Watch this video of Harold and the Purple Crayon…..What are your thoughts? What if you had that much control over your business? Is it possible? Please share your thoughts, I just came off of a year where I often felt like Harold and I’d like to hear different opinions and experiences.
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Dear Friends,
Many of you enrolled in the upcoming Floyd Wickman S.M.A.R.T. Program beginning on Nov. 4th … Floyd and I thank you for your trust, and we congratulate you for taking this important step in your career – we will grow together, have a BLAST and become lifelong friends! If you know someone else in your office that really needs this program, ask them to join you on your TEAM!
Some of you are considering it, and it’s important to know that the S.M.A..R.T. Program is not for everybody … we have room for JUST 3 MORE “special people” who : Want / need to improve production and build SALABLE Listings; Believe in living by Core Values; Want more Balance in their careers; And appreciate “teamwork”. Experience level should not matter, as we all do the same things at the same time.
Ask yourself this question; “What other opportunity is coming to my area, that has a proven track record of 200% productivity improvement, that is fully endorsed by my company, that costs less than 1/4 of one commission, and will get me doing at least 1 listing or sale per week without working harder?”
If the S.M.A.R.T. Program is the only opportunity with all these ingredients, then consider getting on board today. I understand that we may already be nearing capacity we have ROOM FOR JUST 3 MORE. Thank you, and I’ll see you on Nov. 4th at Session One! Be early … we begin promptly at 8:30 am Candlewood Suites, Fitchburg, WI. RSVP to TheNextLevel@kw.com
Warmly, Gary Carpenter – Master Trainer, Floyd Wickman Team
PS: Holler anytime if you need me or have questions about this opportunity. 402-680-7000 or email is gary@floydwickman.com
Contact to Learn When 36:12:3 is available in Madison, WI
Back to Basics…1920 X 33 = $1,000,000
“My listing presentation needs some work!” “I was planning on tweaking different area’s on my website today!” “There is this cool paperless office solution I have to look into!” “I have to master Neuro-Linguistic-Programming before I talk to anyone!” Does that sound like your days in real estate? Always preparing to make it BIG? Think of those press conferences after your favorite sports teams lose regardless of what they play…. What does the coach say? If the coach is a great coach, it is a simple statement, “We have some work to do and plan on going back to the basics!” Words of wisdom and overused only because human nature pulls us into creativity constantly re-inventing the wheel. So what are the basics in real estate?
Just like any other industry the strength of our business is directly proportionate to the people that choose the use our product/service. This comes down to your database and how often and effectively you communicate with those in it. In this real estate war, if we want to win we need to meet people, LOTS of people. How? I don’t care!! Do you understand that.. really let that sink in… it doesn’t matter how you meet people, the proven models of the Millionaire Real Estate Agent says you just need to meet 1920 of them, database them and communicate with them often and effectively. What does 1920 “met” people in your database mean to you when communicated with properly? What if I told you it meant $190,000…. $380,000….$720,000….. it honestly comes out to be $1,000,000. Is that enough to bring you back to the basics?
What would that do for you? Your family? Does it seem overwhelming…meeting 1920 people? That is 8 people every day you work…. If you worked 48 weeks per year and added 8 new people to your database and into the proper touch plan STARTING today you would have the Millionaires Database. The problem most of you will have is mindset.. you either aren’t willing to do the work, or you don’t believe the model……so you never start. Think of three years ago… it wasn’t that long ago was it? However three years into the future seems FAR to long to wait for massive success….you need to choose today in order to avoid an “I wish I had moment” three years from now. That is how simple this business is…..don’t make the mistake of overcomplicating it! So when does the rest of the real estate business come into play?
Once you focus on meeting people and creating an abundant database of “mets” it is important you track your effectiveness and employ a coach. The coach will direct you on where to best spend your time outside of meeting people and communicating with them. Your coach should know what target conversion rates are for your industry and have the knowledge to help you discover how to overcome any challenges that come up. Your coach cannot have any of these conversations with you if you don’t have any “at bats”, meaning – a listing appointment, buyer appointment etc.. So let’s recap what we need to do to start.
