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Transcript
Chris Heilman: My name is Chris Heilman. I got my license in 2016 in the state of Ohio, and I was a solo agent utilizing other platforms and CRMs. I've been with 2 other brokerages, and in 2021, I made the move over to eXp Realty, at that point, I started my team, and in 2023, I got my broker associate license in Ohio, Iowa, and Nebraska.
So I was a single, solo agent for several years, learning the ways and developing my mindset of how I wanted my team to be. And, my mother actually came on my team first and that's how we built the team with eXp. And from there I grew to four agents and now I have 11 agents and we have two branch offices, one in. Carroll, Ohio, just outside Columbus. And we have a branch office in Sioux City, Iowa. So we cover a lot of ground with the CINC system, and I utilize two different platforms of that.
Question: What is the typical annual average production of your team?
This year like most people, The sales number is down as far as homes sold, but the sales price has increased so drastically with everything that it's actually the same, if not better than it was before. It's weird with the numbers when you're looking at that.
But I would say, I think in 2022, I know for sure we did, I think 62 homes sold, so a lot of my agents are newer agents, so we're getting them developed, getting them off the ground. So they didn't just come in with a whole bunch of huge numbers, but that allows them to learn on the CINC program and learn the correct way. Utilizing it the best they can, and it's been working out so far.
Question: Were you using anything for lead gen or a CRM to manage your database prior to CINC?
Yeah, I was a BoomTown, customer. Yep.
Question: Why did you make the transition?
I understand that I never am the best at any given time. There's always improvement or always ways to evolve and change. Roll with the way the economy is going. So at the time they had reached out and I believe it was right when BoomTown had gotten purchased by Inside Real Estate.
So it was like, right at that right timing. And with eXp we get, KV Core for free like an individual platform. With the team it's obviously going to cost a little bit more, but, I'm not a fan of KV Core, so I'm not going to utilize it. So that's why I was using BoomTown. And then when the opportunity came, I honestly, I hadn't even heard of CINC before. I looked up what they had to offer and it just, looked very appealing.
Question: How has lead flow or quality of leads changed since you started working with CINC?
Chris Heilman: So the quality has definitely increased on the pay-per-click, especially I'm looking at right now like Google is my best option right now. I'm a little bit more expensive, but it's yielding the best results with Google.
Facebook is still good. The pay per click. But Google is definitely better. And I would say that is definitely helps. I get a lot more meaningful leads. I would say, and it's definitely helped make business easier with attaining and follow-up. With all the other systems, it's not just the pay-per-click and the Google ads. Even though the Google analytics that you guys are running are phenomenal apparently with the way things are working. I've even had people comment, hey your ad was great. It got me here. I'm just I'm not even interested in the house, but I clicked on it because it was good. Getting that kind of feedback is definitely a good thing. And so coupling that with working the leads on the back end has helped, with the client follow-up with autotracks and all the drips and all that kind of stuff. It's made things a lot easier.
Question: What CINC features have made the biggest difference in your business?
So the AI is definitely a plus, but definitely helps pick up some of the loose slack.
Just this last week, I've been working on getting an inside sales agent. So with the ISA, the notify feature is phenomenal. I've used that a lot with my lenders. So I have two lenders in my system that I send leads to. And when I get ahold of a client, a prospect, and they're like, Hey, I wanna get financing, I can put the notes in there and I can notify that lender and they can give 'em a call before I could even call them and say, Hey, call 'em.
They get the notification and they do it. Yeah, that's a great feature. So coupling that with the AI, which also keeps track of on top of people and can say, hey hey, Chris this, client is ready to schedule a showing, which is phenomenal. And I didn't have that with other systems that I know of.
Question: Can you share a memorable online lead story that CINC helped nurture?
