An Interview with Kathy Connelly, SVP, Corporate Services, BHHS Georgia Properties
I have known Kathy Connelly for over 30 years, and she never ceases to surprise me with her insights and accomplishments. She is not one to be satisfied with the status quo and take her eye off of the prize. She is always growing and striving to improve her service delivery and our industry as a whole. She is currently on the Board of Worldwide ERC as the only broker representative, so she is truly the voice of the people. I thought you might enjoy some insights from Kathy Connelly, SCRP, GMS, Senior Vice President, Corporate Services, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties
What is your role with your company? Qualifying broker for the company and oversees all business development initiatives, relocation, e-business, property management, and essential partnerships.
What was the primary shift you had to make in your business over the last two years? COVID forced us to adapt and find ways to accomplish the same things in different ways. We embraced technology and advanced 5-7 years in a matter of weeks. Although real estate isn’t always revered for the use of advanced technologies, we adapted existing tech tools and shifted to operate in a more virtual world.
For example, agents generally incorporate a comprehensive area tour as they drive prospective buyers to selected properties. When social distancing forced the agent and the client to drive separately, we worked with a developer to create a GPS enabled audio tour that out-of-town buyers could use as they drove to property showings that would provide a brief narrative of local landmarks and points of interest that the agent would have previously explained. Of course, we have all improved our negotiating skills and learned to position our buyers or sellers for the best outcome in a multi-offer environment.
Do you think self-motivated moves due to remote work options will continue at the same pace in the future as we saw in the last two years? I think the pendulum will swing to a more normal level and remote work will settle into a hybrid model with more people returning to the workplace. We are already seeing companies implement parameters around where employees can live. Instead of working from “anywhere”, employers are saying employees must be within driving distance of one of the company’s existing office locations or they must be able to report to a business location a minimum number of days in the week. I think the initial response to COVID was to isolate and move to a more wide-open space that allowed more outdoor activities. As we recover and return back to a more normal healthy environment, the self-motivated moves will also normalize, however, we are likely to still see employees willing to commute further but less often. Housing affordability also factors into those decisions.
We do believe that the desired amenities will include designated workspace within the home and that employers and employees will be better positioned to respond to any future need to work remotely.
How do you think remote work will affect the overall corporate relocation activity in the future? In the short term, I think that corporations will strategically and carefully consider the business need for individual relocations. The pandemic gave them an opportunity to evaluate the necessity of moving an employee and exposed them to ways to leverage technology to accomplish the same or similar result. They also probably realized the incredible cost savings and, in the future, will more carefully weigh the cost-benefit of employee relocation. As long as companies support remote or hybrid work solutions, I think we will see a decline in the number of corporate moves for the general employee population.
On the other hand, I think corporations may consider diversifying their operations or decentralizing to prevent total disruption of their business in the event of another pandemic-like event. If one area of the country is “shut down” perhaps they can continue to operate and experience less of an impact on their overall business. During the pandemic, we have seen companies consider moving their entire operations to more business-friendly locations. We have managed several group moves during the pandemic as companies consider accessibility to their customer base, quality of life for their employees, and the cost of doing business for the company. Our friends in economic development tell us they are busier than ever with prospects considering a move to our state.
As the world opens back up, I think we will see pent-up demand in our global mobility space but overall, I think the relocation volume will be flat for the next couple of years. The challenge of housing supply is also impacting relocation, traditional buyers are becoming renters as sell their current home at “the peak” of the market and decide to sit on the sidelines until supply is less of an issue. Of course, this will have a potential negative impact on the revenue model of the mobility industry.
What do you feel the leaders of company-generated business lines like relocation need to do to stay relevant and to continue to contribute to their company’s bottom line? There is more demand for consumer eyeballs than ever. We have seen a significant increase in online lead activity. More lead generation companies have come into the real estate space and the same customer often comes in from multiple online sources. We all know that online leads require rapid response, or they are on to the next. At the same time, the most productive agents aren’t sitting behind their computers, they are out showing properties or on listing appointments making it difficult for them to rapidly respond. We have to find a way to capture that consumer and bridge the gap for our associates while meeting the consumer on their terms. Our internal relocation departments already have systems in place to manage these leads, we have to find a way to change our focus to lead development for our associates. We need to do a better job of articulating our value. In this fast-paced market, the value of a full-service company requires we be able to engage and communicate all we bring to the transaction.
Anything else you would like to share with your peers? It’s more important than ever to be adaptable and innovative. The business is changing, and we need to change with it. If we only do the same things, we will only get the same result, meanwhile, the market is moving in a different direction. If we want to “get there” we must be open to moving with the market and find ways to stay relevant and valuable to our companies.