Keller Williams recognized as top real estate franchise

(ROCKWALL, TX — January 30, 2018) Keller Williams Realty celebrated its 35-year anniversary with the announcement of a major milestone on Monday, Jan. 29. The company became the number one real estate franchise in agent count, closed units and closed sales volume in the entire United States.

The KW Rockwall office joined other KW market centers across the country in revealing the company’s big announcement yesterday afternoon, complete with a presentation, champagne toast and a proclamation read by Rockwall Mayor Jim Pruitt recognizing Jan. 29, 2018 as Keller Williams Realty Day in the City of Rockwall.

“This is a historic day with the company being number one in agent count, volume and units in the United States,” said Ken Hubek, who along with his wife Susan and colleagues Bill Webb and Rod Holland co-founded the KW Rockwall office in 2005. “I hope being a part of this market center has changed the lives of every agent in our office as well as agents in Keller Williams offices throughout the country, because it has certainly changed mine and Susan’s tremendously.”

Founded in 1983 in Austin, Texas, Keller Williams Realty began with a total of 32 agents who closed $28 million in volume that year. After struggling in a tough Texas economy and the loss of seven of its top 10 producers to a competitor, Gary Keller formed the first Associate Leadership Council to begin focusing on creating a culture that would allow the company to grow and for its agents to share in that growth.

In 2002, Keller and his colleagues brought a team of mega agents together for a mastermind brainstorming session, which resulted in models that would serve as the basis for Keller’s first and national bestselling book, “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent.” By 2006, Keller Williams was the fifth largest real estate franchise in the U.S. In 2009, it became the third largest real estate franchise, and then in 2011 surpassed Century 21 as the number two real estate franchise in the country.

Through the leadership of John Davis, and the models and systems he developed for growth, Keller Williams Realty began implementing its “Growth Initiative” in 2011. The system proved to be highly effective for KW market centers across the country, including the KW Rockwall market center which saw a 173 percent increase in agent count, a 191 percent increase in closed units and a 295 percent increase in closed sales volume from 2011 through 2017.

At the center of that success comes Keller Williams Realty’s commitment to share its prosperity, with market centers sharing roughly half of their profit each month with the team members who helped realize those gains. The KW Rockwall office shared more than $300,000 of the profits from 2017 back to its agents.

“It’s such a blessing to work for a company that values the people and wants to share the profit with you to help grow the business,” said Rod Holland, co-founder of the Rockwall office. “Keller Williams’s mission statement is to have agents that want careers worth having, businesses worth owning, and lives worth living. We don’t want agents to be dominated by their businesses. We want them to have control of their businesses so that they have margin in their lives and can enjoy the accomplishments, and we have systems and models in place to help them do that.”

Danny Perez, who joined KW Rockwall as an agent in 2015 and was named Regional Rookie of the year in 2016, spoke to how Keller Williams Realty has helped him to fulfill his potential in business and help others to do the same.

“When I was first looking for a place to get plugged into, I was looking for two things: somewhere I could build a business and others could build kingdoms underneath that business, and somewhere with the technology to allow myself and others to innovate and grow their businesses,” Perez said. “After just a couple of interviews, it was a no-brainer. I found that Keller Williams has the absolute best model to support me in many different ways.”

KW Rockwall Productivity Coach and Agent Paula Alexander said it was the prospect for growth and leadership that first drew her to join the team at the Rockwall office.

“What attracted me to Keller Williams was all the opportunity, and I got this huge bonus of the culture to go along with that,” Alexander said. “Through Keller Williams, I’ve had the opportunity to grow market centers, to be a team leader, and to be a productivity coach here and really start the program and grow it. The first year that we were here as a productivity coaching program, the bottom 80 percent of our office grew in production by 45 percent.”

What makes the growth the Rockwall office has seen since 2011 all the more special, according to KW Rockwall Agent Brian Weast, is that it correlates with the growth Rockwall County has also been experiencing in recent years.

“It’s great to see the growth we had from 2011 through 2017, and more importantly to see that growth in Rockwall,” Weast said. “Our company has grown in relation to the community. That’s what we’re always looking for, is a consistent pattern of growth along with the community and our brokerage as well.”

KW Rockwall’s Market Center CEO/Team Leader Dana K. Macalik closed the event by stating, “While the celebration that follows is much deserved, we need to take a moment to recognize what it means to be “Number One.” While this designation is a milestone that we should all be proud of, it is not our final destination. Our growth has simply positioned us for what’s next. I’m honored to work with such leaders. Congratulations on your achievements!”

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News. Photo by Kris Godwin, Open House Real Estate Photography.
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