Today’s RealTrending features Coldwell Banker’s CEO Ryan Gorman on managing operating costs and setting brokerage priorities in an uncertain market. Plus, he discusses lessons learned through past brokerage shifts and offers strategies for determining what to keep and what goes.
Here is a small preview of today’s interview with Ryan. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:
Tracey Velt: What is Coldwell Banker doing right now to thrive as a company in today’s kind of uncertain housing market? What are the steps you’ve taken to contain operating costs?
Ryan Gorman: I’m going to call it an uncertain market. I think people are uncertain what to call it, because when you look at a lot of the numbers, at how many people are transacting, how price is holding up and whatnot, there’s still a lot of strength out there.
So what we’re trying avoid overreacting. We try and focus more than anything else. So whether it’s in the company and operations, the affiliate side of the business, or what we’re advising others to do. We’re not just trimming around all the edges, but instead deciding what’s going to be the most important and impactful things we can do in 2023.
So certainly some of the trimming — individual budgets or components that we say, well, can that be 5% or 10%, lower? We might raise the bar on talent, which sounds better than it feels sometimes because we might be looking at some talented individuals who aren’t necessarily performing the way they could be? Should they perhaps be doing something else, or maybe even returning to the sell side of the business if they were previously there and had a lot of success there?
RealTrending features the brightest minds in real estate. Twice a month, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.
Update: The day after launching this podcast, Anywhere Real Estate announced that Ryan Gorman was leaving the firm. Details to follow.
