By Danny Thompson, director of Keller Williams Publishing

Some said being “green” was a fad that would pass, just like bell-bottoms and MySpace. We all witnessed organizations jump on the bandwagon and proclaim green-ness, attempting to leverage the opportunity for profits. Due to some “green-washing” (the term adopted for those who exaggerated their commitment to environmental conservatism) businesses that were truly committed to making a difference were not taken seriously. Personally, I believe the tide has turned, and our sensitivities to our environment have simply become a way of life. At Keller Williams Realty we do not have a green department because our values are green.

I remember hearing the phrase, “God, family, then business” for the first time as Mega Camp 2001. Gary Keller, in stating the Keller Williams values, articulated in four words something I had wrestled with for years: how to balance my faith with my work. These values have helped me stay focused on what matters most.

I believe the call to a healthy, money-smart, and sustainable living in Green Your Home, our second addition to the Keller Williams Realty Guide series, is in perfect alignment with “God, family, then business.” You need only read the book to see what I mean. Let’s look at the three green priorities of the GYH model in light of these values. Continue reading ‘Red Is Green!’

Do you have a Green Thumb? Is your market center working toward a completely paperless office? Maybe you’re an expert on green living for your community and your clients.

Monday, Nov. 14 through Friday Nov. 18, Keller Williams Realty is excited to announce that we’ll be celebrating our company’s growing environmental initiatives and the release of KW’s latest guidebook Green Your Home during “Green Week!”

Keller Williams Associates: we want you to help us celebrate our company’s focus on building a healthy, money-smart, and sustainable life worth living!

Here’s how you can participate:

1. Decorate your Facebook and Twitter Avatar with a Green Week Twibbon!

2. Dial into Webinars focusing on green subject matter including: Building a Green Lead Generation System, Getting Green with Google and myTransactions Advanced. Register here.

3. Post your green tips and get a few extras on the Green Your Home Facebook Page. These will contain awesome tips you can share with your sphere – that’s a week’s worth of Facebook posts already done for you

4. Come back HERE (the KW Blog) for more great stories on creating an eco-friendly life for yourself, your clients or to see what Green Week is all about!

Plus – we’ll be sharing an exclusive excerpt from the Green Your Home guidebook and posting awesome articles focused on generating leads by establishing yourself as a green expert in your local market. If you’re not 100 percent convinced of the green movement, that’s okay! This is merely an opportunity for you to educate yourself so when you have a client with specific green needs, you can be their source of information!

About Green Week: Since our founding, it has been our company’s stated mission to build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. We realize now, more than ever, that a life worth living is one that is healthy, money-smart, and sustainable. And over the past three years we have been actively working to create a platform for our associates to leverage the green movement in their businesses.

We look forward to celebrating Green Week with you!

WHEN SELLERS AREN’T INCLINED TO PRICE THEIR HOMES COMPETITIVELY, HERE’S A SHOPPING ANALOGY TO DRIVE THE POINT HOME.

By Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman, Keller Williams Realty

It’s one thing for your clients and prospects to read in the paper or hear on the news that home prices have declined. It’s quite another when the reality hits home, and you’re at the kitchen table helping a client come to terms with the fact that the price that they want or “need” isn’t in line with current market values.

Pricing conversations can be a critical moment of truth in any market, but when local market values have trended downward, pricing a home to sell – and explaining this dynamic to sellers – takes on a new dimension.

I was recently talking to Shaun Rawls, concerning the challenge of resetting seller’s expectations about the listing price and market value of their home. He offered some great perspectives and a solid script.

Gary: How are you counseling your agents to initiate pricing conversations with sellers?

Shaun: It’s a conversation that should be backed into, and is the case of so much of what we do, success hinges on asking good questions. Even though the media has given a lot of attention to the “down real estate market,” we need to keep in mind that most people have come to take for granted that home values would remain on a constantly upward trajectory. The last time they bought or sold a home, they essentially hit the pause button  on market dynamics. That’s why, before we start talking price, it’s important to ask, “Tell me about when you bought this house.” That opens the conversation to a comparison of how the current market is different from the market that they remember.

Continue reading ‘Retail vs. The Clearance Rack’

Last week, Ignite, Keller Williams University’s (KWU) newest course, launched in more than 400 Keller Williams market centers across the United States and Canada.

The response among trainers and associates was that this course is all about getting into action immediately.  The first part of the class is dedicated to mindset. Then attendees learn the skills, scripts and strategies to get listings. This includes lead generating on the phone during class giving attendees the chance to hone their scripts and secure appointments. After a successful week, our associates took the Keller Williams Facebook Page to post their pictures and videos. Here’s what caught our eye!

Ignite has a single objective: to propel agents into immediate productivity. To achieve this goal, the course contains a wealth of fundamental and foundational real estate content, enhanced by productivity-based exercises, an online tracking system (MyTracker), practical job aids, and powerful scripts.

Join the company-wide launch of Keller Williams Realty’s latest course by talking to your Team Leader today!

Be sure to post your videos, pictures on Facebook and tag Keller Williams Realty

Or post directly to the Keller Williams Realty Facebook Page!

Learn more about Ignite on the KWU Website.