In my past, growing up working in the school libraries, joining the band, joinging the Chess club and getting interested in computers in 1979, when they came to our high school, I admit I'm both a Geek and a Nerd!

My wife convinced me to quit wearing polyester pants and white shirts.  At age 25, I bought my first pair of jeans, and at age 28 my first pair of shorts to wear outside of a swimming pool.

Two Bachelor's degrees and an MBA later, I've become someone that my peers look to for advice in Real Estate.  I'd like to know how many other former band geeks and computer nerds there are out there.  To prove my credentials, I'm still in a community band and I build and program computers as a hobby.

If you're a Geek or Nerd who has found salvation in real estate, please tell us your story!

I'm an Associate Broker for a major company and I see a problem that many agents have - how to generate leads.  I know that there are many companies out there offering to sell leads to us, and I also know from experience that we can all do a better job than these companies, IF we have to.

  I'd like to know if there's an interest in having a team of full-time professional Realtors do the propecting for you.  The companies that sell us leads all have one thing in common: They get their leads off of the Internet.  Up Front, I can't spend milllions of dollars doing this.  What I can do is spend my time making phone calls, mailing flyers and postcards, knocking on doors, running ads, etc. In specific markets where clients need leads.

 If you think you'd be interested in such a service, please reply to this posting with your thoughts.

I spend 3 hours a day either making phone calls or knocking on doors, bu I don't do it regularly enough, so I've gotten a partner.  Together we'll practice scripts, role play and prospect for 3 hours every day.

So how much time do you spend prospecting?

Labor Day weekend is upon us (bummer, that means Summer's almost over). Are you working or are you taking the weekend off? I asked this question in our last team meeting and over 1/2 of the office was taking the entire weekend off.

I'm doing an open house on Sunday, but I am taking Saturday off. How about you?

I'm an Associate Broker at a Keller Williams Office. I can't hold back from talking about this fantastic company! If you've ever had questions about us, or you've heard rumors you want to check out, ASK ME!  But I warn you - I interviewed 9 other brokerages before enterring the field and I've spend one year at a traditional real estate company and 1 year at an online brokerage, so I have a background to stand on.

I really enjoy sharing the truth, so ASK ME!  anything goes.

I'm just curious how many agents know the difference between active and passive prospecting.  Making cold calls is one example of active prospecting and Floor time is an example of passive prospecting.

Can you name other active and passive prospecting techniques?

I recently posted the following blog and I just wanted to say THANK YOU to Active Rain and to all of you who responded.  I am extremely passionate about Keller Williams and I can't say enough about it.  In case you missed it, we're still running the contest, so please call me!  Here's my post:

There are lots of ways to do this that are much more subtle, soft-sell and time-consuming, but I have always felt honesty is the best policy, so here it is...

I'm looking for agents who want to take their business to the next level but find themselves stuck or unsure how to do it.  I'm looking for agents who are open to looking at an alternative.  The alternative I'm talking about is Keller Williams Realty.

Now I know what the rumors are; the pyramid scheme or Amway mentality, high fees, the corporate kool-aid and teams.  All I can say is I've worked with two other brokerages and I've never found a place better than Keller Williams.

Take this morning as an example.  Our Agent Leadership Council (Keller Williams offices are run by agents who make all decisions) invited all of us to Canyons, a local restaurant for a meeting. Now we can always go to the ALC meetings and participate, but this was a special invitation.

My office fees amount to a whopping $32.50 per month but I receive an unlimited amount of training and support for free. And while I do pay five cents for copies, I get 100 for free each month.

The Amway rumor comes from our recruiting efforts. KW has implemented an employee referral program. Like other employee referral programs, where if you refer a friend or acquaintance who becomes an employee the company rewards you, KW is no different.  The difference is we don't have many employees because as you already know, Real Estate agents are Independent Contractors.  So instead of a check at the end of x period of time, we include you in the monthly profit sharing checks when you've referred someone. Just like any other employee referral program, you're encouraged to participate, but it isn't mandatory, and no one is going to force you.

