KW Commercial Leading in Technology Training

In an industry known to be lacking in innovated technology solutions, KWC is ahead of the game with its technology platform.

“Technology creates positive leverage for any business’ two most precious resources: time and talent,” Director of KW Commercial Schuyler Williamson said. “At KWC, we invest in the real estate technology that has the largest potential impact on our agents’ profit.”

To help associates maximize the full benefits of the KWC technology platform, KWC rolled out its new monthly technology training solution called KWC Boot Camp. The event is a one-day training event held every month at the Keller Williams Realty International (KWRI) learning center in Austin, Texas.

The inaugural technology training event was held on June 26, 2015 with a focus on interactive training on the KWC technology platform. Tools included in this platform provide KWC agents applications for financial analysis, proposal/marketing generation, prospecting, individual agent mobile app, listing and agent promotion, market and building data, transaction management, and a contact management system built specifically for KWC agent businesses.

KWC Boot Camp provides in-person on-boarding services to propel new agents into immediate engagement with the KW Commercial team. Topics discussed include how to use the full KWC technology platform and leverage the KWC network in your business are also covered.

And let’s not forget the networking opportunity! By bringing KW Commercial associates from all around the country together, they have the opportunity to network and build their referral database.

Who Should Attend KW Commercial Boot Camp?

KW Commercial Boot Camp is designed for active and new KW Commercial  agents and their support staff. While the event is not a recruiting tool for prospective associates, Keller Williams leadership is welcome to attend to learn more about the tools KWC offers to agents so they can share this information in their market centers. To learn more about KWC, visit their website.

Event Details

The KW Commercial 2015 Boot Camp schedule is:

July 29, 2015

August 27,  2015

September 29, 2015

November 30, 2015

December 15, 2015

All classes are held at KWRI in Austin, Texas. Click here to register.

Keller Williams Leads Industry with More Top Agent Teams Ranked by Transactions

Keller Williams, the largest real estate franchise in the world by agent count, has more high-performing agent teams ranked by transaction than any other real estate franchise listed in the 2015REAL Trends “The Thousand”, published in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal. Overall, Keller Williams has 120 agent teams recognized in the 10^th annual listing of America’s top real estate sales professionals and teams.

“Keller Williams’ strong showing in this year’s ‘The Thousand’ annual listing comes as no surprise,” said Chris Heller, CEO, Keller Williams.

“We are extremely honored to be in business with these real estate teams, whose success clearly puts them in the top one percent of real estate professionals nationwide.”

REAL Trends, Inc., a leading source of analysis on the real estate industry, partners with the Wall Street Journal each year to compile an industry summary of the Top 1,000 real estate agents and teams in the United States. The report categorizes the Top 250 real estate professionals by transaction sides and volume, as well as team sides and volume.

The REAL Trends “The Thousand” featured 72 Keller Williams’ agent teams in its Top 250 ranking of real estate teams by transaction sides; those Keller Williams teams together represent 27,391 transactions. The 2015 listing also featured 36 Keller Williams’ agent teams in its Top 250 list of teams by volume, equating to more than $4.69 billion in sales. An additional twelve Keller Williams agent teams were similarly recognized in the average sales price-listing category for top teams.

“We’re in business to fuel productivity and growth for our agent partners; it’s why we maintain our strong, unrelenting focus on training,” said President John Davis, Keller Williams.

“We’re excited to congratulate all of the Keller Williams’ agents who have achieved this well-deserved recognition.”

As featured in the Wall Street Journal on June 26, 2015

For a complete list of Keller Williams representatives on the REAL Trends/Wall Street Journal “The Thousand,” click here.

Lead Generate Like a Top-Producer

As part of the Inman Select Live event on June 18, 2015, moderators Tim and Julie Harris went inside Keller Williams to interview three top-producers, Austin agents Wendy Papasan and Courtney Oldham of Keller Williams and Killeen agent Jean Shine as part of the panel. The goal was to learn what fuels their success, how they approach lead generation and what best practices they have learned along the way.

And there was only one rule in this exclusive live-streaming event for Inman Select members: no panelist could repeat the same answer.

