Sometimes it’s true
We all get disappointed. We expect one thing and get something else. Something less. That is the core of disappointment. I have become fairly skeptical in my old age.
Yesterday I got a phone call. It was an out of area number and when I picked up it was silent…….. Hello??
Yes, it was a telemarketer. He came on pretending to be someone he wasn’t and he was on his script. I was tired so let’s just say the call did not go as the telemarketer had hoped.
When my phone rings I expect it to be someone calling on one of my listings or a client needing something I can help with, not someone pretending to be a friend or customer who simply wants my debit card number so he can get some of my money. I used a trick I was taught by my friend Michael Todd. Check it out. It works.
So where am I going with this? I want to share a story about the company I work with. I have been with Keller Williams over 11 years now and I choose to be in business with them. I say it like that because I am an independent contractor. Most real estate agents and associate brokers are so that is not unusual. What is unusual is to find a company that is as real as they say they are. We call it culture. It’s how we agree to treat each other in business and personally. Some outside call it Kool-Aid but that is just because they don’t understand. Maybe I can fix that for a few here.
A couple of years ago there was a big deal in Iowa between a local real estate company and a brand new franchise of Keller Williams starting up in that local market. I’m not going to dig into the problems between the two but the situation was that the local company decided they didn’t want to share the commission earned with the KW agents. That commission is typically shared 50/50 between the listing broker and the selling broker. It’s how we use the MLS and run our businesses.
Instead of the 50/50 split, the local company said they would pay $1 to any KW agent that sold one of their listings. Not fair but apparently legal. It has been challenged and found to be legal.
So the KW agent has to make a decision. Do they show a listing they will be paid $1 on or do they show something else? What if that house is the perfect one for their buyer? Now what? As it turns out the KW agents did the right thing and showed whatever listing was best for their buyer and if it turned out to be a $1 commission check, so be it.
Commendable but that is not the best part of the story.
Keller Williams International found out about it and got involved but since it was legal, there was little they could do going down that path. They took a different path. At our national convention we call Family Reunion, Mo Anderson made an announcement about it and she asked for us as agents to help. What she did was put out a call for donations to make those agents ‘whole’ on the deals. To be paid an amount equal to a 3% commission from funds raised at that event in that moment.
We raised over $100,000 in about 10 minutes and Mo delivered those funds to the franchise in Iowa. As a result of that event we started something called the KW Familly Fund to which we all contribute for other situations that might come up. To protect our agents when things like this happen. It’s not even tax deductible. It’s just something we do. Those agents in Iowa may still be battling over this but because of the culture of our company, they are able to care for their clients and still maintain a viable business.
This is one reason I am here and I will stay here for as long as I am in this business. Sometimes it’s true and we are not disappointed. If you are working for someone who disappoints you, call me. Maybe we can help.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578 Cell