Twenty year Re/Max veteran and top producer leaves, joins Keller Williams Realty

Every now and again I like to brag on the wonderful company I work with. Here’s an article just released yesterday from Keller Williams Realty’s international headquarters in Austin, Texas. Enjoy!

Top Ranked Franchisee Joins Keller Williams Realty

Joe Rothchild to lead Keller Williams Signature in Houston, Texas

AUSTIN, TEXAS (April 12, 2010) — Keller Williams® Realty Inc. announced today that Joe Rothchild, formerly a top ranked Re/Max franchisee and the leader of Houston’s #1 selling real estate team in dollar volume and number of closed transactions in 2009 (Houston Business Journal, March 2010), is now at the helm of the Keller Williams Signature office in Houston, Texas. The Joe Rothchild Team closed 779 transactions for $155 million in volume last year.

“Keller Williams Realty has shown that their model can adapt to any market, which was one of the driving forces in my decision,” said Rothchild, who has left Re/Max after 20 years as a franchisee. “I have been researching and contemplating for more than two years, and I discovered that I needed to reinvent my business to revitalize it. We were implementing some of the same philosophies and mirroring the Keller Williams system, so finally, one day we said…why reinvent the wheel? And, the answer was clear.”

Rothchild added, “KW’s philosophy of putting agents and ownership on the same side of the table and training on the most critical issues facing us in today’s market were also incredibly important to us.”

“We are thrilled to be in business with a talent like Joe. For the last 15 years, Joe has been one of the top 10 teams in Re/Max, and was number one worldwide for three years in a row! When a top franchisee from one of our competitors chooses to join us, we consider it a true honor and confirmation that we have unbelievable momentum behind our growth,” said Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty.

Many of Rothchild’s current associates will be joining him at the Keller Williams Signature office. Among them, Dale Ross, an industry veteran with 29-years of experience under his belt, 25 of which have been with Re/Max. “When I factored in the Keller Williams Realty systems, training and support, and realized it was the place I needed to be,” said Ross.

This announcement comes on the heels of a year of positive growth for Keller Williams Realty throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company outpaced the downward trend in the real estate market and grew in every category – opening 30 new franchises, ending the year with a 16 percent year-over-year increase in the number of contracts closed per agent and more than 76,879 associates across North America (up three percent). In addition, the company gave back more than $32.2 million in profit share to its agents.

In addition to recently becoming the 3rd largest real estate company in the U.S., surpassing Re/Max, according to Steve Murray at REAL Trends, Keller Williams Realty received the highest overall satisfaction ratings from home buyers among the largest full-service real estate firms from J.D. Power and Associates for the second year in a row, and was ranked as the No. 1 real estate franchise on the 31st Annual Franchise 500 list by Entrepreneur magazine.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Wondering why you’re paying so much money to your broker and are still not part of the 3rd largest real estate company in the United States? Wondering what Keller Williams has to offer? Give me a call! Email me at dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com and let’s chat! You can also follow me on Twitter, I’m @dannycharbel. See you at the top!

Seth Says: Good Guys Finish

This post is based on Seth Godin’s post “Good guys finish”. Follow the link to Seth’s blog.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/01/good-guys-finis.html

Seth and I don’t agree on everything, but I definitely agree with him on this point. Good business is good business.

I’ve had my fair share (some would say I’ve had their fair share, too) of shady goings on. Banks that foreclosed on property and sold it before it was listed to someone who worked for the bank and snatched it up (even while my client had an offer and earnest money waiting), clients who signed a representation agreement and went with a Realtor friend at the last minute after I had showed them houses, and Realtors who think they can get away with under-handed deals and sneaky commission tactics.

To all those people: what goes around comes around.

I pride myself on having built a business that is straightforward, honest, and full of integrity. I provide cutthroat real estate service to my clients, sacrificing no negotiation nor costing my clients any unnecessary fees, yet deal in an honest and upright manner.

This isn’t difficult. There is a code of conduct that Keller Williams subscribes to and upholds, and there are ethics that the State of Texas says Realtors have to uphold. So in case your own personal ethics aren’t to par, you can at least fall back on a predetermined set of them from somewhere else.

I suppose there will always be sneaky and underhanded real estate agents. Those are the guys (and gals) that just make me look good.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Convinced? Been swindled? Need to complain? Email me at dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com.

Branding: your business cards

First let’s get one thing straight: if it’s on paper, it’s old, outdated, and probably unnecessary. That being said, business cards are one of the things that almost every industry still subscribes to (along with resumes) that are basically unnecessary.

But since it seems that people still want and use them, let’s talk about what’s wrong with the direction business cards have taken.

My biggest pet peeve, which is justified by Seth Godin’s article on the same subject, is the big cheesy picture on the front of your card. If this were a good idea, everyone would do it. If this were a good idea, top executives (Bill Gates, Donald Trump, etc.) would have their photos on their cards, too. If this were a good idea, the agents who have their pictures on their cards would no longer need to work because their picture on their business card has made them so much darn money and generated so much business that they no longer need business cards.

This is not the case. So I have to agree with Seth, and myself, and I have to say “Take your photo off your card.” That’s it.

Other suggestions? Non-traditional materials (plastic, different papers, metal, foil text treatments) make business cards pop. Put a little character into your cards. Really think about the audience you’re trying to attract and make that part of your card pop.

Don’t settle for mediocrity. You don’t want to be unique just like everyone else, you want to stand out in the minds of your clients and future clients. So do something about it.

Branding: Making a good impression great

Seth Godin is one of my favorite people to listen to. Although we don’t agree on everything, I can say that Seth has a wonderful perspective on life, money, marketing, branding, and just about everything else. Whether or not I agree with him is a horse of a different color.

On July 6th Seth wrote this blog post titled “Two Seconds” in which he discusses the difference in how a person would feel if you took just two seconds to complete the interaction.

Instead of being dismissive, end the conversation naturally. Instead of being curt, be courteous.

Many people don’t realize that branding begins with you. You are your own brand, and whether you’re in real estate, zoo-keeping, or software development, you have a brand. Promote your brand in a positive way, and as Seth says “you’ll be more productive.”