Channeling the best minds in real estate

In the know with Dave and Jay

Knowing the market and being the “economist of choice” for your clients is more important than ever in your business.   That’s why Keller Williams Realty is bringing you a new monthly video series: The North American Real Estate Update with SHIFT co-authors Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan. This duo’s expertise, energy and up-to-the-minute insights inform your clients about what’s going on in the real estate market and give you another powerful “touch” for your database.

September 2008 North American Real Estate Update 2008

• The state of the economy
• The buyer’s market
• The future of the Canadian market
• Getting your home Sold

Read more about “Making the Most of Website Advertising,” in Baylor University’s Keller Center Research Report  for real estate professionals.

Keller Williams Realty Ranks Among Fastest Growing Companies In America

Emphasizing that “business ingenuity and economic leadership still start with entrepreneurs,” Inc. magazine recently published its 2008 list of the fastest growing private companies in America.  Not surprisingly, Keller Williams Realty made the list and was the only leading residential real estate franchise in North America to do so.

Quoting Keller Williams CEO Mark Willis, Inc. magazine cited key reasons for the company’s growth:

Considerable resources are devoted to educate and train associates to be good business owners, not just sales people. “The public does business with the agent, not the company.”

Click here to read the full article.

More KW News:

Top Takeaways From Mega Camp and Lead Generation - What Really Works?

Keller Center for Research in Residential Real Estate Marketing Launches Ground Breaking Initiatives

Keller Williams Realty Case Study now part of Stanford and Yale’s core MBA curriculum

 Five Keller Williams associates named to REALTOR® Magazine’s 30 under 30

Why Run YOUR Real Estate Business At Keller Williams Realty?

Need Help with the Licensing Process?

Read The Dozen Secrets Every Real Estate Agent Should Know

Keller Center Research Report

Lead Generation: What Really Works

According to a survey of real estate professionals: direct mail, newspaper print, and television commercials are the least productive lead generating activities for the money spent.

Want to know which lead generation activities are the most productive?  Check out the results of this national study in the article, “Lead Generation: What Really Works,” in the inaugural edition of the Keller Center Research Report.

THE NUMBERS GAME:  Mega Camp Panel Talks Lead Generation

“If you want to work on my team, you have to make 50 calls a day,” said Ben Kinney last week during a Mega Camp agent panel led by Gary Keller on lead generation and conversion.  Noting that the average sales price in his market is down 17 percent, Kinney, an associate with the Bellingham (Wash.) market center, explained that his team has worked out the numbers and is able to count on making eight contacts from 50 calls. And every eight contacts results in one appointment.  “It’s a strategy that has created 186 new listings in less than eight months,” Kinney noted.

Key among the panelists’ observations and advice concerning lead generation and conversion:

•  “It’s important to know that people need you now more than ever in this crazy market.” —Terry Bell, Keller Williams associate at the Chattanooga market center.
• “Get on the phone.  Say the right things.  There’s business out there.” —Courtney Yates, KW associate, Nashville-Murfreesboro market center.
• “If you make a habit of lead generating two to three hours a day, you will sell more than you ever dreamed possible.”  —Dave Norberg, Keller Williams associate, LaMesa/East County market center    

Top Takeaways from Gary Keller’s Mastermind session

“If you could do one thing to change your business what would it be?” Gary Keller, asked the company’s top producers during Masterminds last week. Key among the pointers to emerge:

• Make sure you have the right person running your business.
• Accountability keeps your focus. You know what you need to do, but do you have someone putting it in your face daily to keep you focused?
• Always review your business in 90-day increments.
• Find the profit. Keep your foot on the pedal at all times, but don’t settle for anything less than being in the black. If you’re not there yet, stay focused on the things that will get you there.
• Find your “Criteria for Change.” The market is always shifting, so always analyze what is or isn’t working for you and realize what you need to change.

Keller’s parting words: “Continue to be the business people that I know you are.”

Lessons on Life and Leadership

John Maxwell addresses Keller Williams Realty’s Mega Leadership general session

Whether they are conscious of it or not, there are essentially “three questions that people ask when deciding whether or not to follow you,” said John Maxwell, during Mega Leadership Camp last week.

• Do you care for me?
• Can you help me? 
• Can I trust you?

Drawing upon his most recent book, Leadership Gold, which is a distillation of his most valuable lessons from more than 40 years of leading, Maxwell a renowned leadership expert, speaker and author, offered profound insights on leadership during times of uncertainty and upheaval.

• Start with yourself. That’s the toughest person you’ll ever have to lead.  If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why would anyone else?
• Honest mistakes could be life’s main source for learning.  Fail quickly and often to reach the next plateau.
• You can’t teach culture. You have to live it. Nothing is so contagious as an example.
• We never do great good without bringing on more of the same. 
•  The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people fail more.
• Successful people have learned to be comfortable when they are out of their comfort zone.
• Every success story is birthed out of adversity. In 2008, Keller Williams Realty is going to birth more leaders than at any other time in the history of the company.  

Keller Williams Realty NEWS:

The Keller Center Releases Real Estate Industry Research Report

Gary Keller donates $5 million to Baylor University to advance the study of residential real estate

Keller Center for Research in Residential Real Estate Marketing Launches Ground Breaking Initiatives

Keller Williams Realty Case Study now part of Stanford and Yale’s core MBA curriculum

 Five Keller Williams associates named to REALTOR® Magazine’s 30 under 30

Keller Williams Realty Continues Growth in 2007

Keller Williams Realty Ranks In the Top 100 U.S. Franchises

Why Run YOUR Real Estate Business At Keller Williams Realty?

