AND CLOSE GAPS WITH THE DAILY GCI TOOL
CGI Tools
Keller Williams associates and leaders share how using the Daily Company Dollar and Daily GCI tools help them spot opportunity in their business and to identify when they've covered operating costs and begin making profit!
Brenda Benson, operating principal of the Ballantyne Area market center (Charlotte, N.C.), shared that the Daily Company Dollar tool was among the last of the Growth Initiative (GI) tools that she tackled because the word “daily” was intimidating. Now, she feels that it’s one of the most exciting tools offered in the GI suite because it tells you if your business is sustainable and predictable.
While this market center is profitable, like 98 percent of Keller Williams Realty’s U.S. and Canadian market centers, and a strong advocate in the power of profit share, (they’ve shared back more than $1 million in just the first three quarters of 2016), they’re always working to close gaps and become even more efficient.
Team leader Chip Walton uses this tool himself. As a result, he’s able to share with his agents the day each month when the market center becomes profitable, leading to an even larger profit share pool. “And when this happens on the 13th of the month – that’s truly exciting!” says Walton.
Now with the Career Growth Initiative (CGI) Keller Williams associates have a similar tool called the Daily GCI tool to help them identify when they've covered operating costs and are beginning to make profit.
When you have a goal for your business and are tracking your progress to your goal, you will see results show up in the Daily GCI Tool. This tool empowers you to identify your breakeven day in the month so you can celebrate that you are now generating profit.
Focus on What Matters
During appointments with potential new team members Walton often comes across individuals who want to talk about sales volume. To which he has a reply ready: “Volume is great, but that’s not winning the game. If you don’t have profit, so what?”
The leadership team of the Ballantyne Area market center is focused on helping their agents bulletproof their transactions. If a deal doesn’t close, the agent is certainly not generating the income that is going to fund their life.
Lynn Davis, the Ballantyne Area MCA for more than eight years, is key to this conversation. She also uses her specialized knowledge to help agents determine when in the month their own business will be profitable. If they don’t know, or it won’t be, she helps them fine-tune their expenses and find ways to bring profitability back up.
Jay White, a mega agent within the market center, says that while he’s always had these types of tools, they’ve been random. He would track different business metrics, but the CGI created a way for him to easily track everything together. For example, White has been tracking his revenue but had never compared it to his expenses. The CGI helped him realize this crucial missing step. “Real estate is a lag business. If I realize I won’t be profitable, I can look back at the listing numbers and adjust it. If I’m not hitting my income, I can go back to my activities.”
The CGI allows everyone within the market center to speak the same language. During productivity meetings, team meetings and ALC meetings, everyone is having the same conversations. For this reason, the Ballantyne leadership team believes it’s important that they introduce every member of the market center to this initiative – and quickly. “We’re reaching out to everyone in our market center. No one slips through the cracks!” says Benton.