This past week I had the opportunity to attend Keller Williams annual convention titled Family Reunion. I was amazed at the experience with over 8,000 of the best agents in our company coming together for this event. As an agent I learned a number of tips and techniques to improve my own personal business, but also found application to my own personal life.

CEO Mark Willis shared in his annual State of the Company address to more than 8,000 convention attendees that, since the real estate market’s sharp downturn in 2005, the company has grown 30 percent in agents, 40 percent in market centers, 21 percent in closed units and 11 percent in closed GCI.

“Keller Williams agents have outpaced the market in every way, through productivity and profit share. As a company, we are better off now than we were before the shift–and we have our associates to thank for that," said Willis.

The growth of the company can be attributed to the growth of its agents. Agent productivity continued to rise with units closed up 6 percent from December 2009 to 2010, while comparably, the NAR membership as a whole went down in closed units 4.8 percent. Overall the company’s associates saw productivity year on year percentage increases across the board in listings taken (up 13 percent), contracts closed volume (up 9 percent) and contracts closed units (6 percent).

The thing that struck me as most incredible after this event was simply the passion that these people have for the real estate industry. It's inspiring me to really do my best and stick through these tough times in our real estate market.