Reference no: EM133415010

Case: Keller Williams Invests in Training to become the Real Estate Company of choice. The vision of Keller Williams, the largest real estate franchise in North America, is to be the real estate company of choice for agents, franchisees, and customers. Keller Williams strives to train its agents better than any other company in the world so they can delight customers, build their businesses, and have financial success. Just as location is a key factor in attracting buyers to purchase a home or commercial property, training is a key reason for Keller Williams's ability to reach its business goals, which each year are based on increasing the number of agents, sales, and profitability. Keller Williams's CEO believes that training is critical for the company to attract new agents because it helps them quickly become productive, resulting in sales and commissions. For current agents the challenge is to provide training to increase their productivity. To reinforce the importance Keller Williams places on training, all top executives teach at various field locations. Keller Williams's commitment to training and its role in the success of the business was recognized by its top ranking received in back-to-back years in training magazine's Top 125. The company earned the distinction of being ranked #1 in 2015 and 2017. Keller Williams has several different training programs that support agents and the business. Training involves both online and classroom instruction where learning occurs through interacting with instructors and coaching and opportunities for agents to collaborate, which helps them learn from each other by sharing knowledge and practices. For example, KW Connect makes training accessible anytime and anywhere. It includes user-generated content from more than 150,000 associates including videos, audio files, and links; a question and answer forum where agents can ask questions, receive answers, and rate the helpfulness of responses; a searchable calendar to register for instructor-led training classes; and a feature that allows associates to follow others, including executives, and receive notification when new content is posted. Managers can create customized training programs for new agents or other employee groups. One training video available on KW Connect has the top sales agents in the company compete against each other. Each top selling agent creates and uploads a short video explaining their approach to a real estate challenge. Other associates are invited to watch and rate the videos. The agent with the highest evaluation moves on to compete against another agent in a new real estate challenge. KW Connect has made it possible for associates to watch more than 624 hours of training on an average day. Business Objective: A Life By Design (BOLD) is a seven-week training program during which agents are taught mindset exercises, language techniques, and how to participate in lead generation activities. The course focuses on personal well-being as well as business skills.
During some classes in the program agents engage in "real play," calling customers with instructors providing guidance and support. This allows the agents to generate business while learning. BOLD graduates have increased sales volumes by 80 percent, closed sales by 86 percent, and commissions by 118 percent compared to agents who haven't taken the program. Mega Agent Expansion (MAE) helps top-performing agents understand how and when to expand into new markets. MAE includes instructor-led classes, webinars, expert interviews, productivity resources, and coaching. The program helps participants understand all aspects of expanding their business, including how to centralize lead generation and administration and develop a workable business plan. They have access to a social media network for learning and sharing as well as monthly opportunities to ask questions of Keller Williams's top expansion agents. Growth Initiative (GI) is a distant learning and consulting program that trains managers how to effectively recruit and retain agents. The program includes weekly one-hour seminars, requires managers to make two recruiting appointments each day, five days a week, and helps managers share best practices through an online community and a dedicated Facebook page. In addition to its training programs, Keller Williams invested in building a training and education center at its corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas. The center manages all aspects of learning and develops new courses, learning tools, and videos.

Keller Williams doesn't just invest time and money into training; it also takes steps to assure its effectiveness. To keep training standards high and improve learning, every trainer and instructor must take several "Train the Trainer" courses before they can teach any courses. It analyzes what top agents are doing and how they are doing it and then incorporates this into training programs so all associates can benefit. In all of its training, dedicated time is provided for associates to develop action plans that specify how they plan to use what they learned in their work. Every agent is encouraged to join one of the coaching programs Keller Williams offers to help them put into practice what they learned to improve their productivity. Each week they have the opportunity to participate in a coaching call led by a top executive. Different types of evaluation data are collected and shared with agents and managers. Because all training is voluntary, one measure of its value is participation. This includes tracking how much time employees spend in training (an average of 82 hours per person of formal, planned training) and the number of employees and franchisees trained each year in instructor-led (100,000) and online (26,000) courses. The return on investment (ROI) of many courses is calculated. For example, BOLD costs $799 per student but the average agent who participates in the course earns an additional $55,000 for the year. Keller Williams also tracks metrics such as the average days a property is on the market. The average days on the market for Keller Williams is lower than for its competitors, providing evidence that training is helping agents close deals quicker and provide better service. The company anticipates it will continue to grow at a rapid pace but recognizes that real estate is a local business based on agents and their relationships. Keller Williams views training as a key to creating value for the business, its associates, and their clients. Since 2013 the number of homes bought or sold with a Keller Williams agent has doubled. This has meant financial success for both agents and the company. For example, agent commissions have increased 150 percent.

Questions

1. In one paragraph, using no more than 3 lines, describe Keller Williams Business strategy.

2. Using numbered bullets; describe how the Keller Williams company executes its strategy