When Ginger Wilcox became brand president Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Last June, many in the industry knew that the next 12 months would be challenging for the industry. But no one expected how chaotic things would become. house line I recently caught up with Wilcox to find out how her first year at BHGRE has been and to get her perspective on the myriad challenges currently facing the industry.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Hanbrook: This year is an extraordinary year for the real estate industry. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience leading the BHGRE brand over the last year?
Ginger Wilcox: Yeah, it’s definitely been a pretty good year and as I reflect on the year, I’d say there are a few key things that stand out. First, it is the value of the “Beautiful Home” brand to consumers. Consumers have a deep love for this brand, it attracts nearly 50 million consumers every month, which is unmatched by other brands, and most importantly, it has gained great trust because of its century-old relationship with consumers. . The magazine and Better Homes brand truly reach almost every region and every demographic in the world. Given what’s going on in the industry right now, now really is the perfect time to join a brand that’s trusted by consumers, and we’re very excited to be able to capitalize on that.
I also learned a lot about the power of scale. With the rapid changes in the industry and the market conditions we face, the impact of the power of our strong network of affiliated agents and brokers, and the scale of the organization behind them, is clear. We have a very accomplished and innovative team of professionals who have witnessed and actually participated in driving many changes in the market and business, and through their years of experience, have overcome many uncertainties, which only helps them truly become great A good advocate for practitioners and clients. We do rely on this expertise to support our network, and as the industry continues to evolve, this expertise becomes extremely valuable.
As you can imagine, being associated with the largest real estate company in the world also carries tremendous power. As companies look to maximize their resources and reduce costs (which has become a significant move across the industry as transaction volumes decline), we do see our affiliates doubling down on the brand resources we offer – Marketing , training, technology – it really helps them save time and money.
Choline value: As you said, the Better Homes and Gardens brand has incredible brand recognition. How do you hope to leverage this to help the company continue to grow in a challenging environment?
Wilcox: We are very focused on strengthening our position by reaching nearly 15 million consumers every month. This gives us access to approximately 67% of U.S. home buyers – so that’s very unique and important. We ensure that the Better Home and Gardens Real Estate brand becomes the focus of these consumers. So instead of just looking at it as part of the magazine, we’re making sure that we make the connection between the Better Homes and Gardens brand and real estate.
This relationship is reinforced by a significant expansion of editorial coverage, which means features in print magazines. There was a very popular issue of “Owning It” in May, with the entire issue providing insights from the BHGRE network, making it very clear that consumers are indeed hungry for real estate information. Based on this success, they actually decided to do a second installment in the fall, which we’re really excited about.
Through this relationship with brands, we also have access to the Pinpoint tool, which provides a touchpoint with consumers and is unique to the BHGRE network, enabling our affiliated agents and brokers to source and market different customers. This way we are able to drill down into different demographics, including life stages and geographies, which is very powerful as it can help agencies market to new groups of consumers, which they can also use in listing presentations It comes to demonstrate the strength and influence of the Better Homes and Gardens brand.
Choline value: Obviously, the big story last year was the commission lawsuit. How do you work with your affiliates, brokers, agents and franchisees to navigate all the chaos and turmoil?
Wilcox: There was definitely a lot of noise. As we think about the work that needs to be done from a brand perspective, making sure our franchisees, affiliated brokers and agents are prepared and that they have the guidance they need for the changes that are being implemented is a top priority for me. We provide our network with materials that help them handle the high volume of conversations they have with buyers and sellers. We are also continuing to develop our learning programs to ensure we are helping them receive the immediate training they need to respond to the changes that are taking place. And, like I said, we really rely on the power of our connections and being able to showcase the expertise of our employees who are having these conversations and being successful in this space every day.
We also have a strong focus on the sell-side as we expect this to be very important in the future. We make sure our affiliates have the tools and resources to win more listings – that’s coaching programs, marketing materials and tools.
The industry is changing very, very quickly right now, and our focus is to try and continue to be on the forefront of those changes so that we can help our agents navigate and adapt and make sure in real time that they have the knowledge based on what’s going on.
Choline value: Speaking of being at the forefront, anywhere Was the first company to reach a settlement in a commission lawsuit. How do you think this has impacted the way you and BHGRE have dealt with the turmoil this year?
Wilcox: First of all, I think being the first just shows that we’re committed to advocating on behalf of our brokers and agents, and that’s something we’re going to continue to focus on as things continue to change. But it definitely gives us an advantage from the standpoint of making sure that we have the ability to provide all of the resources that I mentioned that independent brokers or agents now have to prepare on their own. Through the settlement, we have established a closing date and timeline to ensure we provide agents and brokers with a comprehensive toolkit so they are ready to adapt when the time comes.
Choline value: Commission lawsuits aren’t the only hurdle the industry is facing right now. What do you think are the other big challenges your affiliates are currently facing?
Wilcox: Obviously, with high interest rates and low inventory, I think the biggest challenge facing the industry is historically low transaction volumes, and it’s unclear when that will meaningfully change. So we’ve been focused on thinking about how we can help our brokers and agents continue to grow their market share even when customers and transactions aren’t happening. But we know that in real estate, life always changes that impact home buying and selling, no matter what the market conditions are, so we make sure our agents are prepared to win those deals with the resources we offer and make sure we We are considering ways to increase the number of transactions each agent can support.
We also expect that we’ll see agents leave the industry because the climate is so challenging and some agents don’t have the tools and resources to really prepare for how quickly things are moving and I think that’s where we’re really in Uniquely positioned to be able to help.
Choline value: What is your overall perspective on some of these changes and challenges as you work with your affiliated brokers and agents??
Wilcox: We’re always working to help our connections cut through the noise, focus on delivering a great experience, and continue to grow their business. As I said, there will always be deals in this industry, and who gets access to those deals depends heavily on the training, resources and mindset the agent has. The agents we work with appreciate these resources, but what we really focus on is the mindset component because it’s really important in an environment like this where it’s easy to get knocked down by what you read and hear, so where to find Focus is key because great agents succeed because they keep their heads down and avoid the noise.
Choline value: What do you think agencies should be focusing on as they look to navigate all the changes coming?
Wilcox: Really, it’s about continuing to focus on their core business, which is reaching new home buyers and sellers and continuing to provide them great value. I think communication is more important than ever. This is something we focus on very much, helping our agents be able to demonstrate their value to buyers and sellers. Plus, agents just have to not freeze – it’s easy to get paralyzed when times get tough, but you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
