KW fights back against sluggish market

When I started covering the residential real estate business back in the late 1990s, real estate agents had a lot to celebrate. Their conventions – held both by brokerages and the associations that serve them – were fun affairs. Agents looked thrilled to be selling homes, and with residnetial sales skyrocketing and their commisions soaring, why wouldn’t they be?

That’s all changed, of course. Home sales are down. Foreclosures are up. And agents’ yearly salaries are certainly taking a hit. Now that the residential market has taken a serious downturn, what would those formerly freewheeling and fun annual conventions be like now?

Well, I needn’t wonder. Keller Williams Realty, one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages, has provided the definitive blueprint for the down-market real estate conference. The company has transformed its annual convention – dubbed, for some reason, Family Reunion – into one focusing entirely on how agents can survive the current sluggish real estate market.

Topics to be covered include:

1. Creating a sense of urgency in buyers
2. Getting more done with less people
3. Expense management for solo agents and teams
4. Lead generation in a shifted market
5. Being an opportunity warrior: Role of the agent as lead converter

Now, I have no idea what an opportunity warrior is, but Keller Williams is making a smart move here. The market has shifted, and looks to remain challenging throughout 2008. Real estate companies need to provide their agents with coping mechanisms.

In the same spirit, Keller Williams has also launched what it is calling Operation Heart to Heart 2, a company wide campaign to help its agents deal with the current residential market. Odd name aside, the program is also a sound move: It includes new Web sites and portals filled with information and strategies to help agents navigate through what, for many, is their first challenging market.

You can check out Keller Williams’ new sites here and here.

Some of this may sound corny, but at least Keller Williams is helping its agents. Too many real estate companies have thrown poorly trained Realtors to the market’s whims. That’s no way to survive a serious residential downturn.