Mr. Gorod has been promoted to president of growth for Compass’ parent company, Compass International Holdings. He will oversee the company’s technology, recruiting and communications.
Compass International Holdings (CIH) continues to rearrange the chessboard, this time with longtime executive Rory Gorod taking on the role of president of growth.
In his new role, Mr. Gorod will focus on agent recruitment, mergers and acquisitions, corporate communications, coaching and technology implementation across CIH’s eight brands.
robert refkin
“From co-leading brokerage operations to driving growth nationwide, Rory has a proven track record of helping agents grow and realize their entrepreneurial potential,” Compass Chairman and CEO Robert Refkin said in a statement Monday. “He has the experience and agent-first mindset to drive client success with our integrated platform and ensure we deliver the best results for our clients.”
In a brief interview with Inman, Gorod said his previous experience at Compass, which included roles such as regional president, president of growth, and chief of staff in several major markets, prepared him to take on the challenge of serving agencies (which he considers customers) across eight major brands. These brands include Compass, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, CENTURY 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, Corcoran, ERA, and Sotheby’s International Realty.
“Throughout my 11-plus years with the firm, I have spent the majority of my time working directly with our agent clients,” he said. “So that job gave me a front row seat to how agents are trying to grow their business, how they can grow their business, and most importantly, how technology can enhance their ability to grow their business.”
“A lot of it is applying what I learned in the field to our business. You know, Leonard Steinberg has a great line called ‘high tech, high touch,'” he added. “That’s really the vision we’ve built on this platform to bring all agents on the same platform and help them deliver a high-tech, high-touch experience for their clients. It’s not an either/or. It’s both.”
Rory Gorod
The newly sworn president said he has already made connections with former Anywhere brand leaders and agencies and has appeared with Mr. Refkin at industry events. He said a key priority is to introduce former Anywhere affiliate agents to the Compass technology ecosystem and everything it has to offer to help them “do better, grow their business further, and close more deals.”
Mr. Gorod insisted that CIH would not force agencies to adopt Compass’ technology, repeating a promise made by Mr. Levkin in the Inman op-ed announcing the merger. He said this approach gives him and his team the opportunity to “earn” the trust of those brands’ agents through results.
“We’re going to have a tremendous amount of coaching resources so that agents of all brands can not only learn how to use technology, but actually use it to grow their business, save time, and provide great experiences for their clients,” he said. “It’s one thing to use it, it’s another to make it valuable.”
“We want to make money from everyone’s fees for the platform, because if we make money, it’s sustainable, right?” he added.
Mr. Gorod’s promotion is the latest in a series of former Compass and Anywhere leaders to join CIH.
Anywhere veteran Sue Yanacone was named CIH’s first chief operating officer last month, while former Compass executives Tim Gustafson and Shay Artzi moved to their respective executive accounting and technical roles at the holding company. Compass also promoted longtime leader Neda Navab to brokerage president as part of Levkin’s move to head Compass International Holdings.
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