{"id":62363,"date":"2021-06-30T11:51:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T09:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ginesta.ch\/immobilienwissen\/a-personal-interview-on-the-occasion-of-our-ceos-20th-service-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T16:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:46:12","slug":"a-personal-interview-on-the-occasion-of-our-ceos-20th-service-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/immobilienwissen\/a-personal-interview-on-the-occasion-of-our-ceos-20th-service-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"A personal interview on our CEO’s 20th anniversary of service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Claude, first of all, congratulations on this anniversary. 20 years is a long time. Did it seem like it or did it fly by? <\/strong>
Time has flown by, although it has also left its mark. I was still a few kilos lighter when I joined the company 20 years ago. I probably did more sport then and the home-cooked meals were less tasty than my wife’s fine cuisine. <\/p>\n

What is the biggest difference in the real estate sector between 2001 and 2021?<\/strong>
In 2001, expos\u00e9s were still sent by post and the photos developed by the photographer were glued on by hand. We also only had six or seven employees and not 43 like today. Back then, everyone did everything, but today we work in a much more specialized way and as a team.  <\/p>\n

What was your funniest experience during your countless visits?<\/strong>
I was once allowed to take a private funicular to a property in the Zurich Oberland. The property was on a steep slope, so the owner installed his own funicular. <\/p>\n

And which is the most annoying?<\/strong>
I can’t think of anything. As a service provider, you have to cope with setbacks and are always at the mercy of the various whims of the sales force. I generally suppress negative energies and concentrate on the success stories. <\/p>\n

What was the most spectacular property you ever sold?<\/strong>
Two properties come to mind: on the one hand, a property on the Suvretta slope, which at the time fetched one of the best prices in the market area and even in Switzerland. Secondly, of course, Schloss Eugensberg, which is one of the largest properties in Switzerland at around 80 hectares. <\/p>\n

Was there ever a property that you later regretted not having bought yourself?<\/strong>
Of course. There were many properties that we should have bought ourselves. Especially when you consider how prices have doubled, if not tripled, since 2001. You would have to be very annoyed today about one or two purchases that were not made. But then I would be biased and wouldn’t be able to sell properties that we as estate agents have to sell to our clients at the best possible prices. <\/p>\n

What was the best piece of advice your father gave you along the way?<\/strong>
My father advised me early on to earn my spurs outside the company and so he also told me that he didn’t expect me to work in the business before the age of 30. <\/p>\n

Are there also things that you did completely differently from your father?<\/strong>
Yes, my father is an excellent consultant and has focused entirely on that. I, on the other hand, focus on business development, have driven growth and led the company into a new era. This includes the expansion of services and branch expansion, which has now reached five locations. We want to continue to develop at least one service or a new location every year. <\/p>\n

What would you have become if you hadn’t been born into a real estate family?<\/strong>
At the age of 17, I was already working at McKinsey as a supporter for 17 francs an hour and was very interested in the consulting business back then. So without my background, I would have done anything to work for a big management consultant. <\/p>\n

Digitalization has brought new providers onto the market. What has this changed for Ginesta? <\/strong>
Digitization is challenging us all and new providers have entered the market in both the digital and analogue sectors. But various providers have also disappeared. I believe that constant change is the only constant. However, Ginesta has always been good at adapting and thinking ahead. Just a few days ago, I wrote the annual report for the Board of Directors with the changes and innovations for 2020. I was amazed myself at how long this list was in the coronavirus year 2020 alone. <\/p>\n

Brokerage fees also came under pressure with these providers. Is the business still worthwhile? <\/strong>
Of course, the business is still worthwhile. However, it is already the case that an increased “economy of scale” model should be pursued today and we are convinced that our size gives us greater relevance and market presence. This will continue to increase in the future. In other words, sales volumes will increase, but commissions will continue to come under pressure. The new systems will help us to ensure that, despite all these changes, we can continue to post successful figures as we have done over the past 77 years. <\/p>\n

Are there any other regions in which you would also like to be present with Ginesta Immobilien?<\/strong>
As mentioned, we would like to offer an additional service or open a new branch every year. There are still many locations in German-speaking Switzerland alone that we want to conquer. At the moment, we are planning a branch in Winterthur and would like to conquer north-eastern Switzerland from there, and we are also currently looking closely at other locations.  <\/p>\n

You also manage properties with Ginesta Immobilien Verwaltungen AG. Are there plans to develop other areas? Ginesta construction management? Ginesta Financing? <\/strong>
In addition to the valuation desk, Ginesta Immobilien also has an administration department and is therefore ideally equipped to offer portfolio management services in the future. On the one hand, we can optimize the income and costs of properties and value them at the same time. In this way, we can give the customer a comprehensive X-ray view of the return. At the moment, I rule out the possibility of us building or financing properties ourselves, because that doesn’t fit in with our DNA. <\/p>\n

And now a few more personal questions: Do you look in the windows of the local estate agents during a romantic city trip with your wife or can you refrain from doing so? <\/strong>
Surprisingly, I’m not particularly interested in real estate abroad. I hardly ever look at the brochures there or stand in front of the shop windows of local estate agents.  <\/p>\n

Where does your fascination for the energy theory of feng shui come from?<\/strong>
Feng Shui is only fascinating to me because I see the benefits of this teaching 1:1 and with every additional sales success I am confirmed that it is beneficial for real estate sales. Unfortunately, not all sellers are open to it. In these cases, we often work in the background to optimize the energies of properties for sale. <\/p>\n

Art Nouveau or Bauhaus?<\/strong>
Art Nouveau<\/p>\n

Penthouse apartment near Central Park or country villa in the Hamptons?<\/strong>
Penthouse apartment near Central Park. But the Hamptons aren’t a bad choice at the weekend either … <\/p>\n

Can you imagine your company going into the 4th generation of the family? <\/strong>
On the one hand, I can imagine it, but on the other hand, I believe that today you should increasingly consider partnership concepts and retain good people in the company for the long term. That’s why you have to support the company broadly and retain good employees with participation opportunities and attractive conditions. <\/p>\n

Would you do anything differently if you could go back to July 1, 2001 with the time travel machine? <\/strong>
I would probably have bought any available apartment building or building land. Developers and apartment building owners alike had excellent returns and opportunities for value appreciation thanks to their real estate investments. As estate agents, we have not benefited from this development to the same extent. <\/p>\n

Finally, the obvious question: Where will you be in 20 years’ time?<\/strong>
In 20 years, I will be almost 70 years old. By then I’ll have long since given up my CEO job and will be spending more time traveling and playing golf. I might even have a vacation home abroad and only be in Switzerland for dental appointments. I will take the company succession into my own hands in good time and ensure the continued existence of the company for the next 97 years. <\/p>\n

Thank you Claude. And all the best for the next 20 years. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 1, 2001, Claude started as an employee in the sole proprietorship of his father Andr\u00e9 Ginesta, who was the second generation to run the company at the time. In 2009, the company became an AG, Claude became co-owner and then sole Managing Director in 2015. Branches were opened, the company joined renowned international networks and experienced significant growth in these 20 years. An ideal time to look back and forward together. <\/h3>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[383],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude.png","featured_image_data":{"title":"claude","url":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude.png","width":1919,"height":958,"srcset":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude-400x400.png 400w, https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude-768x383.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude-1536x767.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude-1600x799.png 1600w","sizes":"(max-width:400px) 400px, (max-width:600px) 600px, (max-width:768px) 768px, (max-width:1536px) 1536px, (max-width:1600px) 1600px","type":"image\/png"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/claude.png","readingTime":7,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73259,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62363\/revisions\/73259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ginesta.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}