Inman is exploring what the future of real estate leadership should look like through a series of articles, Q&As with industry pros, and a 5-part series called Leadership Week. Please send your feedback to leadership@inman.com. If you’re a leader who wants to join us for our exclusive Disconnect in The Desert event on March 26-28, or want to recommend a colleague, send a note to brad@inman.com explaining why.
Sherry Chris, the Chief Executive Officer and President of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in real estate, technology and franchising. Her current venture is overseeing and driving growth for Realogy’s newest growth brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.
She enjoys giving back to the industry by serving on various boards and committees as well as sharing best practices and challenging the status quo, and is passionate about giving back to those less fortunate. In 10 years Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has grown into 39 states, three countries with 350 offices and more than 11,000 agents. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sherry and pick her brain about the future of real estate leadership.
Sherry Chris
As a leader, what keeps you up at night?
Continuing to provide exceptional customer service to our franchisees and agents so they can build valuable business assets. Also, working to enhance the customer experience so the joy of moving on to the next phase of your life from a real estate perspective is memorable. In a nutshell – exceeding expectations on all fronts. That is how you keep ahead of the game.
If you could change one thing in real estate, what would it be?
That we all respect one another and work together as human beings to make this industry a better place, and ultimately provide a higher level of service to the end consumer.
How have your expectations of your management team changed over the past two years?
I continue to empower my team to make a difference, find a better way. Surprise and delight. That has not and will not change.
How do you keep your team competitive?
I challenge my team to execute on all of my “unusual” ideas or convince me why they should not. That pretty much sums up our day to day experience at BHGRE
With so much disruption in real estate, what’s your best advice for managing change?
Pick a swim lane, stick to it, be the best in your lane.
Want to connect with Sherry? You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.