"We effectively moved everything onto the cloud," says Glenn Sanford, the founder and CEO of eXp Realty, a 2011 Inman News Most Innovative Brokerage Award finalist that has been at the forefront of the emerging virtual real estate world.
After real estate income stalled beginning in August 2008, Sanford says in the video, he recognized that his company, after closing some offices, needed to develop a new business model.
"We needed to do it without the redundant staffing costs and brick-and-mortar expenses that had plagued us during that shift," he says.
That meant the creation of a virtual office. "Our offices are actually 3-D immersive virtual spaces, similar to playing a video game online," Sanford says.
It’s all part of maximizing costs while fostering engagement, he adds. "We’re always trying new things. We’re always morphing."
As far as lead generation, Sanford explains that his company takes a "teach a man to fish" strategy. By working to attract quality agents and teaching others how to generate their own leads, says Sanford, agents don’t have to "come back to the lead trough." Encouraging the self-motivation of his agents has allowed eXp Realty to grow faster, he says.
