Keller Williams - When 8 X 8 Doesn't Make 64.
A fundamental part of the Keller Williams training is the 8 x 8 campaign -" once a week, over eight weeks, you make a 'meaningful contact' . Eight 'touches' over eight weeks through a combination of text, calls, email and items of value."
That is part of their self-proclaimed 'world-class training' program.
Except that it isn't - world-class, that is.
It's stone-age thinking that has little place in the modern world of real estate.
It's not a formula that an agent can simply plug in to achieve the same result as other successful agents.
"A + B = C. Every single time.
But that no longer works.
"A + B does NOT always equal C.
At different times, in different contexts, for different people, A + B might equal X, or Y, or Z!
Think about it.
Is the way you talk to a 7 year old to persuade them to clean their room still going to work when they are 8? Or 9? Or 12?
Will it always work if they're super tired, or excited, or sick?
Probably not. Because there are tons of different factors involved that can effect the outcome.
Just plugging in the same actions again and again (or the same actions you see working for someone else) does not guarantee you'll see the success you want 100% of the time." - Brandon Lucero.
The factors involved in making 'meaningful contact' these days have moved on from when KW first thought up that impertinence. Attention spans have reduced ever shorter - 8 seconds at the last count.
"Hi, my name is Don from Keller Williams Realty. I'm calling to see if...."
Click!
Never mind, it's a numbers game. Every No is closer to a yes.
Except, again, it's not.
It's annoying more and more homeowners that didn't ask to have their busy lives interrupted by a stranger.
Eventually, those that can think for themselves will realize that pretty soon they're going to run out of prospects.
Real estate has always been systems, systems, systems. Transactional and remote. Taking the thinking-for-yourself option out of the equation.
There are only really three strategies in real estate.
Striving to 'Be the Winner'.
Be The Winner Agencies play a comparison game. They use words like "most-trusted, longest-standing , award-winning etc."
Using perceived status to convince and convert. Win some, lose some, move on. Chasing after anybody with a warm pulse.
But now there are two other options that are overtaking that seriously limited thinking.
Be the Best - not in terms of market share, but in relation to innovative technology. Making the customer experience and the agent experience even more acceptable. Virtual worlds, superior C.R.M systems, etc.
Incremental improvement is the name of their game. Best, unfortunately, is often temporary. Technology moves on and is copied by competitors.
But then, there's 'Be Different.'
The estate agencies that end up rewriting the rules of the game.
Refusing to countenance a discounted fee because it makes no sense.
Refusing to over-inflate a valuation for the same reason.
Refusing to manipulate a vendor, simply because they can.
They're not much different in what they do - just in how they do it.
With integrity and consideration.
Not much different in Why, either.
Financial rewards flowing as a result of a job well-done, as opposed to it being a primary driver.
Where they do substantially differ, though, is in Who they are.
Agents that embrace being different have the courage to be authentic. To stand out rather than fitting in. To be transparent in a world where every agent seeks refuge behind the 'mask' of a brand name.
Keller Williams is the brand chosen by agents who believe success is achieved by following a template. By agents who are seduced by the 'guarantee' that if they do this, they will achieve that. By agents who believe someone else has all the answers. By agents that believe they can be 'trained' to Be The Winner.
Let me be blunt.
If you aren't trying to be as radically different from other estate agencies as you possibly can, you're settling for a loser's life. Consciously, or unconsciously you are saying " I prefer to fit in. To hustle and grind my days, in an ever more desperate grab for market share."
KW have always tried to Be The Winner. Now, it's playing catch-up with tech-based eXp in trying to Be the Best.
Instead of creating the future, KW is chasing the future and it doesn't end well. They are trying to minimize any variation in their business model by insisting that "technology, and only technology is the future - Gary Keller"
There's no Difference, for them. All they can hope is that the world doesn't change all that fast and that they can still fool some of the people, some of the time.
Interruption marketing is fast being shunted to the sidelines. Spam filters, ad blockers and T.P.S Do Not Call lists are seeing to that. Which is why KW probably put so much emphasis on door-knocking. It's their last refuge.
Modern marketing first requires attention. Followed by enrollment, to engender trust. Finally, it requires permission. So that you don't have to start from scratch every time.
There's a new CEO at Keller Williams X, Karl Liebert. Time will tell if there's a change of philosophy and training ideas, but until then, it's sensible to question whether 8 x 8 really does add up.
Thanks for reading, as always.
Chris.
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