Coldwell Banker Southern California Receives National Award for Its Groundbreaking Concierge Program.

Business Editors

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Southern California has received the "Solutions of Distinction Award" from the Employee Relocation Council (ERC) during its national relocation conference recently held in Orlando, Fla.

The award honors companies for the design and implementation of innovative programs that address challenges faced by the relocation industry.

Coldwell Banker(R) Southern California, as the company is known locally, was selected as one of two national winners of this award. Its entry, "Concierge -- Creating Customers for Life," was submitted by Teresa R. Howe, the company's executive director of corporate services.

After receiving the award on behalf of Coldwell Banker Southern California, Howe delivered a detailed presentation on this topic during the ERC conference.

The Coldwell Banker Concierge program provides clients and agents with a centralized call center for prescreened service providers who are licensed, bonded and insured. Last year, the Coldwell Banker Concierge program in Southern California placed more than 26,000 work orders on behalf of clients to vendors representing more than 150 different types of service categories.

The national Coldwell Banker Concierge program is modeled after Coldwell Banker Southern California's Concierge program.

"We are honored to receive this prestigious award," said Howe. "Our Concierge program has evolved greatly since the original concept that was born from the demands of a difficult California market in 1995.

"The Concierge program offers an exceptional resource for our sales associates to provide their clients, who may be local or relocating from out of the area, with tried and true service providers. This greatly enhances the level of customer satisfaction and takes the pressure off our agents who are able to focus their energies on the real estate transaction."

"Coldwell Banker Southern California was responsible for developing this now award-winning program, which was so successful that it's been adopted by our parent company, NRT, and is available at all Coldwell Banker franchises nationwide," said Scott Gibson, president of Coldwell Banker Greater Los Angeles.

"It's gratifying to be recognized for our work behind the Concierge program, and to realize that sales associates and customers across the country are the winners because of access to this sophisticated and valuable service."

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage serves Southern California with locally managed companies in the Greater Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego marketplaces. The organization includes 105 offices and 5,000 sales associates. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is a member of the NRT family of companies.

NRT Inc., the nation's leading residential real estate brokerage company, is a subsidiary of Cendant Corp. (NYSE:CD), one of the foremost providers of real estate, travel, vehicle and financial services in the world.