Guest contributor Krisstina Wise says:

A Ubiquitous Gadget

Over the past 12 months, I've traveled the country speaking at real estate conferences on the importance of mobile technologies and practices to the future of real estate agents.

Because the smartphone, and now iPad, are becoming ubiquitous gadgets that agents own, there is no shortage of platform speeches on subjects like, "Top 10 Apps for Your Real Estate Business." Yet, despite the number of mobile themed topics being presented, I've begun to wonder how many agents who own iPads actually know how to use it in their business. I've speculated that the majority of these agents do not. Anyone can buy an app from the app store – that's a piece of cake – but what they're missing is the knowledge of what to do with the application once it's been downloaded.

The Big Reveal

To test my theory, I opened my last conference talk with this question to the audience (about 400 agents), "How many of you own an iPad or a tablet?" Nearly every hand went up.

Since the topic of this particular talk was The Paperless Agent – How to Use Your iPad as a Foundational Tool for Business, my heart sank momentarily because I thought, "Oh no, perhaps my talk isn't relevant to this tech-savvy group, as they all own an iPad!" BUT, I quickly felt relieved after asking my next question, "Great, most of you own a tablet, but how many of you use your device everyday as a fundamental tool for your real estate business?"

Care to guess the answers from the audience members? Here's the big reveal. Although most agents in the room own an iPad, they admitted to not knowing how to use it.

LIKE IT or NOT, Every agent MUST learn to use iPad

Due to the rapid consumer adoption of smart mobile devices, it's predicted that mobile usage will over take desktop usage by 2015. This stat alone provides an abundance of support for my strong belief that EVERY agent MUST become skilled at using iPad (or another tablet device) as the primary tool in his or her business.

Why? Real estate, by nature, is a mobile business, making adoption of mobile technology especially important for real estate professionals. This means that real estate agents must invest in the correct tools and then learn the applications and practices essential for living and working in a digital world.

Walk the Talk

As I said above, I fervently think that "being mobile," in the literal sense of these words, will be required in order to effectively practice real estate in the future. As evidence of my walking my talk, I require all GoodLife Team agents to own an iPad to work with our brand.

More importantly, I don't just demand that they spend their hard-earned money on this relatively expensive tool – I teach them exactly HOW to use iPad in order to enable them to be almost 100% mobile while in the field.

Besides their smartphones, my agents use iPad as the primary tool for their business – both on the buying and selling side of the transaction.

Beyond Practicality

Though using iPad benefits the practical functionality of my business, it also serves a larger purpose for my Team. GoodLife Team desires to do our part in caring for the environment, and iPad helps us commit to our philosophical creed. Our aim at GoodLife Team is to be a paperless company. Again, we don't just use the word "Green," we work to practice it!

With the help of iPad and a few other key technologies and innovations, my Agents are virtually paperless; the company as well. By embracing mobile technologies as company policy, we have almost fulfilled on our company-wide paperless ambition! I invite you to join us on this sustainable ambition to change the industry.

Wow Your Customers, Get Ahead, Live Your GoodLife

If you wish to learn exactly how we use iPad as the primary tool in your business, then you're in luck. Due to literally thousands of Agents from all parts of the Country asking – many begging – for the same iPad training we deliver our GoodLife agents, we have finally said "Okay!"

In case you need further convincing, here are a few more reasons why I believe the Mobile Paperless Agent is the way of the future.

Top 5 Reasons you should be a Paperless Agent!

1. iPads are cool! You will WOW your customers when you hand over your iPad for them to navigate the property tour, view competing homes on the market or offer them an entirely new experience and way to see an open house.
2. Get Ahead. iPads are still novel as a business tool. This means that by adopting it early on, you will have a competitive advantage over traditional agents who have no means to really amplify the customer experience. You can also get ahead by being more effective, efficient and faster than other agents. By being able to digitally sign and send an offer while still at the house your customer is about to buy, your communication with an offer attached is immediate; this could mean the difference between your customers getting the house, or not.
3. Be Green. Think of all of the trees you are saving – not to mention the fact that you can get rid of all of those hideous space-consuming filing cabinets. We did!
4. Be more Organized and Efficient. By using a few key applications, you have all of your files in one place with you everywhere you go. Never again will you have to wonder where you put that file, note, email or photo. And, if you have an assistant or partner, you can digitally share files – making it very easy to coordinate and collaborate.
5. Live your GoodLife. Going paperless frees you from the office or home. You won't have to miss your kid's soccer game in order to pick up a fax and you can even enjoy that murder mystery novel without anyone else knowing.

To view the original article, visit Coffee With Krisstina.