Patti Tuffin has been in real estate for 23 years. She's the broker in charge at Keller Williams Greenville Upstate in South Carolina, where she leads a team of seven. Her team used Tiger Leads for years until rising lead costs pushed them off the platform. Years later, after CINC acquired Tiger Leads, she reached out for a demo. Within 30 days her three-person team was live, they closed their first CINC deal seven weeks later, and she hasn't looked back.
Since growing her team, Patti runs the back of the house with CINC: tracking agent activity, running call contests, and meeting monthly with the other CINC users in her office. Her team's CINC deals range from $250K to nearly $2 million, and she has proof that hungry agents are winning with CINC even in this market. We talked with her about lead quality, accountability, and why she thinks follow-up decides everything.
Watch her full video here or recap the interview below.
Tell us a little about who you are and what your business looks like today.
I’m Patti Tuffin, and I’m the broker in charge for Keller Williams Greenville Upstate. I have a team of seven right now. I’ve been in real estate 23 years this year, and I think this is my fourth, maybe going into my fifth, year with CINC. I’m a huge fan of CINC and don’t know what I would do without you guys, especially having a team.
What were you doing for lead generation before CINC?
For most of my real estate career, I’ve either been on a team or run my own team. Way back, around 2010 or 2012, we used Tiger Leads for about six, maybe seven years. Unfortunately, the cost for each lead went up and the numbers just didn’t work, so we got rid of it.
During that time, honestly, as a team, we struggled for lead gen. Keller Williams does offer some good lead gen programs through their CRM, but not the quality that CINC leads have. I actually found CINC when I read an article that you all had bought Tiger Leads, so I reached out. At that point I had a really small team, only three of us, and I was still in production. We had a great conversation, and within 30 days we were up and running.
Walk us through your journey with CINC. When did you start getting traction, and when did the bigger successes start rolling in?
We started with CINC in February, and I automatically had a team platform since I had two other users at the time. The training was great. We went through about two weeks of it, and because I had already worked with online leads, and so had one of the other agents on my team, we had our first closing in seven weeks. We were so impressed with what CINC could do compared to what we were used to. It helped us close and convert much faster.
Once we really grew, I upgraded my platform. Five of my agents are on CINC now, and the quality of leads, to me, is undeniable. The number of leads I get is fantastic. I haven’t personally worked CINC leads in about three years, but I love monitoring it and all the back-of-the-house systems.
My favorite story is a new agent who started with me six months ago. Brand new, had never sold real estate, but he had a background in insurance sales, where he had to make 700 phone calls a day. I thought, I don’t have 700 leads to give you. When I start a new agent, I usually give them some older, even unsubscribed leads, just to see how they work them and whether they can get anyone on the phone. My database is almost at 10,000, and I only gave him 30 old leads. He converted one in the first 14 days.
From there, I just kept giving him more and more new leads. I checked this morning, and he’s at 397 leads. He wrote his eighth CINC contract last night, and seven of them have closed. He’s my superstar.
“I gave him 30 old leads. He converted one in the first 14 days.”
What’s the average price point you’re seeing? Does CINC help you reach a different market than before?
They’re really all across the board. We’re in the Greenville, South Carolina area, and our market’s a little wonky right now, so we’re seeing everything from $250,000 up to $1.9 million, which is the largest CINC deal we’ve closed. We got the buy side and the listing side on that one: a $1.9 million buy and an $850,000 listing.
Patti hasn’t worked CINC leads herself in years, but she still lives in the platform. We asked her how she manages it from the broker’s seat.
As broker in charge, how are you monitoring CINC and keeping your agents accountable?
One of the things I love about the system is that I can log in and see my agents’ activity: when they’ve logged in, how long they stayed, and how many calls, texts, and emails they’ve logged. That’s all separate from the AI, so I know leads are still being touched through AI, but I expect the agents to do their part too, and I’m able to monitor that. We’ve run multiple contests on who can make the most calls, set the most appointments, and convert, and we’ve had so much fun using the platform to do it.
I’m really big on notes and follow-up, because I also have an inside sales agent who scrubs and follows up. Our notes are really, really important.
When I started with CINC, we were converting roughly one buyer for every 40 leads. I honestly don’t know what it is today, but I know it’s great. When we were running numbers through our brokerage’s lead gen, it was much less expensive, but it took over 500 leads to convert one. A lot of that was Facebook campaigns and some Google, but even the Google leads weren’t the quality of CINC’s Google leads. And I’m absolutely in love with your Bing leads right now.
Can you speak more to the Bing leads? We’re hearing a lot about them around the office.
When you guys called me about the Bing leads and the new program, I thought, Bing? Who uses Bing? Then they gave me the demographics, and I thought, okay, we’ll see about that, because I’m a little cynical. But in just the last two weeks, the quality of the Bing leads is unreal. When we call, they actually pick up and have conversations with us.
It definitely seems like a higher price point. The age of first-time homebuyers has gone up into the 40s, and even a first-time buyer in our area is looking at close to $400,000. We’ve had a few of those come through, but what’s really crazy is we’ve had more million-dollar leads come through than I’ve seen in a really long time, all from Bing.
“We’ve had more million-dollar leads come through than I’ve seen in a really long time, all from Bing.”
Is there a specific feature or capability your agents are finding most beneficial?
As broker in charge, I have three other agents in my office who have their own CINC platforms, and we all meet monthly to discuss how everyone’s platform is going. I really just want to help everyone.
One of the things we love is the DISC profile attached to each lead. KW used to be a really big DISC company, and I still am, so it helps right away when you’re on the phone to get an idea of who you’re dealing with. The other thing is AI. I think AI is fantastic. And we’re really loving setting up our own drip campaigns. Everyone’s building their own plans on top of your templates, and when we meet, we talk about what’s working and what’s not.
Do you still have agents going to live or online trainings?
Yes. The little rock star I was telling you about, we’re sending him to CINC University, and he’s going with another team here that also has CINC. We utilize training on a regular basis.
What’s it like having a one-on-one account manager?
If my account manager ever leaves, we’re going to have an issue. I’ve told him that multiple times. I love Andres. He calls me every time I need him and researches things for me. But the best part, because I get pulled in so many directions, is that he follows up with me, letting me know what’s changed, what’s new, and what he thinks I should be doing. To me, that’s priceless.
What would you tell an agent considering CINC or online lead generation in a slower market like this one?
The number one thing, and this is where I see most agents fail with a program like this, is you have to be consistent and you have to follow up. You cannot let the system work itself, because it won’t. It needs you. You need to call, text, email, call, text, email, over and over again. There is no bad lead in your system.
“I am truly CINC’s biggest advocate. Unless you guys go crazy, you will have my business for as long as I’m in the industry.”
Want to learn more about Patti’s team or get in touch with her directly? Find her here:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | KW profile
Call or text: (864) 275-6896
Serving the Greenville, South Carolina area out of Keller Williams Greenville Upstate.