Keller Williams Family Reunion Survival Guide 2019
You get together with your other family over the end of year holidays and Valentine’s Day is reserved for your Keller Williams Family as once again it is time for the Keller Williams Family Reunion
With around 74 hours from start to finish at Family Reunion you must make the most of the limited time you have. Make sure you get your unfair share of the powerful learning, the world class networking and all of the available hands-on training ahead. With the limited time this event needs a plan of attack and that is what we are here to help you with.
Keep reading as we share with you tips and strategies that work year after year to make the event work for you!
For those of you reading this that do not know me let me tell you who am I and why I write this each year?
I
write this for YOU. I know that this event can be overwhelming even to the
experienced attendees. Use this guide to
make the most of your trip to New Orleans (or at least the Convention part of
it)
My name is Chad Hyams, and I have attended Keller Williams Family Reunion for A
LOT of years and in many different roles. I have attended as:
- Agent
- Team Leader
- Vendor
- General Manager
- MAPS Coach
- Growth and Productivity Director for the Southeast Region
- Trainer
- Breakout Session Leader
- Southeast Regional Director of Expansion for the United Home Group
First time, 10th time, agent, leader, none of that matters. What matters is that you attend and that you attend with purpose and a plan!
Family Reunion Survival Guide!
First let’s focus on getting to New Orleans. By plane, train, boat or car make sure you have your plan in place and know who you are traveling with!
Do you have your hotel room booked? Don’t stress too much because you won’t be spending too much time in the room, so book one, share one, whatever works for you.
***BONUS Tip – Not attending? Make sure you are following #KWFR and #KWFR2019 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share in the AHA’s.
If you are attending remember to use the hashtag when posting about the event!
Before
you pack for the trip to New Orleans take a moment and visit FamilyReunion.KW.com and
check out all of the breakout sessions in advance so you can get ready for the
event.
First things first.
The first thing we believe you should do is set aside some time before you get to N.O. and figure out where you want to be during the event. Do NOT wait until the night before or the morning of to plan your day.
What is the ONE topic you want to really dive deeply into? Remember WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EXPANDS so is it buyers, sellers, open houses, technology, time blocking, or something else that you want to focus on? Find the 2 sessions you want to attend in each time block that cover your area of focus. Why 2? Because sometimes you will find a session full and need to have a backup in place. Sometimes you will be sitting in a session and quickly figure out that you are in the wrong session and be glad to have Plan B in place!
Since the breakout session rooms will fill up you should be ready to pivot during the event and by having 2 sessions selected you will remove the stress when a change must be made.
***BONUS Tip – To make the most of Keller Williams Family Reunion figure out your ONE question in advance. What is it you really want to learn if you could learn just one thing?
Now ask at least 100 different people at the event your question. You never know who you will end up asking. You will talk to MAPS Coaches, agents with different levels of experience or different views from parts of the country. You will ask Team Leaders, instructors and who knows you could find yourself asking the president of the company, so be prepared.
Remember to ask your question of AT LEAST 100 people! Want to know what will happen? You will get 100 different answers. When you take the time later to look at the answers you will figure out that really you only got 3 or 4 different answers. This will help you narrow your focus and actually apply something instead of becoming overwhelmed with amazing ideas.
OK now that we have talked about planning for the event, let’s get into the meat of the actual event.
Make The Most Of Your Time at Family Reunion
(because there isn’t a lot of it!)
Chaos will happen. This is a guarantee so plan on it! With an event this size, there is nothing to do other than be ready for it. There will be people running left and right around the convention center and even some just standing still completely lost. People will have conversations in the strangest place, and it will always seem to be in your path.
This will not be you if you take the time to prepare! For you, Keller Williams Family Reunion should be a CONTROLLED CHAOS.
The first lesson of the day is do NOT sleep in. Just because you are in a hotel that doesn’t mean you are on a vacation. The early morning breakout sessions are a great place to meet people before the day gets hectic.