Regardless of where you are in your real estate career, the panelists shared great advice that you can use right away. Let’s first look at what drives these top-producers.

What Drives You to Succeed?

“Making a difference, even when times are difficult. When people are dealing with emotional circumstances, they need me to come to the table with compassion and expertise.” Courtney Oldham

“Pouring into the people on my team and helping them achieve their goals.” – Wendy Papasan

“Being able to help people, especially helping integrate military families into the community. By helping people, they enrich my life just as much I enrich theirs.” – Jean Shine

Lead Generation Tactics that Work

1. Purposeful e-Newsletter Campaigns

Oldham doesn’t just cast the line when she sends email newsletters, she reels them in through next step actions. Using a database made up mostly of past clients and referrals, Oldham sends e-newsletters every two weeks. Her team then evaluates the user activity and reaches out by phone or follow-up email to dive deeper into the topics they clicked on in the newsletter. This strategy allows her to focus on specific prospect interests.

2. Personal Referral Management

Papasan’s leads primarily result from pay-per-click ads and her agent-to-agent referral network. What is truly effective about Papasan’s referral management strategy is the personal touch she gives to each and every one. She told the story about how she returned home from her first Family Reunion with 150 business cards. Not only did she enter the contacts into her database, she sent a personalized hand-written note to each and every person; actions like that are what have helped her achieve approximately 1200 agents in her referral database.

3. Yard Signs 

Shine takes yard signs to the next level. She has a 1-800 number for each property that gives interested buyers even more information than what can be fit onto a flyer. In addition to providing detailed property information on flyers, Shine also uses the backside of the flyer to showcase other listings.

Lessons Learned

The panel of top-producers was asked, looking back on their earlier career days, what they would change to save them time and money. Reflection can often be a powerful tool to propel growth.

Reflecting back, Oldham would have systematized things faster.

Papasan views all failures as learning opportunities and wouldn’t want to change anything that has led her to the success she is achieving today.

However, she would have liked to have started purposeful lead generation earlier on. “Sometimes you just don’t want to do it,” Papasan says about daily lead generation. “But you have to commit to it.”

So what does she do to motivate on days when she doesn’t want to lead generate? She looks to her daily standups with her team as a great source of motivation.

Shine said she wished she discovered earlier that she didn’t have to do it all herself. In fact, she should do it all herself. “Hire someone before you need them,” Shine advises. ” This allows you to focus on what you do best and let someone else do the rest.”

The agent panel followed the Inman Select Live event which featured insights from leaders at Keller Williams Realty International including Chris Heller, CEO; J.P. Lewis, director of media production; Annie Switt, director of marketing and communications and Holly Priestner, director of talent acquisition.

In response to Bran Inman’s question regarding any possible concerns about KW losing momentum, CEO Chris Heller responded, “We’ve just scratched the surface.”

Top Tips for Successful Negotiations

In each transaction, we strive for a win-win negotiation for the buyer, seller and both agents. At Family Reunion 2015 in Orlando, master faculty member and BOLD Coach Carl Battiste and agents Marvin Alexander, Torey Crrick and Beth Ernst shared their top tips for successful negotiations and the winning moves they rely on to close.

Build Rapport

Alexander, who in 2014 was named the No. 1 agent by transactions on REAL Trends list of Canada’s Best Real Estate Agents, stresses the importance of prioritizing relationships above all else. “I’m a big believer that the most important first step is building rapport with clients,” he says.

“We tend to be so quick to list something or take the buyer out in the car, but what we neglect to realize is that them trusting you when negotiating the contract all starts with building rapport.” He suggests spending the first 30 minutes of a listing presentation focusing on building that relationship before you even bring real estate into the conversation.

“Step two is building rapport with the other realtor, not just your client,” Alexander says. “The other realtor is not your enemy but your colleague. They’ll share information about clients or motivation, and it’s remarkable what can become of that. Even if you don’t get a deal, that rapport will carry forward to another deal at another time.”

Understand All Sides

Ernst, who has a team in Des Moines, Iowa, tries to view the deal from each participant’s perspective. “So many people think getting a certain price is the goal, but buyers don’t set out to spend $300,000 on a Saturday; they set out to go buy a house,” she says.

