Above, Sue Yannaccone. Photo by AJ Canaria
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Compass International Holdings (CIH) COO Sue Yannaccone has been through a pretty big transition. Serving as president and CEO of Anywhere Brands for six years, she is now leading operations for the largest real estate brokerage in the world, as it seeks to reshape the industry on a foundational level.
But speaking to RISMedia Founder and CEO John Featherston on stage at RISMedia’s CEO & Leadership Exchange last week, Yannaccone claimed that on another level, nothing has changed in her approach to leading with the brands and businesses at CIH.
“The strategy is the same: Continue to deliver value to our customer, whether that be a real estate professional or an independent entrepreneur that chooses to be part of one of our businesses,” she said.
Yannaccone’s remarks in a one-on-one talk with Featherston came one day after Compass said it would sue one of the largest MLSs in the country over listing policies, and promised to continue pursuing legal action against other MLSs in a campaign focused on marketing listings off-MLS without penalty.
That battle has engulfed the industry amid a wave of consolidation and a tepid sales environment, as the National Association of Realtors® previously stepped back from MLS policymaking. Other brokerage leaders continue to take sides in the debate, while MLSs face tough decisions on more nuanced issues over listing data and “pre-marketing.”
The business of brokerage continues in the meantime, however, and in her chat with Featherston, Yannaccone said she is focused on culture and “the human element” at CIH, ensuring the company’s brands don’t end up becoming a “sea of sameness” as the Anywhere merger continues to roll out.
“Ultimately, my role now is more about the integration piece and really bringing these two businesses together. Anybody who’s done an acquisition knows that that’s a lift, and it’s a really big one right now,” she said.
Inside brokerage
About 10 months after Compass officially closed its acquisition of Anywhere, and six months since Yannaccone took on the COO role, the work of integrating all the people, technology and cultures is still very much in progress, she said.
Asked by Featherston how Compass has kept everything together during the transition, Yannaccone acknowledged that there is no “easy button.”
“There is a little bit of a reminder to folks—you no longer work for Anywhere and you no longer work at Compass—you work at Compass International Holdings, and it’s actually a new company. There’s different expectations, there’s different roles, there’s certainly a lot to be done,” she said. “Compass has always been a very focused organization.”
After announcing the deal, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin promised to preserve “distinctive brands, platforms and cultures” through the acquisition, which Yannaccone continued to affirm a year later.
At the same time, CIH is rolling out its tech platform to all the Anywhere brands, with Yannaccone saying she has onboarded 25,000 agents from corporate businesses, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s since July.
“Everybody knows rolling out technology is very, very, very challenging, especially to our independent contractors who may or may not want to adopt certain things,” Yannaccone noted. “It has to be intuitive, and our adoption strategy has to be driven from what the end user needs, not what I need.”
Like many other brokerages, Compass has promised AI-powered abilities around lead-nurturing, scheduling and other day-to-day tasks. That includes “conversational” tools that Yannaccone said could help agents with the task of learning a new system, coming from one of Anywhere’s brands (or another company).
“There’s always friction. Change is hard. However, when you can start with the value addition to the person that you’re trying to get to adopt something new—we spend a lot of time focusing on our internal resources, training up, getting them ready,” Yannaccone said. “I’ve been very impressed with the team.”
The next steps
Having started in the industry as an agent around three decades ago, Yannaccone was asked to put the big picture in perspective for practitioners dealing with a down market.
“My advice is—dig in, take a look at your business. There are still homes to be sold. There are still agents that are growing,” Yannaccone noted. “There’s still support that we need. Dig in, focus on what you do best.”
While some other brokerage leaders urged attendees at the event to essentially stop waiting for rates or macro conditions to improve, Yannaccone said that broker/owners at least should “keep…powder dry for the next thing that you’re going to do.”
She also characterized this moment in the housing market as “the time that we set the foundation for the success that’s going to come next”—though she acknowledged wryly that this slow set-up period has now lasted around four years.
“If you’re in the business today, and you’re successful, and you’re going at it, and you dig in, you’re going to be in the best position when the market does turn around, to take advantage of that,” Yannaccone said.
