Another example as to how Keller Williams has broken away from conventional methodology and started blazing a new trail is through the LABS process.

In 2017 Keller Williams announced its transition from a real estate company to a technology company.  Gary Keller goes on to explain that it was not by choice but by necessity. Seeing the future frontier of the real estate industry being disrupted and the role of the agent being attacked, he made the executive decision to get in front of this movement and protect the agents of the company.   

What is the most nimble and effective way for the largest real estate franchise in the world to change its direction and do so at record speed in order to build a fortress around its agents?  The concept of LABS.

Traditionally, software companies engage designers and developers to create a product.  This process is lengthy and what results is a buggy, low performing product draft that will then need further time in incubation to worth smoothly and effectively.  With LABS, instead of designers and developers working independently of the end user of the product, KW’s team work directly with the agents of the company.

The agents of the company are actually creating the technology hand in hand with the developers.  

Agents are testing the products in real time, providing invaluable feedback back to the developer team.  This process has significantly streamlined the development of some of the most highly evolved tech solutions of the industry.

“The methodology parallels the way Google and Amazon run their innovation labs, but we have tailored it to fit real estate,” shares Adi Pavlovic, director of innovation at KWRI. “What’s unique about what we’re doing is that not only are we implementing it across a business-to-business-to-consumer framework, but we are doing it at a large scale. I can confidently say that no one in real estate is doing this at the scale we are.”

  • Fast failure
  • Big ideas
  • Immediate feedback
  • Ability to scale

“With Labs, we can ideate, incubate and validate products at an incredibly fast pace, allowing us to play a large role in the modernization of the industry. It’s also our opportunity to work together with our agents. It’s a true testament to the culture of Keller Williams,” Pavlovic says.