Through Strong Values and Agent Support, Brokers Can Increase Their Retention Rates
Christian Barnes
President and CEO
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes
Overland Parks, Kansas
www.kansascityhomes.com
Region served: Greater Kansas City Metro
Years in real estate: 14
Number of offices: 8
Number of agents: 450
Best advice for new agents: Align yourself with a company that offers the support you need.
Paige Brown: Why did you choose to work with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) Kansas City Homes, and how did you get to where you are today?
Christian Barnes: Culture and values are really important to me, and the alignment and synergy with those at BHGRE Kansas City Homes is a perfect match. I saw the potential of having an impact within the industry as a whole and with our agents to help them grow from a leadership capacity. As I started training, mentoring and coaching agents, I quickly realized that’s where my passion lies. I love the company, I love the agents, I love what we have here—I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
PB: How have you helped your agents build business throughout the pandemic, and what are you doing to incorporate these new strategies into your business moving forward?
CB: We provided an outlet, every day, offering a place for them to come to gather virtually and feel connected. Being able to offer a platform for them to connect across offices and throughout the entire city was a silver lining of the shift we made during the pandemic. You can’t replace the face-to-face communication, but being able to have that as a resource in our back pocket is something that will carry us into the future.
PB: When it comes to training, specifically, how are you helping your agents?
CB: Whether you are new to the business or have been in it for 10 years, we tend to get our blinders on and try to find the repeatable things in real estate. I’m always looking to open agents’ eyes to other resources and tools that are out there that they’ve not yet seen, or things they’ve heard about but haven’t taken the time to learn, and see how it can have a positive impact on their productivity and profitability. The ultimate goal is to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves.
PB: Why is it so important to support and develop your agents and remain dedicated to their success?
CB: As president and CEO of a company, we have nothing if we don’t have agents—agents who are valued, productive and achieving the goals they set for themselves. Helping support that is at the core of what I do as a leader of this company.
PB: What is one of the challenges your market is currently facing, and what are you doing to overcome it?
CB: Like every market across the country, inventory shortages right now are incredibly challenging. To combat this, we’re going back to training and looking at things from a different perspective. We’re also offering our agents tools and focusing on what I call the “Hunt vs. Hope” method with inventory and listings, which is doing things differently than how we’ve done them in the past in regard to procuring listings. We are getting really creative with how our agents are finding inventory for buyers.
PB: What would you point to as your greatest achievement with BHGRE?
CB: I think it comes down to the support and value we are able to offer our agents in their own growth through training and professional development. There is nothing greater than seeing the lightbulbs go off, and having an impact in that way has been a humbling experience. That’s what drives me—the success of others and being able to see that I can have even a small impact.
For more information, please visit www.bhgre.com.
Paige Brown is RISMedia’s content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas to pbrown@rismedia.com.
