Keller Williams is cutting off associates who dump the franchise brokerage.
Effective April 1, the company’s lifelong profit sharing program will not be available to associates who leave to join a competitor, Inman reported. The vesting period for associates to receive profit sharing has also increased from three consecutive years to seven consecutive years.
The changes were made by the company’s International Associate Leadership Council meeting on Feb. 15, during its annual “Family Reunion” conference in Dallas.
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The new policy was voted on after a task force comprised of top earners and market center owners presented its findings on the program, for decades a cornerstone of Keller’s culture. The changes begin April 1 and will not be applied retroactively.
Keller’s current pyramid-based profit sharing model allows associates who are with the company for over three years to collect a portion of their former market center’s profit for life. Market centers grab a bit over 50 percent of the profit, and the sponsored associates split the remainder with their sponsored associate, up to seven levels of the pyramid. Keller Williams has dispersed over $1 billion in profits since 1997, the brokerage claims.
The change comes after KW CEO Gary Keller took a swipe at agents who’d left for virtual brokerage eXp Realty and reaped $1 million from the franchisor’s lifelong profit sharing program. Keller suggested eXp give him back the money.
According to Inman, an internal report on the previous year’s results showed that Keller Williams’ agent count declined for four consecutive months at the end of 2019 for the first time since 2012. [Inman] — Erin Hudson