Keller Williams Realty is the world’s largest real estate company based on the number of agents it currently has. So, why join Keller Williams? The agents working in Keller Williams have the most successful careers in the real estate industry. Many agents dream to work with KW and stay with the company forever for its unique culture.
For me, it was the up to date modern technology, training, a unique commission split, and the profit-sharing system provided by the company. And once you join the company, you will see how inspiring the environments of the offices are for an agent.
In this article, I am going to tell you why I joined Keller Williams Realty and never thought of leaving it. I will discuss many aspects and unique features of Keller Williams so that you can see why agents love to work at KW.
The Reasons for Joining Keller Williams
I have been working at Keller Williams for three years now. Before that, I worked as a part-time agent in a different brokerage company. Back then, I worked as a full-time teacher in an elementary school. Believe me, I was working day and night but could not bring many changes in my financial conditions.
Then, one of my friends told me about the benefits of joining Keller Williams and not just as a part-timer but as a full-time agent. At first, I was not sure about joining KW because I did not know about the amazing benefits it offers to the agents. But, I immediately decided to join the company after understanding the interdependent business model of KW.
Here are the reasons why I joined KW:
The Training and Education
One of the first reasons I joined Keller Williams is the training and education it provides to the new agents. Not only the new agents, but every agent of KW is given all the necessary training and education when they need it.
Yes, I had worked as a part-time agent for a few years, but I did not have much success in the real estate business. When I started training under Keller Williams, I realized how much I did not know about the real estate business.
I was introduced to different courses and programs as a new agent. These programs educated me so much that I became confident about building my career in real estate. I will briefly talk about the program and how it assisted me.
KW Ignite
The four-week-long training program of Keller Williams is called KW ignite.This program aims to inform and train the agents about modern real estate. From the very first day of the program, I was inspired to do better.
The instructors of the program guided us in starting our business in the right way. The new agents are taught how to find real estate properties, how to negotiate with buyers and sellers, and a lot about customer service.
KW Connect
When I joined KW as an agent, they gave me an ID and password so that I can easily log in to their system. With this ID and password, I could see the online program for agents. Agents were able to access information about real estate from this online program.
The server of KW has stored interviews of agents who are successful in building a career at KW. It was really helpful for me to know how experienced agents handled their real estate business. The same goes for every other agent in the company.
The program provides a huge amount of information. Agents can create their websites and blogs with this program. We can also get lead generation and company information from KW Connect.
KW MAPS
If agents are not satisfied with Keller Williams Ignite and Connect, they take advice from a mentor. The Keller Williams Mega Achievement Productivity System or simply known as KW MAPScoaches agents individually. This program aims to find out the unique strengths of the agents and help them focus on building their careers.
When I felt the need for a mentor, the company assigned one for me too. Mentors of the program are the best agents of the company with the experience of many years. My mentor has been working with Keller Williams for nearly 18 years then.
When I told him about my insecurities about being a full-time agent and my previous experience of working as a part-time agent, he listened carefully. Then he helped me to find out my strengths and weaknesses. He also told me to be more confident and hopeful about being positive. The mentorship helped me more than I thought.
Keller Williams Commission Split
One of the first things that any agents will like to know before working for a brokerage is the commission structure. After all, it is the main income source of real estate agents. The commission split I got from my previous brokerage was not suitable for me. I was looking for a brokerage or company that offers me a better commission split.
So, I asked my friend from Keller Williams what is the commission structure offered by KW. When he explained the structure to me, I was surprised. The structure is unique and designed for the benefit of the agents and not just for the company.
So, according to the commission split of KW, any agent new or old of the company starts with a 70/30 commission split every anniversary year of the agent.
However, I would like to say that the commission split is actually 64/30/6%. 70% goes to the agent. Then the agent pays 6% of that as the franchise fee or KWRI which is capped at $3000. The other 30% of the commission goes to the market center of the agent.
But the split can be changed to 100% commission to the agent if the agent can fulfill his market center cap. The cap is decided by the market centers based on the locality and prices of houses in the area. When an agent reaches his or her cap for the year, he or she will get to keep 100% of the earned commission.
For example, I started my career with Keller Williams on July 31st, 2017. Although I was a new agent, I got the 70/30% commission split structure. Fortunately, within a few days, I got my first clients. I worked as an agent for both the buyer and the seller.
The house was sold at $110,000. From that, I got 6% as commission which is $6,600. So, first I divided the money into a 70/30 structure. 70% of the commission is $4,620 and 30% is $1,980. I gave 30% to my market center. Then I gave 6% of my share as a royalty fee which was about $278.
I worked on the 70/30 % commission rate for the first year. Although I was a part-time agent in the past, I could not do well. But the Gross Commission Income I got working as an agent for KW for a year was quite impressive.
