BY GARY KELLER
CEO, KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
AUSTIN, TEXAS


When the hullabaloo over technology and real estate began, Keller Williams was faced with a simple choice: Follow conventional wisdom and amass an array of discounted third-party products for our agents, or invest in creating in-house solutions, We consulted first with our clients-the agents themselves-on which path to take. Their feedback was a mixture of excitement over the new possibilities offered by technology tempered with anxiety. Could the tolls meant to increase productivity and communication eventually result in greater distance from clients? Couple that fear with the difficulty of integrating a grab bad of third-party products, and we decided to keep our technology initiative in-house.

In late 1999, our agents voted to create, direct, and fund an agent focused technology team called Eagentc-The Electronic Agent Consortium. Twenty representative agents from across the country were elected to serve on the agent advisory council. They meet regularly with Eagentc staff, shape strategic goals, safeguard the budget, and serve as focus groups for product development. Agents also volunteered $10 a month to finance the team. This way the agents, not Keller Williams, own Eagentc.

By the end of the year Eagentc recruited a full team of technologists and pulled Keller Williams into a leading position in real estate technology. Most notably, all KW agents now have a personal, customizable 120-page web site from the moment they join the company. The creation tool is so easy the entire site can be set up in five minutes. We've instituted a company-wide technology training program and much more-all for the original sawbuck per month fee.