Ginger Wilcox Brand President of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Last June, many in the industry knew the next 12 months would be tough for the industry, but no one anticipated just how disruptive things would become. Housing Wire We recently caught up with Wilcox to hear how her first year at BHGRE has been and get her perspective on the many challenges currently facing the industry.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Brooklyn Han: It’s been a pivotal year for the real estate industry – can you tell us a bit about your experience leading the BHGRE brand over the past year?
Ginger Wilcox: Yes, it’s certainly been a tough year. Looking back, a few key things stand out. First, the value that the Better Homes and Gardens brand has with consumers. There is deep consumer love for this brand, and we reach approximately 50 million consumers every month. That’s something no other real estate brand can do. And most importantly, as part of that, we have a significant amount of trust because of the magazine’s 100-year relationship with consumers. The magazine reaches almost every region and every demographic around the world. Given what’s going on in the industry right now, there’s never been a better time to partner with a brand that has that deep, trusted relationship with consumers. We’re excited to leverage that.
We also learned a lot about the power of scale. With the industry changing so rapidly and the market conditions we find ourselves in, the impact of both our strong network of affiliated agents and brokers and the power of the size of the organization behind them is extremely evident. We have a group of highly talented and innovative professionals who have seen and helped drive many changes in the market and in our business. Through their years of experience, they have navigated a lot of uncertainty and are truly great practitioners and great advocates for their clients. We leverage that expertise to support our network, which is extremely valuable as the industry continues to evolve.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot of power in partnering with the world’s largest real estate companies. With transaction volumes declining, companies are looking to maximize resources and reduce costs, which is a big initiative across the industry. As a result, our partners are focused on adopting the brand resources we provide (marketing, training, technology), which helps them significantly save time and money.
BH: As you say, the recognition of the Better Homes and Gardens brand is incredibly high. How do you plan to leverage this recognition to continue growing your company in these challenging times?
Wilcox: We’re focused on strengthening our position by leveraging our access to nearly 50 million consumers every month. This allows us to reach approximately 67% of homebuyers in the United States, which is very unique and important. We’re trying to make sure that the Better Home and Gardens Real Estate brand is at the forefront among these consumers. So, we’re not just thinking of it as part of the magazine anymore, we’re trying to make sure that we’re connecting the Better Homes and Gardens brand with real estate.
“Editorial coverage has expanded significantly, strengthening our relationships and leading to features in the print magazine. Our May issue of “Owning It” was very well received, providing insights from the BHGRE network throughout the issue and making it clear that consumers are really looking for real estate information. Given this success, we’re excited to announce a second issue in the fall.”
Through our relationship with this brand, we also have access to the BHGRE network’s exclusive Pinpoint tool, which provides us with a consumer touchpoint. This tool allows our affiliated agents and brokers to search and market to different segments of the Better Homes and Gardens database, which encompasses approximately 175 million people. This allows us to delve into different demographics, such as life stage and geography. This is very powerful as it helps agents market to new consumer segments. We can also use it in our property presentations to demonstrate the power and reach of the Better Homes and Gardens brand.
BH: Obviously, a big story over the past year has been the commission litigation, how have you been working with your affiliates, brokers, agents and franchisees to navigate this confusion and turmoil?
Wilcox: There’s been a lot of noise, certainly. When I think about the work we have to do from a brand perspective, my number one priority is making sure our franchisees, our affiliated brokers and our agents are prepared and have the guidance they need for the changes that are being implemented. We’ve provided our network with materials to help them navigate a lot of the conversations that are happening between buyers and sellers. And we continue to evolve our learning programs to help them get the real-time training they need to navigate the changes that are happening. And, as I said, we’re really relying on the power of our network to be able to showcase the expertise of our people who are in the field every day having these conversations and being successful.
We’re also focusing heavily on the sales side because we expect that to be really important in the future. We’re making sure that our agents that we work with have the tools and the resources — coaching programs, marketing materials, tools — to help them win more listings.
The industry is changing rapidly today, and we’re committed to staying at the forefront of these changes, helping agents understand and adapt in real time, and ensuring they have the right resources when the situation demands it.
BH: Speaking of being on the front lines, anywhere was the first company to reach a settlement agreement in a Commission lawsuit. How do you think that impacted how you and BHGRE have navigated the turmoil of this year?
Wilcox: First of all, settling in the first place demonstrates our commitment to advocating for brokers and agents, and I think that’s something that we’ll continue to focus on as the situation continues to evolve. But as I mentioned, it’s definitely a win-win for us in terms of being able to provide all of the resources that unaffiliated brokers and agents have to prepare on their own right now. With the settlement, we’re setting an end date and a timeline so that we have a comprehensive toolkit for agents and brokers to adapt when the time comes.
BH: The commission lawsuits aren’t the only hurdle the industry is currently facing. What do you think are some of the other major challenges your affiliates currently face?
Wilcox: Needless to say, with interest rates high and inventory low, the biggest challenge facing the industry is historically low transaction volume, and it’s not clear when that will meaningfully change. So we’ve been really focused on thinking about how we can help brokers and agents continue to grow their market share during a time when they don’t have any clients or transactions. But real estate is always changing, because there are always life changes that impact buying or selling a home, regardless of market conditions. So we’re making sure our agents are ready to get those deals through the resources we provide, and we’re thinking about how we can increase the number of deals each agent can support.
We also expect some agents to leave the industry because the situation is so tough, some agents just don’t have the tools or resources to really prepare for how quickly things are changing, and we think this is an area where we’re really uniquely positioned to help.
BH: As you’ve worked with your partner brokers and agents, what have been your overall thoughts on these changes and challenges??
Wilcox: We’ve been focused on helping our network rise above the noise and focus on delivering exceptional experiences to continually drive business growth. As I mentioned earlier, deals are always being made in this industry, and who has access to those deals is heavily dependent on the training, resources and mindset that agents have available to them. The agents we work with appreciate the resources, but we’re really focused on that mindset element. In situations like these, it’s easy to get down on what you read or hear, so where you focus is key, because great agents thrive by keeping their heads down and avoiding the noise that’s going on.
BH: What do you think agents should focus on right now to navigate all the changes that are coming?
Wilcox: Really, it’s about continuing to focus on their core business, which is continuing to engage new homebuyers and sellers and providing them with great value. I think communication is more important than ever. That’s what we’re focused on, helping agents clearly articulate their value to both buyers and sellers. And agents can’t freeze up. It’s easy to get paralyzed in tough times, but you just have to keep taking things one step at a time.
