Thread: Best training

Originally Posted by CAROLRN

Hello,
I've seen comments about Coldwell Banker, Remax, and Keller Williams. Who has the best post license training?
Whats he difference in their split and what do they offer toward marketing?
They each have diffferent pre licensing training recommendations, so I thought it may be best to do this research now. Any ideas?
C

I have been in the mortgage industry for a while now, and I can say that out of the many Real Estate Agencies that I work with, I love how Keller Williams operates. Just my opinion on that.

A good training is not in the name, it's in the broker.
You may go to RE/max or CB or KW and get tons of documentation on how to do this and to do that. And you'll never make it.
And then, you may go with abc broker who will take you by the hand and show you real life dealing...with no brochure whatsoever...

This is a very common misconception, that the training lies in the franchise. The truth is that all franchises offer a canned training package that can be offered by the broker to the agents.That doesn't mean it will be because all of these offices are individually owned and operated. I used to be the GM for an NYC Coldwell Banker and I discarded the canned training altogether. I worked with each one of my agents one-on-one and trained them based on their particular needs, strengths, weaknesses, personality, and experiences. I offered group training classes twice a week, one for new agents and one for experienced although either agent was welcome to attend either session. I went on listing appointments withem, made calls with them, helped them with their marketing materials, basically everything. I don't like canned training because every agent is different and so are their needs. Not to mention everyone has their own learning style and so the delivery needs to be tailored to the agent as well.

Don't focus on the franchise and not even necessarily on the broker (although having a supportive and fair broker is very important too), focus on the sales manager who will be your main contact and support in the office.

Now another thing to consider is what they offer and what they expect.

Coldwell Banker generally has a fairly average split and the broker will usually provide you with some support and marketing but Coldwell Banker charges for a lot of their materials. No fees though.

Re/Max usually has a couple of different programs: one with a high split 95% for instance but a high desk fee... close to $700 per month and another one that has a lower split with a lower fee and then once you're annual fees are met, you can go to the higher split. The broker usually provides you with nothing and this is generally the choice of more experienced agents that are happy on their own and just want a higher commission split.

Keller Williams requires their sales managers to meet recruiting quotas so you can't look to them for a lot of one-on-one. They offer a lot of group training, teleconference training calls, etc. The agents are very supportive of each other though which is great. That stems from the mentoring program in KW which pays the agents for recruiting others into the company. That is really the big KW pull however I have found few KW agents that are as successful with it as they'd like to be. Exit and Avalar have similar programs although I happen to be partial to Avalar of the three that offer that recruitment bonus.

Only you can determine which kind of office is the best fit... they all have positives and negatives... depending upon what is most important to you.

Hope that helps...

-Angela

As a former Coldwell Banker agent and KW agent for the past 6 years, I can confidently say that KW has the best training. What makes the training so special here, is that there is a real incentive for the agents to share ideas, so our training classes are typically led by the most successful agents in our offices.

Since KW is a profit sharing company, the agents are treated as partners. Our philosophy is TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More! At traditional real estate companies, the company's prime directive is the promotion of the company's brand. Agents at these traditional companies, are made to believe that customers will want to work with them because of the reputation and brand recognition of the company.

At KW, we understand that the agent is the reason we do business, not the other way around. We believe that the agent is the brand of recognition and the company is brand of reputation...not the other way around. When I left Coldwell Banker for KW, I took all of my relationships and clients with me. I am the reason I do business not the company I work for.

As a result of this philosophy, KW does not spend millions of dollars a year marketing the KW brand to the consumers, but rather, we invest that money in our agents, with the best training, education, support and technology. Combined that with the fact that our top agents are the ones teaching the classes and sharing their ideas and models, the result is by far the best training and education in the industry.

Check out the link to our real estate agent training and support blog. This will give a real sense of the scope of our training and our culture of sharing. Good luck.

KW Real Estate Agent Training, Education & Support

The training you get from any firm is generic. I don't think that anyone should start a sales career without a TRUELY UNIQUE value proposition for their clients.

Ask youself what can you do better than the thousands of other agents in your area. (being nice and a pretty Glamour shot pic - is not going to do it).

Find a niche. Probate is a wonderful niche.

Be creative!

I like the small locally owned and operated company I am with. Training is hands on with the broker and one of the other experienced agents. But I can get loads of training thru NAR, SCAR, my local MLS, the local RE investor group I belong to or I can pay for training elsewhere.

I always find it interesting how we always say the company we work for is best, I think it would mean more if you said I used to work for ABC Real Estate but had to move to another area. Now I work for XYZ Real Estate. The advantages of ABC vs XYZ are blah blah blah. I did work for a national corporate company and there were no advantages for me, but other big name companies may offer something I don't see or wasn't told about when interviewing different brokers to work for. The attitude of big name company agents is also a turn off to me, I do not like egomaniacs.

I based my decisiion on where to hang my hat on the personality of the broker, the reputation of the company for treating customers, clients and even other agents/companies fairly and not just ethically but as good as they can! I didn't get into RE to become a millionaire- I did it to stop working for corporations that don't care about me. Think about the last HR person you dealt with in the corporate world. You are a number, a machine they use to make money, nothing more.

But to me, IMHO the small independents are better than the super huge corporate RE companies. We all know how good corporations are for the average American. Small companies may offer services/business plans the other ones can't or won't.

Of course my dislike of Corporate America is a big part of my decision/opinion.