Transcription
This meeting is being recorded.
What is going on guys? I am here with Andre who is going to be interviewing what's working with some of these agents who are using the cloud process and it's working for them. So if you want to join us, if you want to see what is going on in our world, join us live and ask your questions here meetcloudy.com. Meetcloudy.com. See you.
Start doing a little my man. How we doing?
Can you hear me, sir?
I got you, Lima Charlie, as we used to call it in the Marine Corps.
Loud and clear.
Outstanding. Welcome back to What's Working Wednesdays. It's incredible. like like uh how we've been this together over the past two weeks and how we continue to build and get traction into every individual day uh here. So excited to continue to be part of this, excited to uh continue to bring more agents together, bring value and um see what's working, right? That's the beautiful thing of this uh business. We get to see what's working, what's not working, how each agent adapts to respect the market, the different strategy that pertains to to them as an individual, to their business. So, um it's exciting and just want to provide a quick update uh to everyone joining us. Uh we have what three closings so far this year, this week, three transaction.
this week, exciting. Exciting. And today we have Sarah Ron's joining us. Uh she's locally here in the Huntsville, Alabama market, which is my market by the way for those asking. Uh uh it's my market. We have multiple agents in my market that are having tremendous success. So excited to have you on board, Sarah. And uh man, um how how's your day going today? You're on mute at the moment.
[Laughter] I am so sorry.
I know. No worries.
It's going great. It's going great and it's h it's great having you uh with me in the local market.
Awesome. Awesome. How so? Um before we dive in into some of the questions and what was working with you, can you uh introduce yourself a little bit? tell us about how you got into the real estate space.
Sure. I'm I'm Sarah Ren. I got into real estate after many years of being a teacher and um I really have loved being in real estate. Um but you know, I guess like with any uh new business, you know, just learning how to make the business work and all of that, there's a lot to it. So uh going from one uh one um profession into another there was a learning curve.
Absolutely. And I can I can relate to some of that been
completely different industry before real estate.
So
for sure
before you got into um to cloud realy uh what was your business like? Well, you know, I would say inconsistent, you know. I mean, I did have business and I did um have uh things going on, but I think as you know, I was transitioning into something new. Um you get a lot of differing views and advice on what you should do to be successful in that business and you find yourself, at least me, trying various things. Uh and then you know sometimes you get spread thin o over too many different shiny objects trying to compete with your uh attention.
Yeah, absolutely. The shiny object syndrome. I hear that happening a lot.
What made you decide uh to look into cloud realy then? Well, my mentor um mentioned it to me and you know, I thought it sounded good, but I I had reached a point where I really didn't like the idea of paying for leads. And at that point in time, that was kind of how the model was set up. Uh where and I I just thought, you know, I I I think I want to try these other things a little bit longer before I jump in. So, I was reluctant. I will just say I was reluctant to jump in with cloud. Um probably because of the shiny object syndrome, you know, like if you pick several things and then you find yourself spread thin. I didn't want to do that to myself again. And I knew I already had some other things I was working on. So it took me a while to to make the decision to to use to go with cloud.
that
is that do you try any other companies beforehand? Is that part of
Well, I have tried. Yeah, I think that was part of my reluctance is I had tried some other similar sounding things and I will just tell you right now it's like night and day. I mean, it's not the same thing. It's not um buying leads like for example on Realtor. Okay. Um, I've never used Sillow, but what I liked about this initially and the models changed slightly is that cloud was incentivized for me to close. Um, what other, you know, lead generation platform is incentivized for you to close? Like you pay your money to Zillow or Realtor, do they really care if you close? They really don't, I don't think. um what's in it for them if you close it doesn't matter they've already got your money right and that's what they are concerned with so I felt like with cloud it it seemed that you know I would be receiving some support some community and at the same time um leads that already raised their hand saying I want to buy or sell a home um if you've ever called for sale buy owner leads, expired leads. You almost need a dialer that's going to just do massive amounts of calls for you. And that sort of um thing is is difficult because you're getting no one on the phone more than half the time. You know, it's just usually you're just calling calling calling. And so this is more of a an attractionbased model because there's marketing involved. Um, and then your your face is part of the marketing. So people kind of already know they're selecting you, you know, to some extent that that the you as the agent.
