Training

SHIFT Tour Steels Real Estate Agents Against Tumultuous Market

Austin, TX | December 23, 2008

Keller Williams Realty seminar attracts more than 19,000 attendees

AUSTIN, TEXAS — December 23, 2008 — The SHIFT Tour, an instructive one-day seminar based on Gary Keller’s newest book, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, wrapped in December after touching down in 29 cities across North America. As the real estate industry face today’s increasingly bleak news of bailouts and the credit crunch, more than 19,600 came to hear Keller’s advice for building their business in a new market.   

The book SHIFT, written by Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman of Keller Williams Realty, along with co-authors Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan, is drawn from the experiences of hundreds of top performing agents and outlines 12 proven tactics to jump-start a real estate business in tough times. Specifically written for this real estate market, the book stresses expense management and lead generation – tactics that can go overlooked during good times. 

“This is simply the most challenging real estate market on record,” says Suman Olney, director of research for Keller Williams Realty. “Since the National Association of REALTORS® began tracking numbers on a national level in 1968, average home prices had gone up year over year for 39 straight years. Now, we’re on pace for two consecutive years of national home price declines.” 

“We are committed to supporting our associates at the highest level during this market,” said Keller. “As I toured the country I saw renewed energy in the faces of every real estate agent I met. I firmly believe that by adopting the tactics of SHIFT, agents can master this market and build a business that thrives during any market.” 

Despite the market conditions, agents are finding ways to refocus their business using the tactics of the book. “I attended the SHIFT tour in Charlotte and gained more knowledge in that one afternoon than I had in my previous four years in the business,” said Greg Worley, real estate agent in Columbia, South Carolina. “As an agent who is re-launching my career in the midst of these tough times, SHIFT has given me the tools, knowledge and confidence to get real and do it the right way. In addition to having the right mindset, the positive energy that surrounds my office is unbelievable.” 

A podcast based on the book is also now available on iTunes. The 8- part podcast features Keller, and co-author Dave Jenks discussing each of the 12 tactics outlined in the book. 

The authors of SHIFT are also the real estate experts behind national bestsellers The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, which, as part of The Millionaire Real Estate Series, have sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. For information about SHIFT, visit www.millionairesystems.com.

About Gary Keller

Gary Keller is a self-made multimillionaire and founder and chairman of the board of Keller Williams® Realty Inc. He has 25 years of industry and investing experience, and his first two books, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor both enjoyed multiple weeks as national bestsellers, as did a third book, FLIP: How To Find, Fix, and Sell Houses For Profit, on which he collaborated.

About Keller Williams Realty Inc.

Founded in 1983, Keller Williams Realty Inc. is the fourth-largest real estate franchise operation in North America, with more than 670 offices and 73,000 associates in the United States and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to leading-edge education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates as stakeholders and partners. For more information, visit Keller Williams Realty online at (www.kw.com).

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