PCMS Consulting has a new partnership with Crye-Leike Realtors to assist the company in growth strategies to expand its franchise operation in multiple states. PCMS has business development personnel currently servicing over 20 states and plans to leverage Crye-Leike’s already southern states footprint with the objective of affiliating existing real estate sales firms with the company’s franchise arm.

“Our company has its roots in the real estate franchise business and we are excited to put that expertise to work for one of the largest companies in the country as well as one that has an outstanding reputation in the South,” said Jose Perez, president of Atlanta-based PCMS Consulting. “We are beginning our efforts in Tennessee, Crye-Leike’s backyard, where we can continue to expand their presence throughout the state with quality conversions of existing companies as we simultaneously look for opportunities with other strong operators in neighboring states.”

Mr. Perez believes with a renewed focus on franchising, Crye-Leike will utilize methods used by PCMS to identify, qualify, and affiliate companies ideally suited to become a new franchise. Crye-Leike’s Cofounder & CEO Harold Crye looks forward to taking advantage of the many tools and systems available through a partnership with PCMS to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of real estate company consolidation in the last couple of years across the company’s southern U.S. region - with several independent and competitor franchise firms joining Crye-Leike,” said Mr. Crye. “I see home sales in our primary and secondary markets will continue to fluctuate up and down for another couple years forcing some firms to seek out a company’s like ours to help sustain them, their business and clients.”

Crye-Leike Franchises, Inc., a division of Crye-Leike, Realtors began real estate franchising operations in 2000. Since the division's establishment a total of 30 real estate companies have joined the Crye-Leike franchise network. Crye-Leike franchises are currently located in states throughout the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

“In the current economic environment, Crye-leike has a huge advantage across its southern U.S region in the way it supports its sales force with technology and marketing while some of the larger players have actually reduced support,” said Mr. Perez. “Because Crye-Leike is a regional company with hubs in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, a franchisee can get much more ‘hand holding’ and live support than they can from some other franchise organizations.”

In spite of difficult market conditions for home sales heading into the 3rd quarter of 2009, both Mr. Perez and Mr. Crye are convinced the timing is right to aggressively pursue unaffiliated real estate firms to become a Crye-Leike franchise, officials said.

“We’ve seen our share of challenging home sales markets in our 32 years in business but clearly we are at a critical juncture and my hope is we can provide quality branding and support to smaller firms currently struggling to adapt to the new real estate brokerage paradigm,” said Mr. Crye. “We are excited about our new relationship with PCMS and the years of real estate and franchise knowledge they bring to the table to help us collectively reach out to accomplish our goals.”