Where do the monthly profit sharing checks come from?  Well, like any other brokerage, you begin each year at a split between you and the Broker, to a certain level we call a "CAP"

I begin each year at a 70/30 split (that's 70% of each commission goes to me). I will pay 30% of each commission until I pay in $18,000. At that point I reach 100%. Now that may differ by office, but it gives you an idea of where the profits come from.  That 30% goes to run the business and a portion goes into profit sharing. As I refer agents (employees), I get to take part in the profit sharing (vs a single monetary reward).

The Kool-aid.  I don't know about this one.  I guess if you believe in education, family values and a customer service attitude you've drunk the Kool-aid.  That is our philosophy and unlike any corporation I ever worked in, we are held accountable to it.  If I do something that's not in keeping with our philosophy, I am told about it and there's no question.  Then I am supported to follow the philosophy again.  We don't scold and leave alone.  If you make a mistake, you're informed, counselled and supported so you don't repeat it. 

Teams. Traditionally, real estate agents were only listing agents. Then came the advent of the Buyer's agent. Now Realtors were forced to do both. Add to that all of the marketing, Internet, Back Office, Lender follow up, Title follow up, etc. and soon the traditional agent was swamped.  Soon thereafter our reputation as professionals began to suffer.  Today, we're viewed somewhere between used car salespeople and vampire bats. Our reputation has been destroyed. If you don't think so , ask yourself, how much of your listing presentation is given over to convincing prospects of your value? Do MD's or lawyers do this?  Why should we?

That's part of the reason Keller Williams is all about teaming.  We know some agents are better at listings and some are better at working with buyers.  Some people prefer to do paperwork and some people prefer to work on the web site all day.  One person can rarely be an expert in every part of real estate.  We specialize. While we will sometimes be both a listing and buyer's agent, we build teams to do both.

I will say that not everyone will fit in our culture.  We're all about agent support, accountability and customer service.  We believe in teaching our agents to be in business. We believe in supporting each other and our community.  We know that some agents want to remain alone or just do a little business each year.  If that's you, that's fine, but you won't enjoy working with us.

This month, like most months, we have a contest going.  Normally we compete on teams for the most numbers of units sold, listed, buyers signed, etc.  But right now I'm in a brand new office.  It's only a few months old.  So we're recruiting agents. I want my team to win.  Whether we do or not, our company wins because we get a bunch of new agents.

I have an MBA, I'm spiritually a Christian and I'm a husband and father, friend and musician.  I'm a computer nerd with a degree in computer programming, a former Human Resources Consultant with 22 years in the field and I say beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is the best company I've ever worked for!!!!!

I don't mean to be pushy. I won't tell you that I won't be excited if you and I talk about KW, but it really isn't about the profit sharing (although I admit I like passive income!) I am a TRUE believer. I originally entered the field of Human Resources in 1980 because I was business-minded and I wanted to help people and solve problems.  If you're not satisfied where you are (and remember - KW training if free to EVERY agent. They are the same classes we teach our agents - not recruiting events) if you're not satisfied, you owe it to yourself to look at alternatives.  You may never leave your current broker. Remember I said KW isn't for everyone. At worst, you've made a new friend and at best you decide to become part of the best company in the business.

 If you're interested in knowing more, wherever you live, I'm asking you to give me a call or email.  My purpose for asking you to contact me is so I can locate the local Team Leader and have that person give you a call.  Team Leaders are agents chosen to convey exactly what we're about in an organized way (vs my rambling enthusiasm!)

My name is Jay Sunderland.  My phone is available at my web site (Active Rain doesn't want us to give our contact information out). MY web site is http://jaysunderland.point2agent.com/ or http://www.kw.com/.

If you contact me and you eventually become an KW agent, I am rewarded and my team may win our contest, but more importantly, you may finally learn to reach the goals you set for yourself.  I can't speak for my team, but I am grateful to anyone I sponsor and I reward with scripts, books, techniques, etc., to ensure you're successful.

 By the way, if you're a KW agent anywhere in the country and you see this posting, please feel free to chime in!