One-on-One with Anthony Hitt
How the Engel & Völkers North America President & CEO Is Steering the Company toward Success
Maria Patterson: Tell us a bit about the selection process in targeting firms to join the E&V North America brand?
Anthony Hitt: Christian Völkers has this philosophy that we are where our clients are, so Engel & Völkers is in the best locations around the word. We have to look at locations throughout North America that make sense for our brand, and there are about 300 locations that make a lot of sense. We select, analyze and perform a lot of due diligence on the markets that interest us to determine who the players are—who’s doing the business and who are they doing business with and what agents are representing that brand. Then we open the communication with those firms. We are not going after the biggest in every market—we are going after those we believe are the best and who fit our brand profile.
MP: What most differentiates Engel & Völkers in the North American marketplace?
AH: We are not the biggest. What separates us is that we know who we are. We know we’re not for everyone. We are agent—or “advisor,” as we like to say—driven, and advisor-centric. Supporting top advisors is in our DNA. Christian Völkers sold real estate very successfully, and a lot of the leadership in our company has also sold real estate. I sold real estate for nine years in one of the most competitive West Coast markets in the U.S. So we know what it means to be a market leader, to earn sellable listings and to have clients keep coming to you. Every system, tool, method and strategy we offer is developed around attracting and supporting the best agents—both current and future market leaders. It goes back to our core values—we want passionate people. People who love what they do and are great at doing it.
MP: How are you promoting the brand to real estate consumers?
AH: We’re actually more known than most realize. Anyone who travels or does business in Europe knows our brand. That says, we have a team of marketing and PR experts who support our new franchises when we open in new markets. We have strategies and tactics developed to strategically introduce the E&V brand into the local communities we serve. Of course, it all starts with aligning ourselves with the right partners and agents. By sharing our international awareness with a historically strong local presence, we are able to create something more powerful in the market that consumers and potential new agents are instantly drawn to.
MP: What are your goals for expansion, both short and long term?
AH: Our goal is to build the brand market by market and to continue to take the time to research and identify, not just the top players, but those in the market who share and seek the same values, mindset and culture that we do. We are a premium brand that has been doing a lot of things right for 37 years. We want to continue that tradition in North America. It’s not just about expanding our footprint, but about expanding our culture and our lifestyle—and, of course, selling a lot of real estate.
For more information, please visitwww.evusa.com.