If you are an early you should be able to be awake and even set a breakfast appointment each morning. You have to eat, they have to eat, so why not plan to eat together. Take the time to develop a relationship and share ideas from the day before.
If you are a Starbucks person, or just someone that needs coffee before talking to anyone in the morning, remember the lines will get long quickly!
***BONUS Tip – do NOT spend all of your extra time with the people from your Market Center. You can see them when you get home! Branch out as this is your chance to meet and connect with new people. Who do you want to meet, talk with, question?
If you are not sure about getting a breakfast meeting set or who to set it with then at least bring workout clothes because you never know whom you might get to be running beside on a treadmill, or let me know and I will run with you one morning.
The one-on-one opportunity over a meal (or at the bar – more on that later) at KWFR will be the best use of your time. Make the time to connect with people while surrounded by thousands of family members that you don’t know. The training at the event will pale in comparison to the relationships you create.
*** FOLLOW UP Tip – Plan for these meetings in advance! Who is it that you would love to get some time with a Family Reunion? Reach out to them NOW and tell them that you would like to meet and schedule a meeting over breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks. Hurry because calendars are filling already.
A key to making it a great event is to be sure that you do not show up at Keller Williams Family Reunion thinking you have the answer. Go with an open mind to hear what others are sharing. It is too often that we hear people at the event saying things like “that would never work in my town” and these are the ones that should have saved the money and stayed home. If you walk out of a session or conversation knowing The ONE Thing that you will implement then the event will be a success.
Review your notes often! In The ONE Thing Gary Keller and Jay Papasan remind us, if you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one. If you have 10 things you want to implement when you get home you won’t do anything. Rank your AHA’s and lessons and go home to focus on #1. Once it is part of your world you can pull your notes out and work on #2, and then repeat again and again.
Family Reunion Exhibit Hall
Probably one of my favorite places at the event is the Exhibit Hall. This is when I get to be a kid again and go TRICK OR TREATING! As soon as you get to the exhibit hall (and do this as early in the event as possible) zip up and down the aisles to each booth and grab whatever they are giving away (anything from pens to magnets to candy) and of course make sure you grab their information handouts. Just like on Halloween you always remember the house with the big candy bar!
***BONUS Tip – Even though the vendors might not like hearing this (I didn’t when I was a vendor) on your first pass through the hall do NOT bring your credit card. Do NOT let impulse shopping make choices for you. You have lots of time to spend your money.
Before you even head to New Orleans figure out what your budget is for new services, software, marketing, and other items you might consider. When you are back in your hotel room with no pressure take a moment and review all of the materials. Stick to your budget and remember the lesson from MREA to Lead With Revenue! Vendors will tell you that signing up will return at least one transaction to pay for the services. Have the money first!
With the marketing materials you took, while in your room make notes on which vendors you want to return and visit later. None of the vendors will run out of what they are selling on the first day. The best times to meet with vendors are early in the morning, or where there isn’t a breakout session that you click with. Don’t forget to say hello to the companies you’re already using!
- Do you need KW branded clothing? Leave room in your suitcase
- Do you want some great reading? Hit the KW bookstore
- Do you want to develop a relationship with a new preferred vendor? Find some time to talk.
The magic bullet is a lie and the challenge is that Realtors are all looking for the newest magic bullet. If you listen to the experts speaking on panels and in breakout sessions and you will find out that there are no magic bullets. The message that they are all telling you is work, work, work. Keep that in mind as you shop, shop, shop. Find things that work and generate more business for you… those are the things to invest in on the exhibit floor.