Also, when working with both buyers and sellers, we have pre-discussions of the potential negotiations and offers and counter-offers because swift responses are very important.”

Rapid Response

Responding quickly can be key to getting the very best price from a buyer. To that end, Ernst makes herself available to negotiate all the time, even nights and weekends.

Are you interested in learning more? BOLD Coach Carl Battiste and agents Torey Crrick and Beth Ernst will be participating in KWU’s Family Reunion Encore webinar presentation on June 24 at 1 p.m. CST. Join them and register here.

Real Estate Careers Worth Having – For Life

Real estate careers worth having are those that last. That is why the most successful real estate teams focus on retention as well as recruiting.

Keller Williams Realty defines retention as the practice of exceeding associate expectations and leading them to lifelong Keller Williams loyalty.

“Recruiting and retention are two sides of the same coin,” President John Davis said.

Once leaders recruit agents to their team, it is critical they have a retention system in place to ensure the new agent has the tools they need to succeed. “When we help people succeed, we succeed,”  Mary Tennant said. To better help people on your team succeed, it is important to know the three questions they constantly ask themselves to test the validity of their leader:

Does my leader care about me?

Can I trust my leader?

Can my leader help me?

By having the systems and models in place to keep agents first, they can confidently answer these questions and the likelihood of their success and retention is higher. However, even with retention processes in place, there are times when agents may feel their needs are not being met and decide to leave the team.

Let’s take a look at the most common reason agents cite for leaving and the actions we can take to retain them.

Agent Issue: Cost Concerns

The number one reason people report leaving their team is due to cost concerns. However, costs can’t be avoided, so what can you do to retain them?

With every business, there is a monthly operating cost requirement that cannot be avoided. Often, the actual dollar amount is not why agents leave real estate teams. The issue is a deeper concern. “Cost concern is a lack of production,” Jim Fischetti of Havre de Grace, Md., said. When agents are producing, they have a steady flow of commission income and the minimal monthly fee is not an issue. When producing agents cite cost concerns as their reason for leaving, it is likely that the real problem is that they do not see the value associated with the cost. In either case, you can help them.

Leader Action: Show Value

“Expenses are finite, revenue is infinite,” Fischetti said. “It is never a cost issue. In the absence of value, cost is always the objection.” Fischetti points out that this applies at all levels from the agent-client relationship to the agent-market center relationship. In either scenario, there must be value associated with the expense.

When Fischetti has an associate come to him with cost concerns, his first step is to find out if the concern is cost or value-based. If the concern is cost-based he talks with them and asks the following questions:

1. What can we do to help you increase your revenue?

2. How many listings do you currently have?

3. How many do you need?

Taking those answers into consideration, he encouragingly states, “I can help you figure this out and costs won’t be an issue.”

When cost is really not the issue, look toward communicating the value of their investment.

In a recent Retention: Growth Through Value course taught by Wendi Harrelson at KWRI in Austin, Texas, attendees constructed a wall of value. Harrelson encouraged attendees to go home and build a wall of value in their market center. When people recognize value and they express it in writing, they are reminded of it daily.

Five Skills Every Great Leader Must Have

Do you have what it takes to be a great leader?  Keller Williams associate Ryan Secrist, team leader of the Beach Cities market center in Hermosa Beach, Calif., shares how he learned to lead his team and what skills are needed to be a great leader.

Secrist says that as leaders, you have to deliver value. When you deliver value, you gain trust. When you have trust, people will open up to you and share what is really important to them. Once you have that information, you can support them in their personal and professional goals. In addition to communicating value and gaining trust, here are four other skills that great leaders possess:

First, commit to being the best student of leadership and never stop learning. Engage in as much real estate training as you can. Need a recommendation for where to get started with your real estate training plan? As Training Magazine’s #1 training organization across all industries in the world, Keller Williams University (KWU) offers in-person and online agent training year-round.  No matter what skill you are trying to enhance, KWU has a resource to help you grow.