Absolutely. At the end of the day, it's it's it's attracting clients to you, uh your brand, your business. Now, it's not just
uh getting names of people out there and putting them in front of you. These are people that
that saw you and wanted to talk to you about their home purchasing goal. And what's one of the first thing that impressed you of the platform and the team around you?
Oh wow. Well, you know, just that you've got this cool CRM that's just kind of built right in with the system. So, you're able to see um all the leads that are coming through even if they're not vetted. you know, I can see the leads and and and I can also see uh what level they have like how much input they've given, pardon me, into the system. May have to get a sip of my tea here.
Um, but yeah, give me just a second. But yeah, the um that as well as the ISAs, inside sales agents. So those agents are um I can see the communication that they have had with the leads through in in the CRM and I can go back and follow up. Additionally, um the calls are recorded. So if I need to go back and and maybe it was an ISA conversation that I have not I was not on that call, I can hear what that ISA said to the client and what the client said to the ISA. That gives me some background going in when I when I need to talk with the the person.
Absolutely. And then you mentioned CRM and I've talked to a number of agents that have been in the business for for some time and don't have a CRM. How impactful has that been to you having the CRM and like you mentioned some of the features
I mean I've I I still use another CRM in addition to this CRM but um this CRM is extremely practical. You know it just ties seamlessly in with the leads. Uh, and it has so many great features because I can classify the leads according to their level of interest and where we think that they uh would where they fall as far as you know quite hot ready to go or six months down the way or you know what what level they are.
Awesome. Awesome. And can you walk us through one of the recent wins that you've came through cloud?
Um, well, okay. A recent win I would say, um, I made contact with some clients who and and by the way, I will just say I've made really good friends through the leads that I've made on on here. And I think this goes back to they're kind of selecting me in in a sense because I am part of the ad campaign. And your vibe attracts your tribe, you know. So when you start attracting people that are interested in working with you to begin with, that helps because, you know, there are plenty of people that probably are not a good fit for me for one reason or another. Hey, I love everybody and I'm going to work with you no matter what. Um, but I think that for other people and and I'm not going to have a problem with you either. But for some people, they're going to have a problem with me and it doesn't matter what I do. So, if if that's you, then okay, find someone that you can work with. I'm going to be able to work with you. I I think I can work with just about anybody. That's just my feeling. But but you know, it's always nice to work with people that um resonate with me or that like me. And so anyway, but these particular this couple um we ended up having some interesting uh things in common. And this is another thing, the small world. I mean, you start realizing, oh, we used to both lived live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. You know, that he was from past Christian. I'd lived in Gocha, Mississippi. Um, we had these connections from our past that really kind of bonded us and um so this couple uh we became friends. I mean, I' we've been out to dinner with my husband and with them uh together and we're planning to do it again. You know, we So, anyway, all that said to say, they needed me to help them find a house. Meanwhile, they needed to sell a house. So, we started out. They wanted they they wanted to look for the house first. They needed to get a bigger house. Uh so, we we found that. Meanwhile, I'm getting their house ready to list. Their house is in a market that's a 60-day out market and they would like to sell sooner. Um, so, we were able to list it a little bit. Well, we we listed it at the right price and I really have a system of getting the right price for my clients for selling. Um, and I do not take it lightly. To me, that is such a critical piece. And so, we got it listed, but they wound up selling well above list price in 12 days instead of 60. They were so pleased, you know, with how everything worked out. They were able to find a house with an amazing interest rate with way more space than they thought. They were so pleased. She's given me 20 stars on my reviews. Okay.
Nice.
Anyway, in addition, in one of the open houses, we had a client come in and her family was with her. I'm a mother of three daughters. This was a father with three daughters. And we really connected at the open house. Now I'm closing with that buyer on a purchase and you know all of these have happened in the past couple months, you know. So I mean it's it's awesome. I'm loving it. Like what wouldn't I love about this? And then I'm not having to like have a robo dialer, you know, because you because the system is already vetting those leads, getting everything through. And I like a reciprocal relationship. I feel like in with cloud there's sort of a reciprocal relationship here. It's not one-sided, you know, like with a lot of lead systems.