Group Sessions
You
do not want to miss the large sessions offered at Family Reunion. You will
notice that nothing competes with these on the
agenda. We are talking about:
Saturday
Book Signing with Mo Anderson 11:30am-12:30pm
Gary
Keller’s Keynote Session 1:30pm-4: 30pm
Sunday
Vision Speech 10:00am-12:00pm (PowerPoint slides are usually available after the event so please stop using your iPad to take photos)
Red Bash Happy Hour 4:30pm-6:00pm
Red
Bash
6:00pm-8:00pm
Monday
State
of Your
Company 9:30am-11:00am
Tuesday
Inspirational Morning 9:00am-10: 30am (more below)
During these large sessions, plan in advance where your group is going to meet.
This is the time to catch up with the people you came to the event with.
Otherwise, spend time with people you only see at national events!
When Sessions Are Out
Family Reunion is a 24-hour a day opportunity so make the most of each of those hours! Just because you are not in a breakout session doesn’t mean there isn’t a great opportunity to learn. Some of the best ideas are shared in hotel lobbies, certain bars and even poolside. Check out the different hotel lobbies and see which one becomes “the” place to be.
Remember that while you are out, anything that happens at #KWFR probably ends up on Facebook before the night is over! Be smart and be safe.
Lunch Break
If you don’t know what to do during the lunch break you haven’t been reading. Find someone you don’t know to sit with or make sure you have arranged a lunch meeting in advance.
***BONUS Tip – On
Monday during the lunch break I will be leading an “off the book”
mastermind session in room 255-257 Grab your boxed lunch and come join us!
Inspirational Morning
This part of Family Reunion deserves its own section. There are too many agents that decide to leave town the night before to save money. To those that leave, you are missing one of the key things that makes Keller Williams the company it is. During the morning of the last day, Mo Anderson shares with everyone unbelievable true stories. You will hear tales of hardship, loss, and disaster and all of it will end with someone overcoming a challenge in a way that makes you want to change the world. Get there early as seats fill. Take this last chance to share a special moment with someone you don’t know, as you will be able to relive the stories with your traveling partners when you get back home.
***BONUS Tip – If this is your first Inspirational Morning, bring Kleenex with you.
A Few More Tips
Social Media
Warn your audience that you might be a little crazy with your Keller Williams postings!
Use the hashtag #KWFR. Share with each other, find each other and share with those that were unable to join the event in person.
Business Cards
Remember, it isn’t about how many cards can you hand out. That’s just a way to spend your money. COLLECT cards from others you so control the conversation. Give cards to people that you trade with, or just connect through KELLE
Challenge yourself to meet and exchange cards with someone from every state so you can create a referral network of your own
Be prepared!
Make the most of this event by setting goals for Keller Williams Family Reunion
- What do you want to learn about?
- Who are you hoping to meet and get a moment to talk with?
- What do you need to find out about in the exhibit hall and what should you avoid spending money on?
74 Hours is Not a Lot of Time
Before you know it all of these hours will have come and gone. What will you have to show for it?
- A notebook full of stuff you never will look at again just so you could show someone you took notes?
- A headache because you thought you would skip the early sessions and you could stay out all night?
- A stack of business cards you collected that you will do nothing with? Or worse that you will put in your database for no real reason?
OR will you use your time to:
- Develop a referral network
- Focus on the ONE (ok maybe two) things that you WILL implement into your business
- Meet new people and learn why this isn’t just a convention, it is a FAMILY REUNION
Looking for me at #KWFR?
If you are looking to find me at Keller Williams Family Reunion 2019 I will have 2 locations for you to join me (remember that rooms are subject to change)
I will be facilitating a panel as we talk about how to Creating Urgency With Buyers on Sunday at 1:30pm in Room 265-268
I will also be hosting an Off-The-Books Open Mastermind on Monday February 18th during the lunch break in Room 255-257…Grab your box lunch and come join us!
Please share this with ANYONE that should have this information!
If you found this blog helpful, please share it with your Market Center, share it on Facebook and Twitter, or email it on to other Keller Williams agents.
I can’t wait to see you all at Keller Williams Family Reunion 2019 and hope you will come find me to say hello! If not, I will see you online!
