with more police officers than protesters, and more paddy wagons than I had ever seen in my life. One of the things that I like about San Francisco is that everyone is treated the same (the homeless people get paychecks from the city) … and the proof is in this picture - just because you drive a Porsche doesn’t mean you are exempt from getting caught in the middle of a protest with no way out …

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I recently wrote an article about recruiting for RISMedia that appears in the March edition. What’s interesting is that the same principles that applied 15 years ago when I was personally recruiting and retaining agents still apply today. Of course, technology plays more of a role now - it is easier to find people and stay in touch with sites such as Linkedin and Facebook. Electronic advertising on the various career sites has, for the most part, replaced newspaper ads, and keeping in touch via email seems to be what everyone prefers. In the article, I caution the reader not to rely too heavily on technology, as personal contact and handwritten notes create a stronger emotional bond. And we all know that real estate is a very emotional industry (and business) …

As I was writing the article, a little bit of  nostalgia hit me.  I started thinking about people like Carol Johnston, who, for many years, has held an annual recruiting conference … I started attending back in the early ’90s and met people like Lou Izzo from Hunt ERA  who was, and still is, a master recruiter. Life  and recruiting seemed less complicated back then.

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You might think I am going to write about great technology applications as they relate to “the real estate brand of the future,” and I will… but not in this post. Technology will continue to empower both the consumer and agent by allowing for more transparency and greater efficiencies, and the tools will continue to become more sophisticated in the months and years to come. All of this excites me, but without the right people (as in team) in place, it all falls flat.

One of the most exciting things for me about building BH&G Real Estate from scratch is having the opportunity to put a best-in-industry team in place - believe me, there is nothing more powerful. And if early feedback is any indication, we are off to an outstanding start! One of the key prerequisites to be considered for the team is a keen passion and desire to build a service offering from scratch that embodies the needs of broker owners, agents and consumers, that takes the best of what we have today and marries it with what the future should look like. It is one of those funny things… you either get it or you don’t.

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Posted by Sherry Chris

You can’t imagine how many people I have spoken with since the October 8th announcement that Realogy was re-launching the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Brand. Some of the people I spoke with had something to sell or license, some of them were looking for employment opportunities, some wanted to join as franchisees or agents, some wanted to offer advice as to how to launch the brand, and some were just genuinely curious as to how you decide what a brand is going to look like when you literally have a “clean slate.” The last group is why we named our blog “Clean Slate.”

There are a lot of people out there with a lot of opinions… and that is something I am personally grateful for. You see, we decided up front that we would talk to as many people as we could, and entertain all of their products, services, ideas and opinions. You never know when a good “out of the box” idea will be the end result of a conversation or presentation. We are also doing a lot of research into the habits of home buyers and sellers, the consumers who will actually be using a lot of the tools and services we develop. Reports such as the NAR “Profiles of Home Buyers and Sellers” are very helpful in confirming demographic information and statistical information around buyer and seller preferences.

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Posted by Sherry Chris

If you are reading this post, you have found the blog belonging to the soon to be launched Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate brand! We are feeling a little like the television show “Lost” right now, because nobody knows how to find us. There is a reason for that, and it is because we cannot launch the new BH&G brand until July of this year (that is when our licensing agreement with BH&G parent Meredith begins).

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