Second, invest in consulting skills. Secrist recommends attending training events like Coaching Skills Camp, where among many skills acquired attendees learn the art of effective consulting. Another great way to invest in yourself is with the assistance of a KW MAPS coach.

Third, remember that being a leader requires you to paint a vision. When you consult with others, whether it be potential new team members or clients, you need to understand what that person sees for their life so you can help them achieve it using the tools and resources available to you.

Finally, have standards. It is important for people to know the rules of the playing field. And don’t just enforce rules, follow them yourself – lead by example. Remember you are a leader, not a manager.

Hear what Secrist has to say about the difference between being a manager and being a leader and how shifting roles can help you empower people.

For more great tips on how you can be a better leader as well as increase production, visit the real estate training section of our blog. There you will find articles about presentation skills, tips for keeping on top of quarterly payments and more!

Tips for Building Your Keller Williams Real Estate Team

At the Keller Williams Learning Center in Austin, real estate agents from all around the world gather to learn how to recruit the best agents for their teams. Talent, after all, attracts talent.

Here are some of the success strategies top team leaders use to attract top talent:

1. Energy Is Contagious

When your market center is thriving and agents are excited to be there, others can feel that energy. Have you ever walked into a business and thought to yourself, “Something is not right … these people don’t want to be here.” Don’t be that business! Make sure that when people walk into your market center, they feel the Keller Williams culture and want to be a part of something great.

2. When Actively Engaged in Recruiting, Make Recruiting a Big Rock

Learn from the most successful team leaders, who follow a recruiting process. That process includes focusing on a recruiting mindset, lead generating for appointments, leveraging Growth Initiative tools, utilizing the 10 recruiting sources and following up systematically. You can learn more about these recruiting success activities by attending Recruiting Great Agents. Check the Austin events schedulein myKW for the next available class. You will not only receive in-person training, you will take home a 250-page coursebook filled with all the tips you need to recruit great agents. The coursebook also includes helpful worksheets and scripts.

3. Remove Your Limiting Beliefs

Recruiting Great Agents instructor Wendi Harrelson tells class participants to write their limiting beliefs on a piece of paper, crumple it up and toss it on the floor. You can do this! You can grow a successful real estate team. One of the best parts about being with Keller Williams is that there are plenty of tools to help you along the way. There are countless educational resources available to you in KWConnectat no additional cost. Another great tool for helping you break through your limiting beliefs is KW MAPS Coaching. There are individual and group coaching options to help you achieve your goals.

4. Deliver the KW Value Proposition

Attracting talent to Keller Williams isn’t about being No. 1. It’s about delivering on our value proposition and fulfilling our mission of careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living.

The better you know KW’s value proposition, the better you will be able to understand the needs of the person you’re sharing the Keller Williams opportunity with. Then you can focus on meeting those needs specifically and successfully.

There are 15 elements of the KW value proposition that every associate should be familiar with:

1. Education and Training
2. Culture
3. Coaching
4. Consulting
5. Events
6. The History of Keller Williams Realty
7. The Business Model
8. Technology
9. Compensation
10. Industry Specializations
11. Profit Share and Growth Share
12. Health and Wellness Program
13. Growth
14. Accomplishments
15. Your Market Center

This is a lot of information all at once. Set aside some time every week to focus on one element of the KW value proposition and make sure you really understand it. You might also want to focus on a different element at each team meeting and ask your agents to share how that specific aspect of Keller Williams has helped them in their business and in their lives.

How do you share the Keller Williams value proposition? Tell us in the comments. We want to hear your ideas.

Real Estate Is a Contact Sport – How to Win the Game

Distractions at work not only reduce productivity, they negatively impact your earning potential. As a real estate agent, your business is fueled by lead generation. You literally cannot afford to be distracted when you are lead generating. By understanding the BOLD Law, “All work expands to fill the time allowed,” and time-blocking to lead generate, you can deflect distractions and focus on getting more leads. This is critical for your business because real estate is a contact sport – the more contacts you make, the more money you earn. And remember: you’re the referee of your time.

Your Challenge

Make 20 contacts in two hours every day. Once you mastered that, do as the millionaire real estate agents do and take it up to three to four hours of lead generation each day.

