Founded in 1983, Keller Williams® Realty Inc. is an international real estate company with more than 600 offices located across the United States and Canada. Keller Williams Realty began franchising its offices in 1991, and following years of phenomenal growth and success, the company is currently the fourth-largest U.S. residential real estate firm in North America. The company has succeeded by treating its 72,000-plus associates as partners and shares its knowledge, policy control, and company profits on a system-wide basis.
Keller Williams Realty is founded on an “agents as partners” business model. Agents and staff have access to the company’s financial reports, share in up to 50 percent of company profits, and have a say in all decisions. Most real estate companies operate on a dependent model where the broker provides leads to sales people and then offers them a commission, or they operate on an independent model where agents receive minimal support from the broker but keep more of the commission. In contrast to these traditional models, the Keller Williams Realty model fosters a synergistic environment where both parties succeed through teamwork. This model encourages agents and brokers to share their best practices with each other and rewards associates who bring others into the company. It is these industry-changing philosophies that have rocketed Keller Williams Realty past older, more established companies to claim a top-five spot in the real estate industry.
Even today, as Keller Williams Realty grows, the founding philosophies of the company stay the same.
