Calling in the professionals
The Energy Corridor Business Center, an offshoot of the KW Houston Memorial Market Center, was purposefully designed to provide sales associates with all the benefits of affiliation with Keller Williams in a sophisticated workplace. The vibrant commercial region is surrounded by desirable residential areas with unspoiled natural environments nearby.
The new strategic location had to attract recruits and highlight the Keller Williams brand. The Business Center also required flexible office space to support the ways real estate business is performed.
Kami Bossart, Director of Operations, consulted with Office Planning Solutions for professional advice. Having worked with Office Planning Solutions in the past, Kami knew about their reputation for designing multi-functional Market Centers where new and seasoned sales associates gather in a supportive sales environment.
A flexible town square/café lends itself to drop-in work, productivity coaching and small training sessions.
Planning multi-functional space
Some of the functions typically found in a Market Center, such as management and accounting could be handled virtually from Keller Williams Energy Corridor, but the Business Center still needed important features that a Market Center typically provides. The most significant is a welcoming town square/café, which lends itself to drop-in work, productivity coaching and small training sessions.
Office Planning Solutions designed the flexible town square/café adjacent to an open kitchen to create a spacious and inviting environment. It accommodates various collaborative uses, such as group lunch-and-learn meetings and after-hours functions. Sales associates joke that its main attraction are the endless snacks one finds there, but the room actually offers multiple seating options and high-end lighting and finishes, which makes the space attractive and comfortable.
When sales associates need privacy, they use one of the lead generation rooms located next to the town square/café. Sliding glass doors on these phone booths give them an upscale look and allow natural light in, while etched glass lower-half panels provide privacy. Associates who perform inside sales find the lead generation booths a pleasant place for making prospecting calls all day, which is a key to the Business Center’s success.
The Business Center also boasts ample meeting areas where sales associates meet with clients. The main conference room is located so people can look out over the city through its large windows, which adds to the upscale atmosphere of the office.
In fact, Office Planning Solutions specified a lot of glass in the design – such as interior glass walls and glass doors for private, shared and team offices – to make the Business Center visually open and bright, but what matters more is how its functional layout leads to success.
Enticing recruits, building success
One important function the space achieves is its support of recruiting efforts. Office Planning Solutions included a high level of detail in laying out office space so it encourages collaboration and productive work flow while enticing prospective associates to join the Business Center.
The office space encourages collaboration and productive work flow while enticing prospective associates to join the Business Center.
The attractive Business Center appeals to potential recruits in a market where expectations for an upscale work environment run high. Associates find everything they need there. They can easily drop in to the Business Center to make copies, work the phones and collaborate with their mentors.
As a result, the expected number of sales associates that call the Business Center home was reached so quickly that Keller Williams Energy Corridor asked Office Planning Solutions to design additional space and expanded into it in short order.
“Keller Williams Energy Corridor was created to meet all the functional requirements of a successful Business Center,” says Kami. “We’re thrilled that Office Planning Solutions designed a beautiful, energetic workspace that our Associates want to partner with.”
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Keller Williams Approved Vendor Program members are business entities independent from Keller Williams Realty, Inc. Neither Keller Williams Realty, Inc. nor its affiliated companies warrant Office Planning Solutions, their products, or their services.