Absolutely. And and and I can say you've been doing great in communicating with the leads, communicating with us, with the team. And if I recall back on our first checking call, you were just in a month within working with us and you're like, "Yeah, I seen some leads um you know, had some communications, touch base, started building a report." And before we ended that call, one of the leads follow up with you and you closed that deal at the beginning of the year.
uh it it goes to tell
it goes to
That's true. It was like I really wasn't expecting it but within a month I was closing on a lead that I got connected with in cloud and I you know even with this platform you have to be careful not to prejudge. I've heard Sean say this as well. Don't prejudge. Hey Sean, don't prejudge a situation because you don't really know,
you know, how something's going to turn out.
And I actually became good friends with that that client as well. And we keep communicating with each other. Um, just really love that lady. Um, and she was a single parent. Well, her kids are grown, but she wanted to buy a house. Never had bought one. It was an amazing thing that we were able to help her with, but um, but she um anyway, I I I could go into that in a lot more detail than we have time for today, but just a a wonderful, you know, thing. So, I I love what I do as a realtor, and I really think Cloud has just enhanced that, given me the opportunity to enjoy being enjoy being a realtor.
hear those words. Enjoy selling real estate. Yeah.
Abs. Absolutely. And it goes to show, you know, how how great you are at building those relationships, right?
Uh, and communicating. So that's
Thank you, Andre. Yeah.
Well, and and you've been great. I I love Andreas as well. You know, if I get a Spanish speaking client, I am Oh, and this is the other thing. Um, I can do um a call through cloud to my business partners. So, like if I need to get the lender on the phone, I'm like, "Hey, let's see if I we can reach our lender." We call the lender and that call's being recorded so the lender can go back and hear what was said prior to him coming on the call and or if I have a a client who's has broken English and they they need a Spanish- speaking agent, I'm like, "Listen, um you know, I've got a business partner here, Andrees. I can call him and get them on the line." Oh, it's been so much fun listening to the translation and I've been trying to do my Dolingo and I am just not getting up to speak fast enough and Andres is excellent at communicating with these Spanish speaking clients. So, I appreciate you so much and
anytime. It's my pleasure. It's one of the cool features that you can have multiple users acclimated to your account and be able to communicate back and forth.
It's awesome.
I thought that was great. Uh, just to wrap things up, any uh advice you would give to any new agents looking to to start up with cloud realy?
Um, well, if you're looking at any sort of platform to help generate leads and you um you feel like, you know, you feel a little jaded, um just don't let that influence your decision to use cloud because it's not the same thing. It's just not.
Yeah, absolutely. any any final thoughts on on what's next for you and and how does cloud realy fit in in your vision too?
Yeah. Um, well, I would I'm interested in growing a team. I've got one agent on my team with EXP and you know this is a great tool to be able to offer uh you know leads from for my my clients and myself. Uh, so if there is a situation where maybe I'm going to be out of town or maybe um I need someone to partner with me because I've got something going on in life, you know, that's uh taking my time up a little bit more, then I can do that and and we can work on these things together. I can add them to my platform and they can help me with the leads as well. Or I can have another agent even though cloud has agents inside. um you know if I have a TC, a transaction coordinator or anything like that, they can help me uh on the on the platform as well.
Absolutely. I think it makes a great tool and like you said uh any agents that you're helping or want to bring over to your team,
a great platform to to put in front of them and help them grow their business as well.
Um, I think that's it. That's we can wrap this up. I wanted to ask Sean, Cara, anyone on here if they had any question they wanted to ask you. Um, before we wrap that up,
yes, I wanted to add something, Sarah. In the beginning, I remember you said, "I felt like I got lucky." And, you know, there's that quote, uh, there's that quote. Sorry, I was getting a call from Russ. Uh, there's that quote that I that I remember hearing a long time ago. Um, you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get. So, if if you think I'm lucky, then call me lucky.
That's true. That's true. I think though, you know, the the platform does a lot for you, but you you've got to get into it, you know, and it is fun to dig into and um and I I will say I'm more consistent at sometimes than others at, you know, going through everything, but I do try to consistently make sure that I'm vetting and going through and kind of reorganizing the leads and making sure I know and follow up. Yeah, that followup is so key. Um, and and I will say this know my my experience if it's not been perfect it's not because of the system it's because of me because on occasion I have um I can see where there are leads that I have not followed through with adequately that they bought with someone else, you know, and that was my fault for not following up and maybe I wasn't the right person for that person either, you know, maybe they chose someone else for some reason because they didn't resonate with me and that's Okay, too. But, you know, I do kick myself at times with things that I look back on and I say, "Oh, I I missed an opportunity there." You know, so, but it we all nothing is lost because we learn from it and then we build on that.
