We have taken our show on the road, so to speak. This article is the second in my series about what happens when we at eXp Realty, a cloud-based real estate company, take our home and office totally mobile and live full-time in a motorcoach. We are traveling the country to meet with agents and brokers and offering real-life education, training and support.
Here’s what we’ve learned about going mobile.
1. The Internet is virtually everywhere
Traveling around the country without a hardline Internet connection via cable or broadband was a big concern. How easy would it be to get connected and online?
If you have a smartphone, you already have 95 percent of the Internet you’ll ever need to be mobile.
Who doesn’t have a wireless router nowadays? Most restaurants, coffee shops, and businesses have at least one Wi-Fi router, so getting online is pretty easy.
In most cases, Wi-Fi is free or the cost of a cup of coffee.
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2. LTE can be faster than Wi-Fi
You would think that dropping into a Starbucks or some other co-working location would give you the fastest Internet speed. In some cases this is true; however, many times it’s not.
The Internet on your phone or tablet can be much faster than Wi-Fi. We converted an iPad mini to a hotspot, and it’s usually faster and more reliable than Wi-Fi.
If you haven’t figured out how to turn your phone or tablet into a mobile hotspot, do it now. This one implementation will make your business more mobile.
Your bill may go up a bit if you use a lot of data like we do (streaming three seasons of “Breaking Bad” via LTE cost us an extra $300), but the convenience is worth it.
MJTH / Shutterstock.com
3. Stay sane by taking your office out of the office
There are a lot of great places to work outside of the office, and we all need a change of scenery from time to time (when living and working in the same 500 square feet, this becomes a requirement).
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4. You can become an on-the-go open house
You can show off your services in a home that you are working to get sold. Or how about a health club? One agent I talked with at the National Association of Realtors’ annual convention in San Diego said he has closed seven deals so far this year due to people he met while working at his health club lounge.
Regus/HQ business lounges are excellent places to network with other professionals. We know a number agents working from local Regus offices who are doing multiple deals because of the connection opportunities.
Think about it as an office that qualifies as a place to market your services. When was the last time you generated a client because you were working out of your real estate office? Going mobile will create more exposure for you and your services.
5. Going mobile means connecting with people in person
What builds a relationship better than dropping by the home of a past client? There’s always so much discussion regarding lead generation, and I think the simple activity of dropping by the homes of past clients is one of the best ways to generate more business.
Our vehicles are our mobile offices. Spend the day dropping by people’s homes, checking on them, leaving them something of value (pumpkin pie, neighborhood CMA, etc.)
In between houses, find a nice place to park, check emails, return calls, post on Facebook — whatever you do daily. Connecting with your past clients will invigorate, inspire and re-energize your career.
On the road, we are connecting with our agents and a myriad of industry professionals — which is exciting, interesting and invaluable to our business because we are taking the time to build relationships.
6. There’s no need to have a printer when you are mobile
When we hit the road, one of the first things we tossed was the big printer, and after 10 weeks, we still don’t have one. On the few occasions we did need to print, we just popped into FedEx or Regus.
Once you don’t have a printer, you learn quickly that you (mostly) don’t need a printer. Options for electronic signatures abound for documents that require them.
Some of the paperless contract products on the market are so easy to use, and they save time and contribute to the efficiency of going mobile.
Rolling along in our 50,000-pound office has reminded us that thinking outside the box is truly where the magic happens. Connecting with people is always at the forefront of a smart business plan, and the implementation of this mobile lifestyle is helping us build stronger relationships.
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Debbie Biery is the Expansion Ambassador with eXp Realty. You can follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.