You all have an equal opportunity in this market to be the very best. Take away ALL excuses and ask yourself “How can I?” and “Who can help me?” and all you will be left with are the results you seek. If you are a victim of our universe you probably decided a few sentences into this blog entry or email that this type of success isn’t possible for you. I can assure you if that is your mindset you are DEAD on. Make success a choice, it is just that simple.
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Team Leader | CEO
Keller Williams Realty – Madison Crossroads
608.661.7000
Mudslinging 101 (2014 Update at Bottom)
What does a team leader do? Well my role is to train agents on how to overcome the challenges faced in any market. I also consult agents on specific roadblocks to unlocking their greatest potential for example call reluctance, time management or fears of rejection, success or failure (all of which I have to continually evaluate for myself daily). I also am responsible for the growth of our market center in agents, market share and most importantly profits.
In my appointments with potential candidates for KW Madison Crossroads, you can imagine I have heard every objection to joining our market center. Typically there are a few that continually resurface. Who do you believe supplies these objections to a KW candidate? Right… a fearful broker! Why do you believe that these objections are supplied…MONEY! Do you believe that a competing broker talks negatively about another company because they fear for YOUR career or because they fear for THEIR bottom line? The converse of that is, as a Team Leader responsible for growth and profits, do you believe it benefits my reputation to bring an agent on and have them be less productive at my firm? Would you say that I would be highly motivated to ensure that they maintain, if not drastically improve their production? So to review, you have a broker that is motivated by money to discourage you from talking with a team leader at KW motivated by helping you become more productive and profitable to meet YOUR goals….does that make sense? I’d like to address the first myth of KW, a myth that comes up quite often and even nationally.
Per agent productivity! Maybe at a sales meeting, maybe in a one on one, or maybe in passing you have heard this term. What does it mean? Well it means that you take the total units of an office and divide it by its total number of agents. Of the National real estate franchises, Keller Williams consistently has one of the lowest per agent productivities. I’m very honest and forthright so I’ll just throw that on the table for all to see… KW has one of THE LOWEST per agent productivities in real estate. That could be perceived as a very negative statistic if you didn’t understand that it is an integral piece of our business plan. For example, let’s say XYZ Real Estate has a per agent productivity of 12.3 units and KW has a per agent productivity of 5.9… a competing broker may say that if you join KW you will lose 50% of your production or “Clearly their education doesn’t work our agents close on average 6.4 more units each!” Let’s take a look at our business model to understand this once and for all.
Keller Williams has a capping commission structure, meaning that after you close (in our market) $2,400,000 in sales volume you move from a 70/30 split to 100% meaning the commissions you pay into our company has “capped”. This means that agent no longer provides revenue to the market center… do you see how this effects cash flow? Lets say that we had an office of 20 agents of which 20 were “cappers” with the seasonality of our market most of those 20 agents would “cap” by July or August… meaning we have no revenue to run our office in September through December because all of our agents are at 100%. What we then do is find 20 agents whose goals are $1,200,000 in closed volume or a “half capper” to feed those months, and finally 20 agents who do $600,000 or less in closed volume to supplement even further. I just describe our perfect and most profitable business model for a capping commission structure – 1/3 of agents Cappers +, 1/3 of agents ½ cappers and 1/3 of agents ¼ cappers. Does that mean that we are an office of low producers? Tell that to Guy Lofts who has been taking home 100% of his commissions since July of 2008 and will until February 1st 2009. Tell that to Bill Baker who reached his cap in roughly 60 days and carrying a listing inventory nearing $50,000,000. Tell the Mullikin’s that they are not producers when their entire team capped after 5 months, leaving them at 100% commission for 7 months of the year! Explain to Judy Braund that because of per agent productivity, she is expected to under perform instead of receiving 100% commission checks until July 1st 2009.
What about those that do only close a few transactions per year??? First of all they are in your company as well, I track production so you can’t tell me otherwise. Second, for most that is their goal.. they only want to do six transactions. I can’t put my high production goals on them can I? What I can do is let them know my expectation is that they can do 2 transactions or 200 in our firm and it doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. WHAT IS IMPORTANT is that when they handle the sale or purchase of the largest asset in their clients life, they are trained to a T. All of our agents regardless of production level are required to meet a minimum standard of 1 training course per week as of 08/01/2008. First of all I understand my agents goals and what they need to do to get there, second I support them in achieving them regardless of the number. It is that focus on THEIR goals that has created a loyalty, and community of trust as well as achievement. Have you ever let someone else’s goal determine yours? Probably not! So if you choose to do 100 transactions and Joe Agent chooses to do 4, how does that really effect you?