Need Help with the Licensing Process?

Read The Dozen Secrets Every Real Estate Agent Should Know

KW Family Among REALTOR’s® Good Neighbor Finalists

Lei Barry, Keller Williams Realty - Blue Bell, PA

REALTOR® magazine, the official publication of the National Association of REALTORS®, has announced the 10 finalists of its ninth annual Good Neighbor Awards and Lei Barry, of the Keller Williams Blue Bell, Pa., market center is among those named.

20 years ago, Barry founded the Inter-faith Housing Alliance to help prevent low-income families from becoming homeless. Inspired by her own experience in the 1960s as a single mother with no place to live, Barry has worked to provide temporary housing for thousands of people through a network of more than 20 local churches and synagogues.

In 1995, Barry raised $1.4 million to open Hope Gardens, offering transitional housing for eight families at a time. The Inter-faith Housing Alliance also offers life skills, parenting and budget training, family therapy, job counseling and an emergency help hotline.

In October, five winners will be selected from among the 10 finalists and will receive travel expenses to the 2008 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando in November, national media exposure for their community cause, and a $10,000 grant for their charity.

In addition to the winners, five honorable mentions will receive a $2,500 grant. The winners will be announced in the November issue of REALTOR® magazine.

The Good Neighbor Awards honors the ongoing volunteer efforts of REALTORS® who are making exceptional contributions to improve the quality of life in their communities. Finalists were selected based on the depth and impact of their volunteer contribution, the broadness of that impact, and their demonstrated leadership and initiative.

Read about all the finalists on REALTOR magazine’s site by clicking here

Why Choose A Real Estate Career At Keller Williams Realty?

Need Help with the Licensing Process?

Read The Dozen Secrets Every Real Estate Agent Should Know

The Agent Tools You Need and The Results You Want in a Shifting Market! 

KWU shifts into overdrive for Mega Camp 2008 with resources to seize the market!

In today’s market, you have to work smarter than ever, and Keller Williams University is completely tapped into what it takes to keep your production and market share moving forward.  At Mega Camp 2008, KWU will deliver market-leading educational materials to sharpen your edge and build your business

Breakthrough to Mastery Agent Guides — REVISED EDITIONS!

Due to the overwhelming popularity of The Breakthrough to Mastery Agent Guides  originally released at Family Reunion 2008, KWU has updated the content to keep you at the forefront of the real estate industry. Available exclusively to Keller Williams associates, these revised guides show you how to achieve success, no matter what market you are in, by sharpening your focus on the 12 tactics from SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times.

Buyer & Seller Scripts: Handling Objections in a Shifted Market*

Today’s buyers are more reluctant than ever and today’s sellers need more consultation on how to properly price their homes.  Created by KW’s MAPS Coaching & Masterminds’  President Dianna Kokoszka and renowned real estate coach Tony DiCello, this two-CD set provides you with the scripts you need to get your buyers off the fence and your sellers’ homes priced to sell!

*Formerly titled Make Your Own Market Audio Scripts

Great  KW Power Hour Scripts From MAPS:

Prequalifying A Listing Appointment

For Sale By Owners

Selling a Home at Market Value

Handling Pricing Objections

A Listing Presentation

Have Met Follow Up Call

Lead Generation Training with SHIFT

SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times comes from the writing team that brought you The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor. Slated for release at Mega Camp on Aug. 25, 2008, SHIFT explores proven strategies for achieving success in any real estate market.

Be Motivated To Find The Motivated!

Tactic 4: Find the Motivated — Lead Generation teaches you that “As leads become fewer, you must recognize the situation and make a more concerted effort to generate them.”

Open houses are one of the top sources of lead generation and SHIFT has identified seven levels of taking open houses beyond the basics. Above are the first three.  CLICK HERE to read this week’s excerpt, discover the final three levels and make the most of your open houses. 

“It’s time to stop trying to get your fair share of the market and do all you can to get your unfair share.” - SHIFT

Keller Williams Realty’s Founder & Chairman, Gary Keller , launched Agent Mountain: Where High Achievers Hang, a new Website, available through KWConnect, that focuses on production-topping strategies and features real people bringing real strategies and real tactics to real estate.

Motivated by a deep understanding of the challenges that today’s market imposes on associates, and committed to being part of the solution, the new site provides information and insights that Keller believes will have the biggest impact on associates in the current market.

With a central focus on a buyer’s market, KW associates can log in and download free materials from the resource library, catch new shows on Summit TV, tune into Mountain Radio and check out Keller’s top picks in books, courses, music and other products.

Keller Center Research Report

Selling The Lean Way

“To achieve increased productivity, competitive advantage, and profitability, high value-creating businesses around the world have consistently turned to ‘lean thinking’ for solutions. Most recently, the ‘lean thinking’ wave has been advanced to better identify and understand the expectations of consumers.”  Read more on “Selling the Lean Way” in the inaugural edition of the The Keller Center Research Report.

Other Related KW News:

Gary Keller donates $5 million to Baylor University to advance the study of residential real estate

Keller Center for Research in Residential Real Estate Marketing Launches Ground Breaking Initiatives