What is the advantage of being part of the Realogy network in terms of referrals and idea sharing?
AP: From a referral standpoint, we own and operate Cartus, the largest relocation company in the world. Today, approximately 85% of the Cartus broker network is comprised of brokers affiliated with one of the Realogy brands. In terms of idea sharing and peer-to-peer networking, no other company can compare. Here’s an example. I was in a meeting in the fall of 2007 after it was abundantly clear that the market had turned and we were in a correction phase heading for the trough. Bruce Zipf, president of NRT, was talking about all the innovative things NRT was doing to manage overhead and improve agent productivity, and I said, “Bruce, will you share this with my franchisees?” and he said, “Absolutely-set it up.” In December of 2007, we had 200 of our largest franchisees on a conference call during which Bruce and his senior management team spent almost three hours on the phone sharing their ideas and fielding questions. The call was recorded and we distributed the CD to all our Business
