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A lot of things have changed since Keller Williams’ 2022 Mega Agent Camp.
The volatile rise in interest rates thrust the market further into a tailspin, with skittish would-be homesellers exacerbating inventory shortages and homebuyers struggling to work past booming borrowing and purchasing costs. The industry’s biggest brands felt the sting, with Keller Williams, in particular, experiencing double-digit transaction and sales volume declines into the first quarter of 2023.
Despite the ups and downs of an unpredictable market, Keller Williams President Marc King is confident about the brokerage’s trajectory as it descends on Austin, Texas, for this year’s Mega Agent Camp. Over the next two days, King said leaders have a power-packed agenda filled with practical advice on lead generation and conversion, nurturing a client database and other skills crucial to being a successful agent.
“The market that we came from was a speed-based market. We have the stats to show the percentage of business won by the first or second agent involved with a consumer,” he said. “But now we are in a skills-based market.”
Although King said he’s excited to get into the nuts and bolts of the business, he’s equally excited to help Keller Williams agents and brokers tap into their humanity — something he said is key to becoming clients’ trusted fiduciaries.
“The fundamentals of this business — being the fiduciary of the transaction and making sure you’re taking care of your clients first — are always going to be a value add in this industry,” he said. “Building your database and being more human with that database, being in contact more often and being there to service any real estate need for people.”
Inman: What are you excited about for this year’s Mega Agent Camp? What are you looking forward to?
King: This is a chance to get together with 7,500 to 9,000 family members and friends from all over the globe. It’s really a family reunion in the literal sense of the word. Watching all of the great work that Gary and Jason [Abrams] and Jay [Papasan] and Ruben Gonzalez have all put into this is really exciting — all of the different presentations, all the authors we’ve invited and the agent team interviews. It’s our second-largest annual training event in the year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the second-largest training event in the entire industry.
Gary and the team always have interesting insights during the State of the Housing Market presentation, so I’m looking forward to that as well. I’ve spent the last six weeks reporting about the summer housing market, and what I’ve heard from agents is how hard it is to get a handle on what’s happening — as soon as they figure it out, the market throws another curveball.
What’s the feedback you’ve been getting from agents this summer? How are KW leaders thinking about the market? What are you anticipating will come ahead?
No doubt we have some challenging headwinds in our industry right now. I think the thing that’s cool about working here with Gary, especially as we all talk to agents every day and leaders in the field every day, we feel like we have great insight into what’s going on on the ground.
We hear all those things every single day, I can give you all the things that everybody’s going to report — like inventory is still low and interest rates have caused some challenges. The real estate industry and market have been resilient throughout all the turns. We’re 40 years old; we’ve seen a lot of this.
There are some definite headwinds for agents. That’s why we lean so heavily into training and education and why having Gary as the thought leader really helps us. He has been doing this for 40-plus years and he’s seen that people still buy houses for the reasons they buy houses, and not all of them have to do with interest rates. In one of the last reports I read, I saw that 33 percent of buyers are paying cash right now. So they’re not impacted by the interest rate conversation.
So as we get into what agents should do, I’m really also excited about the playbooks that we’re pumping out to help them in real-time navigate this challenging market.
What playbooks are you sharing? A lot of conversations seem to concentrate on recruiting and retention, creative ways to drum up business or maintaining a healthy mindset.
The market that we came from was a speed-based market. We have the stats to show the percentage of business won by the first or second agent involved with a consumer. But now we are in a skills-based market, so these playbooks represent the agents who are winning in real-time across the country and across the globe.
It’s documenting what they do step by step, and it’s putting that content out so other people can benefit from things that are working and just as importantly, things that aren’t. So you’re going to see a lot of playbooks at Mega Camp.
I’ll go back to Gary Keller and Jay Pappasan’s book, Shift. That book is as relevant today as it was in 2008, although there are clearly some differences from 2008. But the tactics are just as valuable.
The fundamentals of this business — being the fiduciary of the transaction and making sure you’re taking care of your clients first — are always going to be a value add in this industry: Building your database, being more human with that database, being in contact more often and being there to service any real estate need for people.
