Thomas R. Wilkins, Yarrow A. Wilkins & Dominick Sacci

On July 19th, 2008, I had the pleasure of talking with Tom Wilkins, CEO of Wilkins & Associates Real Estate, Inc., Yarrow A. Wilkins, President and Dominick J. Sacci, Vice President/General Manager about the transition they just completed to become the first Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, LLC franchisee in the U.S.A.

The topic was primarily about what they thought the most frequently asked questions would be as they make the conversion to a franchise Broker.

For the past 20 years Wilkins & Associates Real Estate operated as an independent realtor. The company started in Mt. Pocono with three realtors in 1988. The questions went like this:

Why did you affiliate with Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate?

YAW: Better Homes and Gardens offered much more than just a franchise or brand name. They are a life-style brand. Being independent for such a long period of time, we had been asked to become franchisees a number of times in the past; but Better Homes and Gardens just had something different about them. They, of course, have the Better Homes and Gardens monthly magazine as well as numerous other publications under the name of the Meredith Corporation, all, with some sort of commitment to home ownership with a quality of life for individuals, families and communities.

DJS: The name is known by three generations. How many of us grew up with a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook in the kitchen.

Who is in charge of the new company?

DJS: Yarrow and I will head up the Senior Management Team on the corporate side. Each of us has an office that we manage right now and we are assuming that that may change. Don’t forget the market is still very soft at this time and all of our departments are on very tight budget constraints, but the end result is we’ll be hiring more managers.

We do see a lot of expansion in the near future which at that point, we would have to give up managing our individual offices.

Are you still empowered to run the office just as you did in the past?

TRW: Our Managers always have and always will have the flexibility to make the decisions they need to in order to make an office efficient. We will continue to be independently owned and operated.

DJS: Being this close to the corporate offices of BH&G (they’re in Parsippany, NJ), I do see us partnering quite a lot with them for different ideas, projections, acquisitions and such.

Will any of the real estates Managers be replaced with new staff?

DJS: No, there will be no changes in the current Sales Management team.

How will the new company be different?

DJS: There will be an enhancement; we’ll take the best of both organizations and continue to build on their combined strengths. We’ll strive to make the appropriate adjustments that will create positive opportunities for our shared future business success.

What is the vision of the new company?

TRW: To remain on the cutting edge of the real estate industry and to continue to be innovators for the areas we service through technology, customer service, and community involvement. We intend to provide our Agents with the latest tools and keys for strategic alliances that will enable them to continue to succeed and prosper. We believe that by affiliating ourselves with the most powerful real estate franchise organization in the world, we can position ourselves to dramatically increase our market share at a local level. Top that with the expansion ideas that we have, it makes a healthy mix for a growing business.

YAW: We certainly embrace going green. We want to do that and feel it’s the right way to go.

Where will the corporate office be located?

YAW: Our corporate building will remain the same–304 Park Avenue as will the corporate telephone and fax numbers. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, LLC is in Parsippany.

Exactly how will franchising help your business?

YAW: Our new company, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates, enjoys a lot of similarities to the BH&G platform. It’s just that ours was a bit homegrown. Their synergy, their marketing and their technology, along with resources, relocations, referrals and signs all means more opportunity and earning potential for both us as owners and our realtors. The name recognition alone is unbelieveable.

What about marketing and advertising?

TRW: Wilkins & Associates has always had a very strong marketing program and will continue with that same level of support which our agents are accustomed to. But, also in the next several months, we will be able to use the strength of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate website, their national print, online advertising/marketing campaigns as well as such positive distribution sites as Trulia, Yahoo and Zillow just to name a few.

A portion of our franchise fee goes towards the national marketing of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate hence expanding our exposure to clients and customers along with increasing our lead generation.

Will there be a public announcement about your affiliation?

TRW: Yes, as a matter of fact, it’s a national announcement. The brand is launching at the Inman Convention hosted at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California on July 22nd. At that convention, there’s a scheduled official launch at 8:30 Pacific time and then there’ll be a formal question and answer for the reporters, bloggers and other people in the business.

YAW: On a local level, we have a huge luncheon planned for our Agents and then right after that there are number of newspapers, television stations and such that want to be a part of this excitement. We also know that Pocono Business Journal is picking us up as a story in their August issue. There are also several national periodicals in the real estate industry that have also reserved space for an interview with Tom.

Will you be acquiring or merging with other companies soon?

TRW: I sure hope so!

DJS: I’m the one who regularly does the initial contact with other Brokers that we have an interest in their business. We have a great opportunity that we are looking at in the Lake Naomi region and if that transaction comes together, it’ll really be a win-win for both their office and ours.

YAW: There are two types of acquisitions–the first is what’s called a roll in. That’s when you take the other company and don’t open up another office but you incorporate them into one of the existing offices. They’re the easiest ones to do because you do not have a new location to deal with or the additional expenses such as advertising, supplies, staff and such.

The second type of an acquisition is that of a purchase of a company and it would open up another office. This can either be in the existing market (which would mean no additional advertising costs), or it can be in a new area which will require new advertising or advertising in periodicals that you typically did not advertise in before. While these are the harder ones to do, the upside of those type acquisitions is much higher than just rolling in another Broker.

TRW: This is one of the things that Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is going to really be able to help us with. They have people in their office that have done hundreds of acquisitions. While I have done a number myself, it’s always better to use a third party to establish a value and/or negotiate on your behalf. That portion of being a part of BH&G is extremely exciting to me.

Well, I want to thank all three of you for taking time out of your schedules and talking with me. You’ve convinced me that this is a good deal for every body and I want to sincerely wish you the best.

What was it that Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate said…

Welcome to the neighborhood–stop by and plan on staying a while.