Vince Leisey lays out the roadmap for HSF Affiliates (oh yes, there will be masterminds)

Brooklee Han: You have been with BHHS for nearly 30 years. What do you feel makes the brand so special?

Vince Leisey: I originally started with the Prudential Network, which sold to Brookfield, which in turn then sold to HomeServices, which then created the Berkshire Hathaway Network. At that time I was the broker owner of a firm and I loved Prudential and I loved Berkshire Hathaway, so when we had the opportunity to be bought by them we jumped because I believe that being part of a national network is so advantageous compared to being a small local brand. I think you are going to continue to see a trend of more national networks taking bigger pieces of the market. I also love the networking aspect of it and being able to get together with colleagues. It is fun, but more importantly you have the chance to learn from each other and collaborate and get new ideas to help you grow your business. I really feel like this network gave us the opportunity to do that. Another benefit of being in a network like Berkshire Hathaway is that independently you don’t really have the financial resources or the manpower to keep up with the constant changes in technology — things change too fast — but a network can help you provide those things. It is really just all of this that first attracted me to Berkshire Hathaway and it has kept me with them for all these years. 

BH: Now you are not only the CEO of BHHS Ambassador Real Estate, but you are also leading BHHS’s franchise operation. What are some of your goals for both yourself and the organization in this new role?

Leisey: When I was approached about taking on this role I had a number of questions, but for me the biggest thing is that the industry has changed so much over the past five years, starting with COVID and now with all the technology and AI, and I wanted to make sure that if I took the role, that we are going to embrace all of that change and focus on growing and adding value. And those are really my main goals: change, grow and add value — that is for the agents, so they can grow their businesses and become more productive and gain more clients, but also for the broker-owners and the network. I want this to be a team effort among all of us. The biggest thing I want to accomplish is to make sure that we are going to be a relevant network in 10, 20 and 30 years from now and that means continuing to change as the world changes. So, what I am focused on now is how do we change and stay relevant? A large part of this is how do we attract younger agents because they are the future of our business. Yes, we have to help educate them, but we can also learn from them, so we can better connect with that next generation, and that is something that has always been important to our business.

BH: A lot of brokerages have spoken about this desire to attract younger, newer agents. What are looking at to accomplish this goal?

Leisey: I think it starts with technology. If you look at AI, it feels like we’ve been talking about it forever, but ChatGPT really just launched two-and-a-half years ago. For me, one of the first things I want is for us to get more focused on is AI and how do we use it to help our agents not just create descriptions of listings and marketing materials, but to help them generate business. I want us to start embracing that right off the bat.

Then with our events, I want to make sure that they are appealing to agents of all ages. They need to be opportunities for all generations of agents to come together and learn from each other and share their energy, passion and excitement for the profession. 

At my brokerage here in Omaha, we have more young agents than most brokerages across the country and I believe that it is because we are an organization based on coaching and culture. The culture I want is an environment full of energy, excitement, and enthusiasm where we’re coming together with a positive attitude that just gets people pumped up.

BH: What do you do at your firm to foster that environment and how are you looking to expand that across the entire Berkshire Hathaway network? 

Leisey: I have always been huge on doing masterminds — we do about 15 a month at my organization, but I’ll have to cut back with that with me new role — but I want to implement masterminds within our entire organization to have more collaboration, sharing of ideas and just this environment of all coming together to learn from each out because we all grow out of that. That collaboration is such a big benefit of being part of a franchise network and why should we keep something that works really well only in one location? There is no reason we shouldn’t be sharing things. 

BH: As you look ahead, where do you want to see the franchise network in the next five years?

Leisey: I am still really wrapping my head around everything, but I really want to be openminded and to look at everything. I see competition as a good thing and I think we should analyze what everyone is doing and not just focus on the bad things or things we disagree with, but focus on the good and try to figure out why top producers or younger agents are more attracted to certain brands and companies and then figure out what we can do to attract more of those agents. 

As an example, I know a lot of companies are moving away from brick and mortar, but I still feel that is part of our value proposition. Humans are social beings, we like to interact with other people and the truth is, if you want to be successful it helps to surround yourself with people who have similar goals, which is not the environment you have working from home. The vast majority of my top agents come into the office on a regular basis and I really feel that is something that has contributed to our success. So, while it may not be what other firms are doing to help cut down costs, I feel like brick and mortar is relative in the future because cost and value are not always the same things. 

BH: In addition to providing value to agents, how are you looking to provide more value to consumers?

Leisey: At HomeServices I think we have a bit of an advantage because we are a full service brokerage in that we have everything from mortgage, to title, to insurance. That enables us to make an easier, stress free transaction for consumers by being a one-stop shop. So along those lines I want to empower our agents to provide consumers with value by making the biggest financial decision they make easy, stress free and hopefully enjoyable. If our agents do that, then we are going to have better relationships with clients and that usually means repeal and referral business. 

BH: Looking at the big picture, what do you feel is the biggest challenge currently facing the industry and how are you planning to help the organization navigate that challenge?

Leisey: I ‘d say the biggest challenge continues to be the shortage of houses. Since the crash in 2008, builders just have not built enough houses, which when combined with the fact that Americans are moving less than they used to and all of the population growth has resulted in this lack of inventory. And even though there are fewer houses for sale, prices keep going up because there is more demand at the vast majority of price points, which causes affordability challenges too. 

I think we at BHHS are going to get through this through masterminds and collaborating. We need to brainstorm and find out what people are doing in different markets that is working for them — learn and coach together. I just cannot express how big I am on masterminding, sharing ideas and collaborating. We all have so much to learn from each other and we need to continue to be creative to find solutions.