This article is the first in a series about what happens when Glenn Sanford, founder and CEO of eXp Realty, a cloud-based real estate company, decides to live full-time in a motorcoach, travel the country meeting with agents and brokers, and offer real-life education, training and support.
After boarding a plane over 50 times last year, Sanford decided to try something different. His suggestion? “Let’s travel in a motorhome, so we can go to more places, meet more of our agents while being more efficient and comfortable.”
Hmmm — travel, people, sites and adventure? As long as it comes with a washer and dryer, I’m in!
In California: President Jason Gesing and Glenn Sanford
On Sept. 30, 2015, Sanford and I set sail on the business adventure of a lifetime. We left our home in Bellingham, Washington, and purged and simplified to the point of no return so that we could comfortably settle into our new lifestyle aboard a 43-foot, class-A Winnebago tour.
With nearly 1,000 eXp agents in 31 states, we have plenty of destinations to choose from, but we’re not just meeting with our people.
Sanford’s presentation, “How to generate online leads without using Trulia, Zillow or realtor.com,” generated inquiries from brokers across the country.
That enthusiastic response led us to create our “lunch and learn” series, which is open to all industry professionals. The initial response has been great, and the program has been a nice way to give back to the real estate community, as well as connect with the great eXp agents, brokers and staff.
The group in Indiana
“In the book, ‘In Search of Excellence,’ Tom Peters and Robert Waterman talk about management by walking around, and the importance of being in touch with staff, customers and employees,” Sanford said. “We have adopted that concept into our cloud office environment, only we call it ‘management by avataring around.’ And now that I am on the road, we’ve added ‘management by motor coaching.'”
Just one month in, we’ve already logged 6,000 miles and hit 10 states. The October calendar was jam-packed with five presentations, two running races, one convention, lots of meetings and myriad impressive sights — not to mention the endless planning needed for navigation, RV parks, supplies, rental cars, etc.
It’s an involved process, but it’s also exciting, interesting and collaborative.
Traveling this way has proven to be the perfect combination of business and pleasure. We have seen some incredibly beautiful sites, and #AmericatheBeautiful has become a favorite hashtag.
What’s the best part so far? The people. No matter what company they are with, what title they have or where they live, everyone has been so welcoming, friendly and engaging. It’s a lot of fun visiting with people and hearing their stories about real estate, business and life.
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There are so many great companies in the real estate world — Sanford and I love being a part of it. As we continue the eXp eXpansion Tour, we are super excited about where our travels will take us.
We would love to connect with you as we make our way around the country, so don’t forget that our events are open to everyone — and be sure to follow our adventure on Facebook, Twitter or right here on Inman.
Now, we just need to find our next half-marathon.
Debbie Biery is the Expansion Ambassador with eXp Realty. You can follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.