Our opportunity is world class, I can assure you of that. Our business model is unique, one that if run properly can reach profitability never before thought possible in a “Shifted” market. This year we are sharing roughly $38,000,000 in profits back with our agents. The more profit we create the more profit we share, because of that we all have a vested interest in your success. So you can listen to the rumors, buy into the myths, or you can stay in curiosity and profit from the truth. Learn why Keller Williams is the fasting growing real estate franchise in North America. Learn how I will serve you in reaching your goals today and for years to come.
UPDATE 06.2014 – Almost 6 years after drafting this post, kw is #1 in North America, rapidly expanding Internationally and I am still with Keller Williams Realty. If you are considering a career with kw, you owe it to yourself to contact me, find out what has changed since I wrote this and what the future holds. The best IS yet to come and I couldn’t be more excited to see how you may become part of the vision. Visit http://www.PropertyReveal.com or call my cell 561.859.1839.
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Team Leader | CEO
Keller Williams Realty-Madison Crossroads
608.661.7000
Turning Up Intensity in 2009
Before we get into the meat of this blog, let’s do a quick exercise. Raise your right arm as high as you can possibly raise it….. seriously, come on nobody is looking. OK keep it there……….wait… NOW raise it just ½ an inch higher. Your arm moved didn’t it? Now I understand some of you may have been far to cool to partake in this exercise, so for you guys, try it on someone you know. It works.
What did the above exercise prove? Even though we think we are doing all we can, there is a little extra we can strive for, just another ½ an inch. That ½ an inch is the difference between good and great, so how do we consistently operate in the GREAT mode? Darren Kittleson is one of my many coaches and this was the topic of our conversation in yesterdays meeting. This conversation actually started three weeks ago with all of my coaches and evolved into a singular area for personal improvement. INTENSITY.
One thing I am unfailingly is honest, brutally honest… don’t get me wrong I occasionally exaggerate or embellish to increase the entertainment value of a story and I dream very big all the time. What I don’t do is disillusion myself as to my strengths and weaknesses which makes me very coach-able. What am I getting at? I have to turn it up in 2009, I need to work in that ½ inch of greatness. So what are my roadblocks?
It was kicked around last night that I have a need for people to like me which is why I don’t push them far enough. Maybe I have become complacent in my role? What about the accountability blog? This blog has helped me grow in so many ways, has helped keep me focused on daily tasks, created clarity that allows me to communicate on a much higher level and created daily habits that will help me on any endeavor I choose. What is the accountability blogs next evolution? I’ll think about that, and I’m sure it will be very entertaining…. Along the lines of do something every day that scares you.
The bottom line is I sense that ½ in. and I stay or back away, rarely pushing forward. I really think this is why wild success escapes so many. All my life I have heard, “You will succeed at whatever it is you choose to do.” And many would consider me successful by THEIR definition. I’ll tell you today I’m proud of what I accomplished in my life, and I wouldn’t yet call myself successful….by MY definition. So what is the mantra for 2009?
Slight edge decisions, pushing myself farther than I thought possible. Identifying that point of hesitation and pushing just a bit more. On a much grander scale and deeper level, who knows if I will be around one year, five years or twenty years. I need to treat every day like it could be my last…Writing that eulogy and ensuring that those around me would say those things about me. Truly understanding that if I feel comfortable, I’m not giving my all at home or at the office.
Join me in making 2009 the best year ever…. ½ inch at a time. Make sure you have someone in your life that will ask you to rise up just a bit more, into that land of the unknown, the land where wild success is created.
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Team Leader | CEO
Keller Williams Realty Madison Crossroads
Have a very Happy Holiday
#’s
0 Appointments
22 Contacts
1 Appt Booked
1 Cancelled
0 Joined
0 Maybes
0 Undecided
Christmas greetings complete : )
“Snow day” (read entire article)
I write today during the gap that was my “Shift Book Club”, you see, we were just pounded with Thundersnow which after some research seems to only happen in .07% of all snow occurrences. Meaning an overwhelming amount of the white fluffy precipitation has buried the Madison, WI area in the last 18 hours. One of our closing officers and I are the only individuals that have made it into the office, in hindsight… cocoa at home in front of the fire is a much better option.