Your Game Plan

To start, give yourself two hours to make 20 contacts each day. If you carve out a certain amount of time to complete a dedicated task, you will complete it in the time allocated. You will want to work up to time-blocking three to four hours each day for lead generation.

Time-block your calendar for two hours every morning of lead generation time. If you need to move the time-block, don’t delete it, just move it to another spot in the day. It is important to commit to lead generation activities every day. To help you stay focused, follow these seven tips:

1. Make certain your staff and your family knows your schedule.
2. Control your interruptions: Leave your cell phone out of reach; turn off email alert messages on your computer; put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode; close your door and place a door hanger or a note reminding people not to interrupt.
3. Buy a chess clock and use it during your lead generation time. The right side is for making calls, the left side for any other time. See how much time you are actually on the phone.
4. Make certain your schedule is realistic for you and something that is accomplishable.
5. Have an accountability partner and make sure they hold you accountable and vice versa.
6. Take a 10-minute break every hour and walk around to regroup and reenergize.
7. Make certain you have a start and end time for lead generation and keep to it! Treat it like a listing appointment.

Take the first step toward winning the game and let the world know you are committed to distraction-free lead generation every day.

I am committing distraction-free lead generation every day. #KWRI @kwri 

CLICK TO TWEET

We want to hear from you on how you stay on track during your lead generation time. Tell us in the comments what you do to get your 20 contacts every day.

Do you want more productivity tips? The KW Blog has great information for increasing your leads, getting you more listings, and leveraging your time.

Opportunities with Real Estate ISAs and OSAs

Keller INK’s research has shown that two key positions have gained prominence among top real estate agents: inbound/outbound sales associates and showing assistants.

As with all team positions, these roles have unique challenges and opportunities in regard to hiring, compensating, training, and holding them accountable to results. The following information can help determine the value of adding these roles to your team as you grow your real estate businesses.

The Inbound Sales Associate

An “inbound sales associate” (ISA) is similar to a lead coordinator. This person is responsible for working and nurturing incoming leads, such as web leads, sign leads, and leads from their team’s spheres.

Opportunity:  A dedicated associate to handle inbound leads.

Having a person dedicated to following up with Internet and other inbound inquiries, an ISA, can prevent an agent from letting Internet leads and other valuable connections fall through the cracks.

This position initially gained popularity in the industry when real estate teams began to need a centralized clearing house for Internet leads. Additionally, the need for a nurturer in this role typically does not align with the behavioral characteristics of many agents, so the agents were not giving this position the attention it required. Today, even though Internet leads are diluted, these positions still offer a way for agents to leverage the lead follow-up so they can spend time focusing on other areas of their business. The ISA is responsible for working and cultivating the leads an  agent already has, such as web leads, sign leads, and leads from their team’s spheres.

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The Outbound Sales Associate

An “outbound sales associate” (OSA) is similar to a telemarketer. The outbound associate typically lead generates and sets appointments through cold-calling. Showing assistants are responsible for finding and showing homes to interested buyers, and are also fairly recent additions to many agents’ organizational charts.

 Opportunity:  A dedicated associate cold-calling potential leads.

An agent who employs an associate committed to making outbound cold calls to lead-rich sources, like expireds or a farm area, can generate new business. This position is beneficial for an agent to employ because it provides agents with their most valuable resource: time. When an OSA is fixed on setting appointments, an agent only has to worry about going on those appointments and building their business.

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Showing Assistants

Showing assistants are responsible for finding and showing homes to interested buyers, and are also fairly recent additions to many real estate agents’ organizational charts. In the 3L Blueprints eBook,  KellerINK explores these four common challenges with showing assistants:

1. Testing the waters instead of making a commitment to the success of the model.
2. The position has not been sold to the team as an opportunity for income growth.
3. Buyer agents are cherry-picking leads.
4. Dropping the ball when passing a buyer to a showing assistant

You can read the full article about showing assistants and learn the solutions to these four common challenges with showing assistants.

Download your FREE copy of the 3L Blueprints: Leads, Listings, Leverage eBook from KellerINK to read more.