I know that with the AI, so I didn't know that it could send out a monthly market report. So that's something that I just learned, I think, back in November. Because there's always, there's so much to learn with CINC . And Cheryl is way better at CINC than I am, so that's her baby. With that, monthly market tool, actually I put all my leads on that. So they're getting, reached out to every single month saying, Hey, and this zip code, this is average sales. This is the price. This is the volume. The numbers. And, so once I put everybody on that, I believe it was about the first of December, I had a lead reach out. That was like. 12 months old or so and saying, hey I just the rates were too high. We quit looking. But you're top of mind. So I'm going to call you when I am ready. So we're still working on them. But the fact that it helped resurrect that lead, even from the BoomTown system beforehand, was cool.
Question: How do you use CINC to prioritize which leads to reach out to?
With the system following up with the F1 F2 p1 P2, the system uses analytics and data, which is what it's all about. And I can't even act like I am better at it than the system is, so following that it's like dummy proof because it just tells you what to do, and the calls that are urgent that need reached out or got forgotten or don't have appointments, it will tell you. As long as you follow down that the button options, you know what to do.
Question: How does CINC help you build predictable processes and help with team training and accountability?
Yeah, so with CINC once you log in, the back office part all the tutorials and how tos I even have my ISA she just said, Hey, I've logged in. I was watching some of those videos. Did you see that? And so we were talking about it, so she's actually working on the processes. It tells you when the best times to call, and I've explained that to them. And then with them watching and having the data to basically reaffirm what I told them based off of the data. It's not wrong. So if you call during this time and this time of the days, your probability of reaching that client and getting somewhere is a lot higher. So it really solidifies that relationship and training practices with that.
And having everything set up in place and I can go in and see what they're doing and I can help them. Or if they're on vacation, I can turn off their leads. I could reassign as needed. And even with Cheryl's even been calling some of their leads if they're like, hey, I don't have time this week. It's kids birthday. It's Christmas. It's everything. So we can actually call their leads as they come in and just help carry them. So it's still their lead, still their deal, but we're working as a team to help them get to the finish line.
Question: Do you see CINC as a recruiting tool as you continue to grow your team?
I do, because it's something, I'm not just getting something for free and then turning around and making money off my team members based on that. I found a system that I'm willing to invest my own money in. And I do that, it's extra, it's a value, it's special that not everybody has it. So why not? Why not come on board and try to use it?
Question: What is your take on getting a buyer's agreement signed?
My brokers have always been very proactive, not reactive. So being in multiple different states, each scenario is a little bit different, but, that's we've always used them.
So I was taught that way. So when you're taught from the best, you just learn the best ways. And there's always a rhyme or reason behind what they do. And as long as you're covering your, your assets, like, why, it's hard to go wrong when you're doing that when you're being proactive and then as you're explaining everything and everybody's on the same page, so there are no surprises. That's always a plus, but that's what we always work on being proactive and making sure everybody's under the same understanding and agreement. And that way, the problems later on don't arise. Or if they do, there's they're taking care of ease easier.
Question: Why is online lead generation a pillar of your business?
I had BoomTown on my 1st brokerage that when I had got on in 2016, that there were just. Scouting it out and switched. So I was at the forefront of that learning that way. And then two years later, when I left and went to a different brokerage, they gave me KV Core and I'm like, I don't like this so I didn't use it. But I understood, like I said, I'm a very strategic thinker and my best way I always say it is, other people are playing checkers and I'm playing chess because I'm always looking, I'm futuristic. I have good spatial awareness. So understanding that just because of what I'm doing now is not the way I need to be doing in the future.
And so I looked at the data and research. And if you look at what other successful people are doing, they're doing it. So I understood the need was there. Even if KV core that was offered for free was not the system. So when I came over to, eXp in 2021, I automatically picked up BoomTown because that's what I knew.
So you always revert back to what if it was working before, so the price was okay. So I went with them, but I understood that I needed more market share. And that's what it comes down to is if you're not doing online marketing and getting leads, that's a good way is just find a CRM that's going to offer that and do both things for you.
So that's when it worked out really well. Then when CINC came along and showed me the data on what they could do with the analytics and the websites and all that, the SEO stuff. So they really helped me get everything together and the marketing has just been great. Getting that more market share.