Fortunately, the next year I had a great business and earned a lot of commission. I managed to reach my market center cap which was $21,000 per year three months before my anniversary year. Therefore I got a 100% commission for the next three months.
Then the next year I managed to fulfill my cap four months before my anniversary. Hopefully, I will do the same this year as well. So, this means a lot of money for me and not just me but for many other agents.
Open Book Policy of the Company
Can you trust a company that keeps secrets from the agents? When companies are not showing their financial status with their employees, it means they are not doing an honest business.
While working on my previous brokerage, I could not dare to ask about the company’s revenue status because there I was just an agent working for the company and sharing my commission, which I worked hard to earn.
On the other hand, KW has an open book policy. It willingly shares its financial and revenue status with the agents because it believes that the company works for the agents and not the other way around.
The agents of every market center get to know about their market centers’ progress over the year. We can know whether the market is making a profit or loss. We also know where the money is going.
This open-book policy is another way of giving power to the agents. The company chairman Gary Keller sincerely repeats that the company is standing because of the agents, and it will provide all the necessary information and tools for helping the agents.
The Agent Leadership Council
Every market center of KW has an ALC. The top 20 agents of a market center run the Agent Leadership Council. They are the representatives of all the other agents. So, if any agent has anything to say about the market center operation, he or she can talk to the ALC.
The ALC considers every agent’s opinion because the agents are the ones who bring money to the company. It makes sure that the agents understand they are also part of the business operation of KW.
The Profit Share System
Now, let me tell you about the best part of staying with Keller Williams. For me, it is the guarantee of extra-income or passive income from the company. And Keller Williams allows getting passive income through a profit share system. Moreover, agents do not need to invest anything to be part of the system.
Remember when I said agents have to give 30% of their commission to their market center? We know what happens to that money. The company uses the money to operate the market center and share the money among the agents. Here is how it works.
When agents pay their commission with the market center, the market center keeps 52% of the commission to maintain the market center like paying bills and running programs. Then it redistributes the other 48% among the agents who sponsored other agents. This way, the company expresses its gratitude for growing the company.
When I got to know about this opportunity, I wanted to know how I can become a sponsoring agent. I was surprised to know how simple it was. When agents influence and bring other people to join Keller Williams, they become mentors.
Within the first two years with Keller Williams, I decided to stay with the company as long as possible. I also decided to become a part of the profit share system. So, I started promoting Keller Williams to my friends who have the potential to become good agents.
One of my cousins was impressed by seeing how confident and financially stable I have become working with KW. She decided to join the company after I talked with her.
While signing documents to join Keller Williams as an agent, she was given a document where she has to mention the agent who convinced her to join Keller Williams. As she wrote my name, I became a sponsoring agent.
From then on, whenever she pays her 30% commission to the market center, I get a share of that commission every month. Moreover, I will also get a share of the agents’ commission who are recruited by my cousin.
The wonder of profit share does end just here. If I retire from the company and do not join another real estate company, I will keep getting my profit share every month from the market center as usual. Furthermore, I can also name an heir. My heir will get my profit share after my death. And all of these without any personal investment!
The Use of Technology
Keller Williams Realty has become a technology-based real estate company. No real estate company can compare itself with the tools and technology used by the agents of Keller Williams.
At Keller Williams, agents are always connected with the company server which provides them all the necessary information on real estate properties, clients, lead generation making, and creating a personal website for business.
Keller Williams is the first real estate company to work with artificial intelligence or AI. The system known as KW Command has connected more than 180,000 agents with the server of the company. So, we can easily access the server for getting the necessary information.
However, I think the new technology that has been developed in early 2020 is bringing the biggest change in the company. It is the app called KW App. The app is free and simple to use. The agents can personalize the app according to their personal choice.
We can create our webpage with the help of the app. there are lots of designs to choose from and we can build the webpage easily. With the help of the app, we can easily promote our brand and attract clients to hire us.
The app also works as a personal assistant for the agents. Clients can directly contact the agent through this app. The clients or agents can be far from each other but can still conduct business.
For example, one of my clients wanted to shift to a particular area of Washington DC from Florida. But he had important business to look after and could not take the time to come to DC for searching houses. I suggested to him the KW app where he could browse houses listed in the app.
Through the app, I was able to guide him to find the best house available in the area. The app has a customization option where users can set the prices, rooms, and other preferences about buying houses. The app will show houses matching with the description of the users. This has made things easier for both agents and clients.
The client was impressed when I showed him houses which he shortlisted through the advanced video calling option of the KW app. So, I can make a business deal without much physical labor and also keep track of the client activities through the app.
So, Keller Williams Realty is always thinking about making the agents efficient and focused on their business by providing the best technologies. With the help of the app, agents are becoming more active and closing more deals than before.
