‘Playmakers’: Coldwell Banker brand ‘not going away,’ CEO says

Editor’s note: The Playmakers podcast explores the biggest shifts in real estate with those who are shaping the industry’s future. Check out our top takeaways and watch the latest episode from host Andrew Flachner, co-founder of RealScout.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in the Playmakers podcast belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.

On this episode of the Playmakers podcast, Coldwell Banker President and CEO Kamini Lane said real estate leaders like herself must be “connected to the field” to see firsthand what agents are facing.

Agents “all need different things,” Lane said. “We can’t be crafting the right strategy, we can’t be investing in the right things, unless we have a real understanding of what their lives and businesses are like.”

The industry has seen less agent migration this year than in years past, Lane said, a shift she attributes in part to consolidation. The brand she leads was directly impacted by consolidation earlier this year when Compass closed on its acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate in a blockbuster deal that created the world’s largest brokerage.

Working with a leader who has ‘clarity of vision’: The acquisition was a homecoming of sorts for Lane, whose first job in residential real estate was at Compass. She has for years worked closely with the company’s vocal and controversial leader, Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin, who she said has “clarity of vision” and “incredible passion for agents.”

Reffkin’s “whole world revolves around the real estate professional, and therefore everything we build and everything we do is focused on what is going to elevate the real estate professional,” she said. “That kind of focus, I think, is really helpful because there’s a lot of noise and there’s a lot of distraction in this industry.”

A brand that ‘will never be swapped out’: Last month, Manhattan-based Coldwell Banker Warburg became the latest to pick up the Compass banner, now operating as Warburg at Compass. Lane, a champion of the Coldwell Banker brand, described the move as “a pretty unique circumstance.”

“The Coldwell Banker brand will never be swapped out for Compass,” she said, noting that her firm has “an enormous amount of brand equity” and “record-setting” retention rates, with “through the roof” agent satisfaction. “The brand is staying as a core part of the [Compass International Holdings] portfolio — not changing, not going away and continuing to be celebrated.”

What indies should prioritize: The industry’s wider consolidation trend is “an inevitability,” Lane said, and ultimately “a good thing because it forces all of us to raise the bar in terms of the value that we’re providing agents.”

Independent firms should carefully consider how they invest in their culture and tech, she urged. Since indies aren’t “able to invest the same way that a large public company can invest, they really need to think about value.”

A throughline on listings transparency? Lane, who last year was accused of “reversing course” on her stance on private listings, insists that her position — “that transparency is incredibly important, and that one size does not fit all” — has not changed.

“Ultimately, agents and their clients are the ones that own the data, that should own the data and should dictate how their home is brought to market. Full stop. That’s what I’ve always believed, and that hasn’t changed,” she said.

Price drops, DOM are ‘digital baggage’: Lane said she has changed her thinking around the so-called “negative insights” deplored by Compass, however. “The one area where my perspective has evolved significantly is the digital baggage of price drop history and days on market,” she explained. While her view was previously “focused on transparency,” Lane said she has “seen more and more data” indicating that these factors “can kill the value of a home.”

“That’s why I think it’s important for an agent to have options in terms of how they bring a home to market,” she said.