I love that.
I gota I got to give you credit there, Sarah, because you not always wait for things to happen. You make things happens. You you reach out to those leads. just follow up and in the process you have to understand and learn that some opportunities may have been missed but there's still others in there for you and
absolutely and and I I would say like I will always describe myself as sort of a selfarter um but you know if you join the platform you can't expect it to do everything for you, you know, go in it's like a little gold mine just go in and and work it, you know, and and just uh until you can find things. Uh, find those nuggets that are, you know, going to work out for you. And then, you know, it's so much better. I mean, we're working, we're in a people business, okay? So, we talk about numbers. We talk about, you know, making money and all of those things, but at the end of the day, too, we're helping people um get established in a home somewhere. And this is important work. I think it's very important. So, if I didn't feel that way, I don't I would like like what I do so much.
Well said.
Well said. Sarah, I have I have just a a couple questions for you if if that's okay?
Sure.
Um, more more specifically about um the the the lessons like I know we've been kind of talking high level here. You know, we talked about leads. Um, but like when it comes down to like the conversations and the the experience, how long have you been
I couldn't hear. Let me turn my volume up just a tad because somehow I'm not hearing you fully. It might also be me. Uh,
Okay. I got my volume up.
Okay. Um, how how long have you been licensed now?
Uh, nine years.
Nine years. Okay.
Well, about nine years. It's just barely. Yeah.
Okay. So in uh in the last 12 months um working with these internet leads and because you've tried a lot of other things but specifically when you have a conversation what was uniquely different and what what were some of like the things that you learned in having those conversations? Because and I'll give you a little context. U I've heard from some agents that our leads are excellent to test like like train on uh like real life examples of you know of of communication without uh burning through your your sphere of influence.
Um
and so I'm just curious if you could paint me kind of a picture what
what did you learn?
Okay. Um, I think that what you say is, you know, we we're we're condensing a process that could normally take a long time down to a shorter period of time because of all the systems in place. And so, yes, it is a very like what you get contentwise on the calls is very like a textbook example many times of what you should or shouldn't do. Um, the leads also are ready. You're not trying to herang somebody into something like these are people that want to buy and sell or they want to do something. So, you actually have a real estate conversation going on. And um, so for me personally, you know, like when I I guess the one thing I I'm trying to work better at is when we get a, for example, a live transfer call because that happens. you know, somebody calls in because of the ad and maybe the ISA says, "This person's ready to talk with Sarah and they put a call through to me. I might be making dinner. Um, I might be um babysitting my three grandsons, five and under. I don't know what I may be doing at that moment." But this is one thing, you know, and I mentioned the other day, it's important as real estate agents that we take the call. We take the call, but we just need to figure out a system. And my family's used to it by now. they know what it means like okay you know and this is a good thing you tell your family okay if I get a call from this number just know it could be nothing but it could be something you know it could be something very important so if you'll give me just a moment to come aside and then they kind of like my husband will take over with the kids or whatever you know and give me a chance to go into my office take the call get on the computer so I can pull up and see you know what's going on with this client and what information has already been input but be ready when that call comes in to listen in particular so that your response you're not giving um pre-scripted responses right away, you know, like really hear them like for example one that I really missed out on recently was she had said she wanted new construction what I heard was oh they're are they're already going to buy a lot and they they're looking for a builder and they don't need me that was what I heard But I should have listened closer because what they were and I did address saying, "Well, these are the options. You can either do that or you can um work with a builder that's already uh an existing builder." She wound up choosing a builder, one that not only have I worked with several times, but I I currently have someone closing with a new construction with that builder. And I work with that builder closely. I'm even a sitter with that builder. Sometimes I will sit for agents for that builder. So I'm very familiar with that builder. And I'm like, "Wow, I could have helped you with that like so perfectly." But anyway, I lost it because I wasn't really hearing her and my state of mind was not ready for um or didn't do I I messed it up, you know? I just messed it up and I should have said something more along the lines of, you know, asked her the right questions about what she had done so far with the builder. So, I think it is key learning to ask good questions. There are a lot of good books out there. Um, one that I can't think of the name of right now, but anyway, yeah, I'll look it up and I'll say it before the end of the meeting. um on asking good questions, you know, you just need to be thinking in terms of hearing what they're saying. If you're not sure what they're saying, clarify it,
you know, and and that and and Sean has mentioned this many times before. People often say things that are not really true. you know, they're going to say it to get through the conversation. And but if they have done everything necessary to get to the point to talking with me, they've seen an ad, they filled out information um saying they want more info on homes or whatever. It takes a lot for a person to do that in this day and age. You know, people have become wise to filling things out online. And if they're going to go that far, then they may be more ready than they're letting on, you know. So, that's what I love about this platform is these people are pretty ready. Um, you just have to to listen carefully, ask the right questions, take some pauses, you know, so you can hear what they're saying, and make sure you understand it, and then move in a measured fashion through the con conversation.
