RE/MAX Excalibur

Mobile Solution Saves Busy Realtor up to Three Hours a Day, Increases Response Time

Realtor Kris Anderson was using a smartphone running Windows Mobile® 6 to respond to client needs and conduct business while out in the field. For more agility and speed, she decided to try a Windows® phone with Windows Mobile 6.5. The software provides new touch features and a new Web browser that Anderson uses to help her work smarter, respond faster, and save up to three hours a day, which could translate into a savings of U.S.$35,000 a year.

Business Needs

Kris Anderson of Your Premier Team, part of RE/MAX Excalibur in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a busy, top-producing realtor who spends her days taking care of client needs and managing a team of four other realtors. Anderson juggles more than 50 clients at any given time and is responsible for finding sales leads and distributing them to her team.

Fifty percent of my business is ‘fire management,’ so I need to be able to act quickly. Using the new Windows® phone with Windows Mobile 6.5, Outlook Mobile, and Exchange Online, I am able to respond faster to my clients’ needs.  Kris Anderson Realtor and Team Leader, Your Premier Team RE/MAX Excalibur

Her daily activities include showing homes to prospective buyers, marketing listings for sellers, negotiating offers, finalizing sales contracts, and performing other duties to facilitate real estate transactions. In between, she has to respond to messages from clients and prospects, plus search for sales leads for herself and her team. She uses the Web to search for leads and to access Internet-based tools for realtors―including the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and ZipFormOnline, a real estate contract software program she uses to create sales contracts online and send them to clients as e-mail attachments.

“I rely a lot on e-mail and the Web to do my job,” says Anderson. “So it’s important that I have immediate access to those technologies wherever I am.” Because she spends most of her time outside the office, Anderson purchased a T-Mobile smartphone running the Windows Mobile® 6 operating system and Microsoft® Exchange Online. “It was like having a computer on my hip,” she says. In addition to sending and receiving calls through the phone, Anderson was able to send and receive e-mail messages; browse the Web; and create, send, and receive sales contracts. She also used the phone for social networking and other personal use.

Although the Windows Mobile 6 phone gave her the ability to conduct business from anywhere, anytime, the interface did not allow for easy use with a finger only, which was something Anderson was interested in. She wanted more agility and speed, and she wanted a larger screen display.

Solution

In June 2009, Anderson seized the opportunity to participate in a Microsoft trial program for Windows® phones with Windows Mobile 6.5. When used with finger-friendly touch-screen phones, Windows Mobile 6.5 offers an improved easy-to-use interface and better browsing capabilities. Anderson tried both HTC Touch Pro2 and HTC Touch Diamond2 phones. She ultimately chose the HTC Touch Pro2 because of its larger screen size. The phone offers an adjustable tilt screen and a slide-out five-row keyboard.

Anderson uses Microsoft Office Mobile for access to programs such as Microsoft Office Word Mobile and Microsoft Office Excel® Mobile spreadsheet software. She says, “These are the programs I use the most to create things like spreadsheets, contract addendums, and flyers to market listings.” For e-mail messaging and scheduling, Anderson uses the Microsoft Office Outlook® Mobile messaging and collaboration client that takes advantage of Exchange Online, including Direct Push Technology. She says, “Having the latest e-mail messages on my phone is really important to me.” She relies on the new Internet Explorer® Mobile 6 browser for searching the Web, social networking through Facebook Mobile, and accessing MLS listings and ZipFormOnline for contract forms.

Benefits

Using the Windows® phone with Windows Mobile 6.5, Anderson was able to be more responsive to client needs and more cost-efficient during testing—so much so that she is planning on upgrading to the release version when it hits the market in the latter part of 2009. Benefits include:

Using the Windows® phone with Windows Mobile 6.5, Anderson was able to be more responsive to client needs and more cost-efficient during testing—so much so that she is planning on upgrading to the release version when it hits the market in the latter part of 2009. Benefits include:

• Improved usability. Windows Mobile 6.5 offers new touch technology that helps Anderson navigate more easily and intuitively between applications. And for a busy realtor, it’s a smarter way to work. “The new touch technology was really easy to learn and so responsive, which is great because of all the multitasking I have to do on the phone,” Anderson says. The software’s new interface offers large buttons, smooth finger scrolling, and improved graphics that makes it easier to use. Touch capabilities include gestures such as “tap,” “tap and hold,” “pan,” and “flick,” which improve navigation even further. The Internet Explorer Mobile 6 browser also provides “smart” features such as address bar search and auto-complete suggestions that make it easier to find Web sites for information while in the field or on the go.
• Increased productivity. With the new features in Windows Mobile 6.5—plus Office Mobile, Office Outlook Mobile, and Exchange Online—Anderson has faster access to files, applications, Web pages, and voice-mail and e-mail messages. This access helps her get more done in less time and be more responsive when every second counts. “Fifty percent of my business is ‘fire management,’ so I need to be able to act quickly,” she says. “Using the new Windows® phone with Windows Mobile 6.5, Outlook Mobile, and Exchange Online, I am able to respond faster to my clients’ needs.” Anderson is open to upgrading to the hosted version of Exchange Server 2010 in the future to take advantage of enhanced messaging features.
• Greater cost-efficiency. With the touch features, Anderson is able to quickly and easily navigate between applications and perform tasks faster. “I don’t have to scroll with an up-and-down button like I did on my old phone. I can scroll much faster with my finger just using the “flick” feature. And with immediate access to all the things I use, there is less wait time.” Anderson says she is able to save up to three hours a day with the Windows® phone. “That’s as good as money to me,” she says. “If you put it into dollar figures, it would be worth about $450 a day.” In fact, Anderson thinks Windows® phones could be an alternative to a full-time assistant for many realtors. “For some people, that could mean a savings of about $35,000 a year; in this economy, I think that’s important.”

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published October 2009