Keller Williams Realty is an international real estate company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Their sales volume, units sold in 2017, and high-ranking agents make them the top franchise in the United States. Their agent count establishes them as the largest in the world. Joe Williams and Gary Keller founded Keller Williams Realty in 1983. The company began as one office in Austin and as of May of 2018, there are 180,000 associates all over the world and approximately 940 offices. Keller Williams Realty has received recognition as one of the highest rated companies in their field by many publications including Forbes and Entrepreneur, and has been ranked as one of the happiest companies to work for.
When the company was first established, they sold residential real estate in and near Austin, Texas. After being in business for just two years, they were the biggest real estate firm in the city with only one residential office. Keller Williams Realty was negatively impacted during the 1980’s due to the housing bubble in the United States. To help them survive the recession and retain their agents, they started offering their potential and existing employees opportunities for profit sharing. During the next year, the number of agents increased to 130 and they began climbing back to the top of the field.
Overcoming The Odds
Becoming North America’s biggest real estate franchise was not accomplished easily. The market was constantly changing and there was a lot of competition from other real estate firms. Keller Williams Realty had to establish the right formula to ensure they were the company people were interested in working for. The majority of people are unaware they have not been in business nearly as long as many of the other companies. Getting ahead of companies that had been in business for roughly 100 years, had survived depressions, recessions and the worst economy the United States had ever seen took an exceptional business model. This model has enabled them to not just survive, but to achieve growth in any economy, while simultaneously improving the method of marketing for real estate.
A New Business Model
When Keller Williams Realty first opened their doors in 1983, they were a traditional real estate firm in Austin, Texas. This means the main goal of the company was to help build the career of each broker. Whether or not the agent became successful was not considered at this point in time. It did not take Gary Keller long to realize the reason the company was in business was due to his agents and not himself. This was when he began to understand the purpose of advertising to the public was to recruit new real estate agents. One of his main keys to success was the realization recruiting agents was one thing but showing them the way to run a business successfully was something completely different.
Keller Williams Realty began bucking the traditional real estate firm system because Gary Keller wanted to do a lot more than simply grow his own brokerage. He wanted his agent’s careers to grow as well. He provided them with the tools they needed to achieve success. This focus on the careers of the individual agents instead of the business for the broker was what made the difference. This made Keller Williams the only big real estate franchise focusing on growth during every stage of the market. This spoke volumes as to the integrity of the business model the company was using so successfully. As other companies had no choice other than to close their doors, Keller Williams Realty kept expanding their market share across the globe. This included providing new agents with the best possible training while joining forces with experienced professionals. This created the only company capable of thriving regardless of the economy while showing brokers the business model for Keller Williams Reality is one of the very best for remaining in business.