Yesterday was our quarterly Leadership Summit for the top 20% of KW agents and their guests. These events are always valuable and are meant to create synergy and high performance for the best of our best. They are also a way for Darren Kittleson our Operating Principal and Designated Broker to give back to the agents that do so much for our company. We obviously have had four of these events in 2008, so what made this leadership summit unique.. something that has compelled me to write…..keep reading.
This leadership summit was about coaching, and thinking and for me personally it was about raising the bar. We have heard Zig Ziglar say, “Get rid of that stinkin’ thinkin’ and give yourself a checkup from the neck up”. I know I have heard that thousands of times in my iPod either flying or jogging it has been programmed in my head. Did I really know what it meant? Sure… but at what level? I have written about this many times… you hear it, you understand it, but do you let simple concepts even complex ones impact our life? The resounding answer is YES, however Susan Scott would tell you the “ground truth” is no, plain and simple. Let’s take positive thinking, how long have I been a student of that? Five years! How long ago did I truly understand what it meant on a deep enough level to impact my life…yesterday! One single defining moment, not for a person, an office or a firm, but for an industry.
Darren Kittleson entered into Frame of Mind coaching, a ten week coaching and guided journaling program based on assessing your current thinking and trading up to more positive thought. This has obviously had an overwhelming impact on Darren’s life as there were numerous comments from guests regarding his improved mood, approachability and if you look at him you can tell he is having fun in life. Darren’s coach was live with us yesterday via conference call and speaker phone and actually had Darren share some of his journal with the group and do a live “mini-coaching” session in front of us…. As Darren started to share his journal…no, that makes it sound far less powerful than this experience truly was for myself and forty others in the room. Darren bared his soul, essentially becoming naked (not literally) in front of a room of his business partners, friends and even strangers. Darren shared one of what has to be his most personal stories with us that day, and truly lead by example. Not only was this a story, every meticulous detail that Darren recalled of this personal experience was paired with his corresponding emotion. The mood in the room was different in so many ways from uncomfortable to inspiring, for me it was a bit of discomfort, but overwhelming envy… I wondered why I felt that way… I didn’t feel discomfort because of the content of the story, but the concept… baring your soul in front of so many. Darren’s coach addressed this later, letting me know that exactly what I was feeling was solely because of how I thought. Envious, for many reasons, first I could not describe a single moment in my life with that much emotion, second, I have never had a moment in my life that was that genuine, not even with myself and third, I could not think of a moment in my life that defined me, I seem to flow from circumstance to circumstance and adapt, never have I LET a single moment impact me in such a way.
So what had Darren accomplished on Thursday, December 19th 2008…. He re-defined leadership. Opening up the deepest corners of his life and in turn has enriched the lives of those around him. Darren lead by example, seeing a needed change for himself and an industry… putting himself out there while creating that “first track” across the frozen lake for those to follow. This level of openness in a very powerful and successful man has raised the bar so high… I’m not sure I’ll ever reach it… and I will try. Moments like those on Thursday, December 19th were so many things, inspiring, honest, genuine, powerful, heartwarming…. more so than any….those moments are rare and I will never forget that day.
Darren thank you so much for an extraordinary day, a wonderful business relationship and the opportunity to build a legacy. I’m honored to be in business with you.
I’ll leave you with a closing thought….. not even knowing what Darren’s story was, how genuine is your life? What does your “About Me” page really tell me “About You”. Is it some glazed over, politically correct, very calculated elevator speech OR does it tell me who you are. Think about that for a moment…. Are you a clever wordsmith or the genuine article? I asked myself the same questions and I find myself conflicted…. What I can tell you is by sharing those things held close and not an embarrassing secret, but something personal that has affected you in a profound way, you cultivate relationships to the next level while creating an unbreakable bond.
Thanks for reading…..
Weeks #’s
55 Contacts
5 – 2 First time 3 2nd
Depending on how you count…. 3-6 Cancels
Yes to KW – 1
In Transition – 2
No to KW – 0
Still Need Work – 2
Joined – 1 Welcome aboard Diana Hause!
B2B Appts – 1
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge