For most entrepreneurs and independent business owners, fourth quarter is a time of reflection on the past year’s successes and an opportunity to put together a solid business plan for the next 12 months.

As you might imagine, Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman, Keller Williams Realty, Inc.  goes through a rigorous planning process. Below is an email exchange between him and Todd Butzer, regional director, North Central on creating the “Master Plan.”

-----Original Message-----

From: Todd Butzer

To: Gary Keller

Subject: planning question

Gary –

I am pretty sure you go through a specific planning ritual this time of year.

Wonder if you would mind sharing any part of it?

T

Todd Butzer

Regional Director

North Central Region

-----Original Message-----

From: Gary Keller

To: Todd Butzer

Subject: RE: planning question

hey !

i work from a simple concept:

1.   i start with the end in mind:  i envision my life at the end of it and ask myself what i want to have done.  i then mock up a simple 5 year look (in

kind of a grid form with the years to the left and along the top the categories – like health, giving, john, mary, mom, business, writing,etc…) at what i should be doing to be on track and then i look at the first year.

that creates my goals for the year.

2.   i then take each goal and ask one question:  what is the one thing i can do that by doing it everything else that could also be done to accomplish this would either be easier or unnecessary?

3.   last, i go to my calendar with that answer for each goal and i time block out the year to make sure those things get done.  first, i time block all my time off – vacations, days off, short days, etc.,  so that i make sure they don’t get left out.  if i intend to work hard then i’ll need this time to renew.  next is, my meetings with the people who report to me. next, i make sure i have my time to plan out every week. (i’ve done this so long on a sunday night that i don’t even block it anymore), usually an hour a week on a sunday.  then it’s all about work.  so, for example, if lead generation is your number one business action then you time block it for 5-6 days a week for 3 -4 hours a day before noon.   for me it’s writing so my goal is to just make sure that gets done – then i’m open to the possibilities of everything else.

my motto is “until my number one priority on my list is done each day all else

is a distraction”!  ALL ELSE!  as such, i guard my time when i’m on a priority task fiercely and without apologies.  it’s my life and i answer to no one as to my time. doesn’t always make me highly visible or highly social, but that isn’t the goal when i’m doing what i want my life to be about.

hope this helps.  feel free to share.

onward……

garykeller

By Chris Alston, Team Leader, Keller Williams Realty

Ignite…

So many things come to mind when I think of the word.

Combustion, fire, flames, spark, imagination, light bulb, innovation.  I don’t see a camp fire, I see a bon fire! I bet the fire you see is different from the one I am imagining, and yet they are both hot!  I’m not looking at the actual size of the light bulb, but the fact that there is light in the dark that existed before that ray brightened the room.

When I think of the word Ignite and how it plays into a real estate agents’ career, I see something so similar!  Success, listings, contracts, money, leads, growth, achievement are all words that come to mind.  And again, I am not seeing a new agent just starting out or launching their career, I am seeing agents, and their rise to the level of success the desire. And here’s the coolest part.  The level could be 20-40 deals, or 100-200, or maybe it’s taking the leap to achieve a first transaction.  I bet the level of success I am thinking is different from yours, yet they both are successes.

We all know that the fundamentals of real estate still apply. We are in the business to generate leads.  Without lead generation, our careers may shrink and force us to believe that we need to go find a “real” job. What we have to remember is that real estate sales IS a real job.  Too often we stand around the water cooler and buy into the gossip about how open houses do not work, and cold calling is terrible.  Or that no one wants to hear from us anyways, so “why bother calling.”

Continue reading ‘How HOT is your production?’

The KW Culture is strong. It’s God, Family, then Business. You feel it in the way associates treat each other and the way they speak to each other. It’s lending a hand and lifting people up when times are tough or there is a great need.

Nowhere was that philosophy more apparent than during KW Cares Party with a Purpose held during Mega Camp 2011 where associates united to raise more than $130,000 to benefit the Will Norton Memorial Fund. It was an incredible night filled with recognition of loss, and a celebration of life – and everyone brought incredible energy and a giving spirit to the event!

Will Norton was an 18 year old with blue eyes and a big smile, the kind of guy who never met a stranger. He was creative, courageous, and lively. With a true servant’s heart, he gave generously to those less fortunate, volunteering his time to local organizations. He loved his family and friends, and was deeply loved in return.

The Joplin tornado hit Will and his father in their car on the way home from his graduation. When the ambulance reached his father at the car, Will was unfortunately missing. An international search team—led by Sarah, his sister and best friend—looked for him for an agonizing five days until his body was found.

To honor his memory and those of the other 161 lives that were lost, Keller Williams is committed to raising money to create the Joplin memorial park. The highlight of the park will be the Will Norton Miracle Field, where handicapped children can come together to play our national pastime, baseball.

To read more on Will and his amazing life please visit www.kwcares.org.

Please take a minute to donate to the Will Norton Memorial Fund and celebrate this young man’s life.

The music started, the lights started flashing and two dynamic individuals came rushing on the stage…  Not walking, but dancing! Yes dancing…  Now these weren’t the cheerleaders from the morning session, and they were not some of our wonderful KW family demonstrating the WI4C2TS…  It was Ken DeLeon and Dianna Kokoszka!  Yes, Ken got our awesome Dianna dancing on stage in front of our Keller Williams leaders from across out company.  And if you were wondering, they BOTH had some great moves!

I am not sure if Ken ever stopped dancing through his amazing story about his way to the top.

He lives an amazing life…  He does not have a fear of dying; he has a fear of living a mediocre life.  So he lives every day in a way that can uplift others that are around him.  By smiling, waiving, dancing, smiling – he thrives on the emotions he brings out in others.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to hear his incredible story, I will do my best to recap quickly here in this post: Ken lost his sister, and now carries her on his journey in life.  He has survived an ongoing battle with cancer and a devastating car accident. Despite these set-backs Ken pushes on. He carries those life experiences as catalysts for success and as a result he has poised himself to emerge at the nations #1 producing agent across the board.  He hopes to achieve over $275,000,000 in closings.

Ken joined Keller Williams Realty from another national brand in 2005. When he left that company, he had just closed $26 million.  During Ken’s first year with Keller Williams Realty he closed $55 million – a 210% increase in his business. Every year for him in real estate has been his best year in the business, and he is not close to stopping.

Ken is a dear friend of mine and someone I admire. We enjoy looking out for one another, and helping each other out.  Extending a hand whenever we feel the other may need it.

One day back in 2006 Ken and I were talking about where he stood against KW’s top agents, and what it would take to be No. 1.  I pulled the numbers, and we saw he ranked No. 5.  What a wonderful moment.  $55,000,000 in closed transactions, doing 32 units, and No. 5!

Yest what we kept on looking at was the 32 units.

I pointed out that the No. 4 agent in Keller Williams had done around 270 units to achieve an amount above $55 million.  I said to him “If I stripped away the $55 million and dropped him in an area where prices were at $100,000 and kept his 32 units, would he still be happy with his success where he stood right now?”

We both had a moment of clarity, and he himself made the decision to go from entrepreneurial to purposeful in his career. As Gary Keller wrote in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, “From ‘E’ to ‘P.’”

As we fast forward to today…  And $275,000,000 later… His current successes are just more stepping stones on Ken’s amazing journey in life.

It was truly a treat to have Ken with us today at our Mega Agent Camp!

Chris Alston

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