Bob Goldberg
Editor’s note: Inman has learned who two of the finalists are in the running to be the next National Association of Realtors (NAR) CEO. We will profile those two (including Goldberg) and others as we confirm them. The recruiting process is being handled by a search firm and a small group of influential NAR members, who have been close-lipped about the finalists. We have learned that there are at least four, including at least one woman. Inman informed NAR of its plans to profile the candidates, starting with Goldberg.
When Dale Stinton, the current CEO of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), announced his pending retirement, one potential successor immediately threw his hat in the ring — current NAR Senior Vice President Bob Goldberg.
It’s not hard to see why Goldberg would be an obvious choice. A business development master, he joined NAR in 1995, serving as CEO of the precursor to realtor.com, the Realtors Information Network (RIN), “an online business network that provides tools to help Realtors remain at the center of the real estate transaction“; he’s an officer at Second Century Ventures, NAR’s strategic technology investment fund; and he is also “responsible for oversight of the realtor.com operating agreement with Move, Inc.,” according to his Bloomberg profile.
He also runs all of sales for the organization, such as event exhibit sales, publication advertising and the NAR affinity program. And he oversees internet products, marketing research, marketing and conventions.
With a rich institutional memory of the ins and outs of NAR over the last two decades, he’s got a deep background in real estate technology and an understanding of real estate portals. What else do we know about the potential new head of the most powerful trade association in the country?
His career path
After joining NAR as COO and SVP of Marketing at RIN, Goldberg moved up the ranks to his current position as the senior vice president of marketing and business development, commercial services and business specialties at NAR — several departments that encompass a wide range of responsibilities.
“He oversees several groups that are focused on building the NAR brand and its value to both members and the association,” according to his Bloomberg profile, including:
- Internet products
- Product management
- Marketing research
- Marketing communications and promotions
- Commercial real estate
- Realtor University
- Competitive positioning
- Advertising and promotions
- Conventions
Before he arrived at NAR, he was an SVP with PRC Realty Systems, “the nation’s leading provider of computer-based real estate information systems with $85M in annual revenues,” according to Goldberg’s NAR profile.
At PRC Realty, at varying times and to varying degrees, he was in charge of:
- Marketing
- Business development
- Business operations
- Sales
- Product marketing
- Product support
- Strategic planning
- Operations review
- Business process re-engineering
- Employee growth
- Convention planning
- Customer services
He also managed profit-and-loss and played “an active role in the $60M sale of PRC Realty Systems.”
Before PRC, Goldberg was the national marketing manager with IFI/Plenum Data Corp.
His commitment to Realtors
In an interview with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — one of the many discount providers that Goldberg has wrangled for NAR members — he had this to say when asked “What do you like most about your job?”
“Real estate is a people and relationship business and that’s where I excel. Over the years my team and I have built up trust in our strategic alliances affinity programs. Over 90 percent of our members are independent contractors — not employees of any company. Knowing they can look to the National Association of Realtors for help with products, services and benefits that can have a real and positive impact on their businesses, I find that rewarding.”
And he added this piece of wisdom about playing politics in business when asked about a general career insight that he could share with salespeople in any industry:
“Someone told me many years ago that you shouldn’t play politics in business. If you always err on the side of doing the right thing for the customer or whomever you are serving, over 90 percent of the time you will come out on top. The reason is because you are being responsible to what the market needs and what the customer needs without trying to figure out a way around it.
“I’ve also learned that there are no magic answers. If I had any magic answers, I wouldn’t be sitting here, I’d be retired on a beach somewhere!”
It doesn’t look like retirement is in the cards for Goldberg anytime soon, though!
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