That's absolutely well said and I'm so happy. It it is like such a pleasure to work with a professional who can can see and identify uh improvements the small hinges that swing big doors because it in that moment in that call you only have five minutes with that person and like Jordan Belelffort says you need to be sharp as attack in that moment. Um, and it and it can be mentally taxing having to always answer your phone. Well, Sarah, uh, I just want to say thank you so much for sharing your journey.
The book Power Questions.
Power
Power Questions.
Definitely going to be
good book. Good uh, really helpful with questions.
Outstanding.
Definitely going to get that that book. And Sarah, before before we sign off, I actually want to leave you with a with a tactical tip here. Um, when it comes to possibly missing a phone call, so I just put this Instagram uh this video, this reel on Instagram today, but
uh I've been updating my voicemail. Have you ever called Russ Collia?
Oh, yeah. He does it every day.
Yeah. And when I first called Russ, I'll just tell you, you know, he he might have been I don't know where on the on the spectrum like where where I thought Russ was at at that time several years ago, but when I called him and I got his voicemail, he went just a bar above, you know, where where I thought he was.
And that like it gave me I can't describe it, but a feeling um
and I thought I want to replicate that feeling for other people who call me and get my voicemail.
And so Uh, if you have an iPhone, uh, it's
mine is Samsung because my husband's a software engineer and he will not buy something you can't program.
So we just stick with Samsung.
We will we will all pray for you, Sarah.
Yeah, we're living.
You have a Samsung, too.
All right, there you go. But uh, but that that voicemail that voicemail tip has saved me a lot of business because people uh people call and and I do miss calls if if I'm on a Zoom call. Um, and how it goes is it's Wednesday, July 16th, and you've reached the voicemail box is Sean Ringer and I make some, you know, crazy something up. Uh, and then I then I mention that I'm either with my family or on a Zoom call with a real estate agent. Um, and please leave me a text message or a voicemail and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Uh,
yeah.
And that I've split tested it because I know when people call me back and uh and I've had months where I didn't update it and then I had months where I did update it. And the months that I did update it, people left voicemails, people sent text messages, and best of all, I got a bunch of compliments from people that never gave me a compliment before. Uh, and so these were complete strangers who said, "Dude, love your voicemail. Hit me back up whenever you get a chance." Like, really good stuff. So,
wanted to pass that to you guys.
Okay, awesome. Yeah, I I mean, I've heard it, but I never thought about actually doing it. But, you know what? I think maybe I will now. I like that idea. I'll give it a try.
Yeah, because it really it really stinks missing a phone call. That's
Oh, yeah. No, for sure.
Yeah. That's another feature of the cloud system is, you know, we've got AI um options available that I'm starting to delve into a little bit that can help. You know, it's one thing if you're plagiarizing or something, and I know in some some fields it would be horrible to to use AI, but others like marketing, I mean, come on, you know, we're gonna have to use it. So,
awesome. Hey Andre, let's end on time. Thank you again so much Sarah. I really look forward to inviting you again after your next transaction. Um, anything else to add, Andres? Sarah Cara?
No, I just wanted to uh Sarah, thank you again for being here. I appreciate you taking the time to joining us here. Uh, what's working Wednesday next week, we're going to have uh Christine uh Boyette. So, she's going to be joining us out of California, I believe it is. And uh yeah, excited to hear what she has her experiences and what's working for her. And again, thank you for joining us today and let's make it happen. What's working Wednesdays?
All right, we'll see you. Thanks, man.