Fun!  Two weeks down and I am thoroughly enjoying my time acquainting myself with the office and the company.  I have had the opportunity to meet several of you and Sandy is scheduling everyone else.  No rhyme or reason, just working through 100 meetings and everyone's schedule. :o)

First Team Meeting went well and they will only get better!  Starting in November we are planning to aim for weekly meeting which are concise/ short, consistent, informative, and full of energy.  That being said, as you know from previous TL's, the first few months on the job are full of travel for training.  It might make more sense to ease into weekly with bi-weekly meetings.  

This next week myself, Lynn and Roy will be in Austin at Franchise System Orientation - looking to a by the model market center re-launch and we have already begun building the team going into 1st QTR 2010; think about your desired involvement and business planning.  It will be an exciting market center to be a part of and now is the time to plan for 2010.

Yesterday, I had an interesting conversation regarding Keller Williams models.  For anyone familiar with KW, there is a model and/ or system for everything.  The red book (MREA), the blue book (MREI), the white book (Shift), etc.. It is an incredibly powerful and dynamic system in which a company of 70,000+ agents are working and bettering themselves around a standard of models and systems which at their core are developed from International in Austin, TX; however, through diverse marketplace collaboration, constant interaction and a commitment to the individual agents the models are continually improved and developed.  This is an incredibly powerful and insightful system which is currently unmatched it the industry and really has become the standards from which many great agents operate both in and out of the company.  So you are still wondering what is the model?  Well there are lots of them, but there seems to be a couple predominant models in the industry. 

1) Broker Centric Model; where the goal is growth of the brokers brand and the agents serve the brokers vision on a business level.  In exchange the broker typically touts success for agents because of the brand and offers training and various other services.

2) The Discount Model (often a desk fee model) where through economy of scale the agents are able to build a low cost brand while the broker is also able to meet his business needs through renting desks.  This model does not offer any support, but on the surfaced would appear to be the least expensive.  The comparison in agent lingo might be a flat fee listing vs a full service listing.

3) Agent Centric Model; this is somewhat of a hybrid between the two models and Keller Williams is the only company I know operating in this model.  KW is really a training company that sells real estate.  A quick review of www.KWConnect.com makes this very clear and this is definitely one of the value propositions to being a KW associate.  KW also empowers and encourages agent branding; not company branding.  KW agents participate in company growth and expense decisions through  a leadership council (short of like a board of directors in the corporate world).  Agents are individually incentivize for their efforts to grow the company through a profit sharing system where owner profits are split with the agents - oh, and after 3 years your profit share is vested and becomes a source of passive income.  Essentially, this hybrid model has aligned agent motivation with that of the owners in terms of growth while also encouraging and teaching agents how to turn their agent brand into a business that develops into another source of passive income.  Real Estate becomes the vehicle to achieve all other goals; much more than a job.  The best part is that it's easy if you just follow the models!  The last and most important piece of this model is the culture around which the company operates.  The only way to truly understand this value is to experience it.  I touched on this value proposition in my previous post. 

I thought I better write this while I still remember what it's like to be in a broker centric model.

So I am found.. A few years ago as a budding real estate professional I was introduced to the book, "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller.  Since then I have found success in various aspects of the real estate industry from residential sales focused on military buyers to luxury sales in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  However; the vision of wealth through real estate always seemed to be precluded by something that was missing, and until now it has been difficult for me to put a finger on the specifics.  As fate would have it, I was recently given an opportunity to revisit the Keller Williams model and what I found was what the others are missing.  A support structure and culture that is driven from the top with a true understanding and focus on empowering the individual associate.  At the end of the day, Keller Williams Realty is modeled around supporting the dreams of its agents - however they are manifested.

WI4C2TS:
Win-Win
Integrity
Customers 1st
Commitment
Communication
Creativity
Teamwork
Trust
Success!

Who better to explain than Gary himself...

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.