The Red Day of Keller Williams
The Red day of Keller Williams Realty is a day set by the company to express gratitude towards the people and community where the market centers are located. On the second Thursday of May, all the agents of Keller Williams leave their market center and offices to serve the community for a day.
I have participated in the Red Day two times by now. My first Red Day was exciting and a new experience for me. On this day, I worked side by side with other agents and participated in many welfare activities.
On this day, agents participate in social activities like organizing blood donation campaigns, charity programs, volunteering in hospitals, cleaning the local parks, reforming buildings, and organizing friendly game events to donate money for a special cause. Hundreds of agents gather to spend thousands of hours helping the community.
I was assigned to volunteer in a blood donation camp for the first time. All of us wore a red t-shirt for the day and everyone was excited to do something good for the community. I spent the entire day in the blood camp that day and motivated agents and local people to donate blood in the campaign.
After the day’s activity, I felt a mental satisfaction. I felt that I was able to give back something to the locality and the people. I realized working with Keller Williams will not only boost my career but also give opportunities to volunteer in helping society.
Keller Williams came up with the idea of Red Day in 2009. Since then it has been arranging red day to show that doing business is not the only aim of the company. The company aims to change the lives of the agents and the people related to the company.
The Interdependent Culture of Keller Williams
Another reason I decided to stay with Keller Williams is the environment and culture of Keller Williams. Every market center of Keller Williams has a culture that promotes good bonding among associates of the company.
On my first day of joining Keller Williams, many agents came to me to welcome me to the company. Now, I also do the same. Whenever a new agent joins the company, we make sure to help them adjust to the new environment.
The business model of Keller Williams is interdependent. The brokers depend on the agents for running the business and the agents depend on the company’s support to run their business. This is why; the company always makes sure to maintain an environment where agents feel like a family member.
The Mission and Vision of the Company
To operate the company and reach the ultimate goal of the company, Keller Williams Realty has set some written rules. We, the agents as a part of the company we live by these rules.
The MVVBPs are also part of the culture upheld in KW. It means Mission, vision, values, beliefs, and perspective of the company. I was impressed when I learned about the MVVBPs of KW.
The mission of the company is to support the agents so that we can build a career and life which is worth living. The company wants to offer the best business deal to the agents. The agents are promised to have all the support for building a long-lasting career.
With this mission, the company has the vision to become a company that the agents prefer to work for and get customers who can trust the company for its integrity.
What I like is that the company is actually living by these statements. It has created an agent-centric business model. Hundreds and thousands of people join KW every year and decide to stay with them when they see the company truly follows its mission and vision statements.
The Belief System of KW
I believe one of the main reasons behind Keller Williams success is its strong belief system. The company developed a belief system called WI4C2TS. It may seem meaningless for the outsiders, but we working at KW know what it truly means.
W stands for win-win. It means creating a win-win situation for both the company and the agent. By providing support to the agent the company helps to make agents better in the real estate business. So, agents get more clients which ultimately brings profit to the company as well.
‘I’ stands for Integrity. The agents and the company have to be honest with each other. Then both have to be honest with the customers. In Keller Williams, we are honest with the customers while doing business deals because we know we can gain trust only by being open with the clients.
One of the C’s of the belief system stands for Customer. The company would not exist without the customer’s trust and support so every agent of the company is committed to doing hard work for customer satisfaction.
Then the other C’s means commitment, communication, and creativity. The company taught us to be committed to our business. At the beginning of my career, I was not sure of building a career in the real estate business. But my mentor convinced me to be committed to the business or else everything will be meaningless.
The company believes in communication and expects the agents to do the same. Without communication, it is not possible to build a company like KW. The company and the agents are maintaining proper communication through technology and ALCs. We also have a lot of scopes to share our innovative ideas and creativity through communication.
Then there is trust and teamwork. The agents are encouraged to work as teams and trust each other. With trust and teamwork, the company has come so far. This is what I feel when I work in the office. We trust each other and have faith in the company’s business policies.
Finally, the ‘S’ of WI4C2TS means success. As we follow all the terms of the belief system of KW, we are becoming successful agents in the market. The company wants the agents to succeed in their careers. It is one of KW’s sincere beliefs that the success of the company depends on the success of the agents.
Building an Independent Career
All these reasons for staying with Keller Williams led to one thing that is building my career. In other traditional companies, agents are disposable. When they are struggling in their career, only they are blamed to be responsible for the situation.
On the other hand at Keller Williams, the agents are not abandoned; the company provides support when needed. However, it does not mean the agents are always dependable or accountable to the company. The agents of KW can build their business brand and work independently.
Conclusion
By now, hopefully, you got the answer to your question – ”Why join Keller Williams?”. I have joined the company for getting better financial support, but I remained with Keller Williams for their excellent pro-agent attitude and fantastic company policies.
So, if you want to build a thriving real estate career, I highly recommend that you join Keller Williams Realty.