In 2021, 6.1 million houses were sold in the United States. In 2023, we’re likely going to be somewhere around 4 million. So there are still 4 million people moving and it’s for all the reasons that people move. It’s people still getting married. It’s people that are raising families and it’s people getting job transfers; things that have nothing to do with interest rates.
Now absolutely interest rates affect what those people buy and how they buy, so one of the playbooks that I’m really proud of from this organization is all about financing and helping buyers navigate difficult interest rates.
Like you said, the past few years have been about speed. I can’t tell you the number of agent anecdotes about homes being listed and sold within 24 hours. So agents didn’t need to do a lot of marketing work, staging or other things that usually come with selling a home. What are some of the specific skills that agents need to pick back up on right now?
I’m really glad you asked that question, because I think this is one of the most misunderstood things in the industry. I think people will immediately go to, ‘What conversations are you having? And what are the special words that you use and all those things?’
I think the skills that I’m talking about right now are having been through difficult times, being able to consult and sometimes console your clients that the world has changed and your house may not be worth what you thought it was. Or you may have to pick a different house to fit your budget today based on what prices are doing and the inventory available.
It’s the skill of being a true fiduciary. It’s truly looking out for your clients and being the best possible representative that you can be.
And as you have illustrated perfectly, it’s a different skill set to, you know, put a house on the market on Friday and have multiple offers on Saturday and just pick which offer you’re gonna accept on Monday, right? And so, all the skills that go along with being a better fiduciary are the skills I’m referring to, right? It’s having a great database, it’s taking care of your clients, educating your clients at the highest level and it’s communicating at a whole different level.
In this industry, especially right now, there are a lot of experts out there and a lot of confusing messages. So having that person who can help you navigate the noise is really, I think the biggest value we provide.
Yes, leaders throughout the industry have done a great job leading their teams through the past few years and helping them cut through the noise. Just like agents must shift, how must leaders shift? What messages do agents need to hear now? What help do they need?
I don’t think I’ve seen a more challenging time for leaders, from the pandemic to some of the social unrest and inequities, to some of the interest rate hikes and all of the different things that we’ve led through. I would say this time has taught me to have more grace. It’s going back to being more human.
It’s not much different from the agent — as a leader, you are a fiduciary as well for your real estate agents. It’s about embracing them and making sure you’re helping in every way you can and being a servant leader.
I will tell you — and this isn’t probably what I would love printed in an article — I’ve had a conversation with my own family saying, ‘Look, it’s a hard season and we’ve got to help people more today than ever before. We’re gonna give it all we got, and just know that might have to work a little bit more right now.’
There are so many people that need help navigating this, and I think it’s about saying we’re gonna solve this together. We’re gonna lock arm in arm and get this done. It’s about spending more time being more human and helping people at a higher level than maybe we’ve ever been challenged to do.
Thanks for that transparency. I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t had to sacrifice a bit of their personal life at times to hit goals. Hopefully, you’ll be able to have more family time soon. So as you think about this week, what are the top things you want attendees to walk away with?
Well, from a logical perspective, it’s about lead generation and lead conversion. Those are the buzzwords you hope everybody leaves with and is able to empower their businesses and have more leads and do more transactions.
In an existential answer, I would say I want them to leave with hope. Hope that if they do the right things, they follow the systems and models that Gary has built — I mean, Gary is the model-maker of our industry — they’ll be successful. What Gary does is not just random thoughts. He does the work and the research, and that’s why so many people talk about the legendary work ethic that happens before these big events.
Although I work with him every day, I’ll be one of the biggest fans sitting in the crowd listening to him, Jason, Jay and others talk about the industry. It’s our sport and we love it.
But I want agents to walk away going, ‘Look, I understand what the market is doing, I’m gonna get real about what we’re living in, and I’m gonna get my business right. I’m gonna control my expenses, I’m going to take the actions I know I need to take, and then I have nothing but hope for the future. I’m gonna grow my business, regardless of what the market is doing.’
