Are you a visionary or an integrator?
Or are you trying to be both?
In the book Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters, the authors define two leadership styles in small businesses: the Visionary, who has groundbreaking ideas; and the Integrator, who makes those ideas a reality.
The Nellis Group real estate team has it all figured out. CEO James Nellis is the Visionary; COO Venous Chinichian-Jones is the Integrator. James comes up with the big ideas; Venous figures out the logistics of making those big ideas happen. This powerful duo has led their team to another successful year, up 50% in production and 100% in net profit in 2021.
The extra dose of rocket fuel that really boosts their business is a powerful piece of technology called Realvolve. (Yep, that’s us!) Realvolve is a CRM/workflow platform that allows real estate teams to take “integration” to the next level.
James and Venous recently joined us for a webinar to share how they’re using Realvolve to support their Visionary/Integrator dynamic and drive tons of success for their team.
Watch the webinar or read the recap below to learn about 5 ways the Nellis Group is putting Realvolve to work.
First, what does Realvolve actually do?
Here’s the technical description: Realvolve is a CRM and a workflow platform. So not only can you do all of the CRM stuff—manage leads and track your contacts—you can also manage all of your processes through workflows. One unique aspect of Realvolve is its 4D automation, which allows you to schedule tasks based on time delays, specific dates, decision points, and the completion of activities. (Learn more about 4D here.) Realvolve also allows you to incorporate everybody involved with a transaction: the transaction coordinator, the agent, the other agent on the other end of the transaction, loan officers, inspectors, stagers, contractors, etc.
And here’s the real value of using Realvolve:
- Workflows allow you to keep your process consistent for every client, so everyone receives a near-identical experience.
- If someone leaves your team and you hire someone new, all you have to do is assign them the right workflows, and Realvolve will automatically tell them exactly what they need to do.
- You can check to make sure a task was completed without having to call one of your agents at 1 a.m.
- You can stop worrying about what you might be forgetting, and instead focus your time on lead generation and nurturing your clients.
- If a date gets pushed back—if, say, an inspection has to be rescheduled—you don’t have to subsequently push back 30 other dates that are impacted by the change. Realvolve does it for you automatically.
5 Big Ideas That Can Be Automated Using Realvolve
Here are some big, Visionary ideas…and how they’ve been automated in Realvolve by the Integrator:
1. Zillow videos
You might not like Zillow, but your clients do. James recognized that having a Zillow video for each listing was important to his team’s clients. The problem was, the Zillow videos they uploaded were mysteriously disappearing after a few days. James pointed out the problem to Venous, and she created an action item in their Listing Launch Plan workflow for the listing agent to check on the video every three days. Problem solved.
2. Appraisal packages
In their Seller Contract To Close workflow, there’s an action item called Appraisal Package. As soon as a contract is ratified, they send the contract to a licensed appraiser or pricing specialist (both of which the Nellis Group has on staff) and say, “Make this number work.”
This is really important, James says, when you have offers going tens of thousands of dollars over list price. “I know some of you, especially if you’re new, you’re like, ‘No, I’m just an order taker. I just rubber stamp it.’ The market will change, and when the market gets tougher, you better have a solution for the top two reasons a contract falls out: home inspection items and appraisals that come in low.”
3. Record of offer that escalated price
One particular action item in their Buyer Contract To Close workflow is there to protect the agent against scrutiny regarding an escalated price. “Let’s say you had to compete and there were four offers, and you’re one of the four, and you win, congratulations,” James says. “Did you go back and get that other contract that escalated you up to X? You better have that in your file, and you better have a way to remember to do that.”
4. 100th Home Charity
For every 100th home that sells, the Nellis Group makes a donation in the amount of the commission to a local charity. To make this campaign (arguably one of James’s biggest visionary ideas) a reality, Venous uses Realvolve in a couple of different ways. When people register, their information is automatically added to Realvolve. And then there are all of the different tasks to be done, including the Facebook Live announcement when James says which charity was chosen.
“It sounds simple,” James says, “but if you don’t have it [in your workflow], you might forget to do it.”
5. Trust, Value, Permission script
A great time-saver—and a way to offer consistent, excellent service—is to use Realvolve to save scripts. You can create pre-written email templates that can be used over and over again, or you can simply save a phone call script as one of your action items. Here is a valuable script the Nellis Group uses to get referrals:
Thank you for the trust you have shown in our company over the years and for recognizing the unique value that we bring in real estate. In the future, when someone ask about real estate, we would love for you to connect us. Simply ask for their permission and copy us on a text or email with them!
Use this script, James says, and you’ll get at least 10 more transactions in the next year.
[WEBINAR] Rocket Fuel Your Database
Your real estate business is a complex machine made up of multiple processes and hundreds of tasks to be completed within each one. When you use a platform like Realvolve to manage all of those tasks—and make all of your big ideas happen—your business will thrive.
There’s more to learn from James and Venous! Watch the webinar to learn:
- More ways they use workflows to keep their team running smoothly
- 3 strategies for increasing referrals
- How to add 500 new contacts to your database
- An idea for using tags in Realvolve to nurture your top 100 clients
Discover how adding some Rocket Fuel to your real estate team will launch you to new levels of success!
