Chris Czarnecki has been on the job as Keller Williams’ CEO and President since the beginning of March, when the Texas-based franchisor took on an investment from Stone Point Capital.
The executive came to KW from diversified net lease REIT Broadstone Net Lease, and working at KW marks his first foray into the residential real estate brokerage space.
This month also marks Czarnecki’s debut at an Inman Connect event, where he will speak on a panel with other executives in San Diego about how brokerages can adapt in the face of an uncertain market.
Inman recently caught up with Czarnecki about how things are going in his new gig so far. Among other things, he said that he’s traveling often to meet with Keller Williams folks in the field, said his company is poised to thrive in a tough market, and opined that the private listing issue should be decided on the local issue.
The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity.
Inman News: What has it been like transitioning into the CEO role at Keller Williams?
Chris Czarnecki: It’s great fun in many ways. Coming from outside the brokerage industry, it allows me to be a student and think about the business from the ground up. So obviously, it’s a very big organization and a very big ecosystem that exists out there.
What’s been incredibly touching and awesome is just how much people have leaned in and wanted to connect with me, from our agents to our market center owners to our regional folks, and obviously the KW corporate team here. And so I’ve had a lot of lot of fun just getting to know everybody and getting to know their KW story and what brought them to this incredible company.
That’s great.
I’m also trying now to be out in the field a lot more and to be connecting with our leaders regionally. So, in the first 30 to 60 days, I was more based in Austin, working with the team here, and now, in the last 30 to 60 days, I’ve kind of been out much more proactively in different parts of the country.
Nice. Is there anything that has surprised you so far about your new role?
I think it’s been more of an affirmation about how passionate people are about KW, and how passionate people feel about the brand and the history and what’s been built here.
One of the more challenging things I saw was with the Texas flood situation. I went down to some of our market centers with our local leadership there and was blown away by how the agents down there put their lives on hold to serve their community and effectively become full-time community volunteers. It was awesome and inspiring to see what they did to support that local market.
And we tried to contribute in our own small way to help that. But it was just again, a reaffirmation of what I sensed was here, but to see it in real time and see the level of passion that the teams in Kerrville and Center Point and Boerne put together was awesome.
It’s so heartwarming to see people pull together during those times.
I was there a couple days after the floods, and boy, it was a very difficult thing for me, from the outside, to see. And I continue to … You may hear my voice get a little emotional about it — but those folks on the ground and how much they were giving to help their community was inspiring.
Absolutely. I’d like to transition a bit here to current industry hot topics and get your thoughts on the challenging market that agents are facing right now. The economy has been kind of up and down, and I think agents are trying to stay on their feet. What impressions are you getting from agents now and what are you advising them about how to get through this?
One hundred percent. You know that home sales this year are flat to lower, depending on what happens with the balance of the year, and we certainly see inventory building in some of the bigger markets in the Southeast, in Texas, in Florida and Georgia. Even just an article over the weekend about Atlanta having net out-migration for the first time in 20 years was very interesting to see.
These are all probably consistent experiences that you’re seeing across the nation, that it’s a more challenging real estate market for us, and as I’ve come to understand it and learn from Gary [Keller] on this, this is a situation where KW thrives. This is where, leaning into our educational platform and working through the opportunities that are there, this is where strong agents find and differentiate themselves and build their business for the long-term.
What we’re doing is getting out more in the field and we have built a specialty course that we’re rolling out to all of our agents across the country that’s just helping them think about this market and these dynamics, and having conversations with their folks that are different than maybe they’ve had in the past 15 years with a robust housing market.
That’s great. Another big industry topic that has played out as you’ve come into your new role is the battle over listings, where, for instance, companies like Compass and Zillow are on opposite sides arguing whether or not brokerages should be promoting office exclusives and private listings, or whether listings should be more easily accessible to everyone. What are your thoughts on this debate?
I think we’ve been — and Gary [Keller] has been very thoughtful on this — we have 800-plus market centers and brokerages that view this as an individual decision that they are making in their own markets and doing what they think is best for their clients. For us, we have tried, and continue to be, an educational force on that, and to arm agents with what we see and what comes in.
But ultimately, this is a local decision for those 800-plus brokerages and market centers on a franchise basis. We’ve advocated for them to make these decisions at a local level and talk to their local boards about what they think is important for their clients and cities and towns.
Got it. What else are you currently working on at Keller Williams?
One of the things we’re most excited about is our partnership that we announced with Canva. Obviously, Canva is an important tool used by many folks across the space. We’ve take it to a new level and have become the flagship relationship for Canva in the residential real estate space, and we’re getting very close to being able to roll that out for all of our agents to be able to access. This was a no-brainer, and we saw the opportunity coming fast and jumped on it.
In addition, I think we’re leaning into who we are from a culture and historical perspective. Gary, Jason Abrams and Cody Gibson have been hard at work, continuing to refine and put out new courses, new educational platforms and working with our leading MAPS Coaching division and have been recreating, reimagining lots of content around that.
That’s great. And San Diego is the first Inman Connect event you’ll be attending, is that right? What are you hoping to get out of the event?
Yes, it is. I’m always a perpetual student, no matter what world I live in, and so I’m happy and very excited to hear from a host of different leaders [in San Diego]. It also brings me to another important market for us in the Southern California area, so I get to spend time with our leaders out there as well, which is sort of a beautiful two-for-one in that regard. So, I’m very excited to see it all come together.
Email Lillian Dickerson