All Forum Posts by: Collin Goodwin

@Kyle McCall what software? Are you saying it has a native integration with Twilio? Or is it an add-on?

@Michael DeFrancisis 130 globiflows is impressive. It can turn into a workflow graveyard if you dont clean it up! What would you say is your absolute top, cant live without, workflow?

@Preston Hedlund awesome question. I could go on a pretty long rant about this topic, but i'll keep it to the point! 

My feelings on property management software in a nutshell... they must keep it pretty broad to appeal to the masses. While some of them are rapidly improving, most of them still fully ignore major pieces of a business. It is the process of a buisness that should define the software, not the software that defines a business's process. 

So, you hit the nail on the head. You need other tools. 

Yes, I used Appfolio for their rent collection and leasing tools. But, i'd say my team operated 80% out of Podio and 20% out of Appfolio. Only 1 or 2 people had Appfolio.

The trick for me was getting all the data from the sources into Podio, so we only had to deal with 1 primary platform. I used many tools to get info into Podio such as a mailparser for Guest Cards (tenant leads), and all forms from my website fed directly into Podio. This is what enables me to automate customer service responses, move-in/out flows, inspections and the whole shebang.

You mentioned you feel you are juggling multiple platforms and honestly that's still necessary in most cases. BUT there are ways to limit your use to a single platform. 

What are some specific troubles you are having?

@Lorenzo Jackson - are you placing your listing directly on zillow or using some other syndication software? 

There are a couple of ways to do this; both include Zapier. 

You can use Zillow to your CRM, or use the email notifications from Zillow, which are typically pre-formatted the same way each time, and use Mailparser to parse the data and use zapier to place it in your crm. 

Could you give some additional detail as to which programs you are using?

@Dan Turkel Good Conversation tonight; looks like you've got a good thing going. 

The biggest takeaway for me was that there is no "One-Way" - You must be willing to take action first, and react second. As entrepreneurs, we must always pivot, which can be quite extreme at times. 

I think your on the right track and Its pretty impressive what you've accomplished so far!

@Don Cuffy thanks for reaching out. 

IMO, true automation requires 3 platforms: A front end website (lead capture) + Back-End (CRM) + Automation.

While the possibilities are limitless, I traditionally see the same pattern in each business. Attract>Connect>Educate>Ask>Deliver>Repeat

This would be the step-by-step framework that I would use to start any automation sequeence. Since I see your a wholesaler, i'll dive in using a wholesale example. 

The attract would be your lead generation. Whether your using online ads, direct mail, etc, you typically have a call to action. Your ad would direct your lead to the next phase, connect, where they would find your landing page, phone number, etc and reach out to you. 

After they reach out to you, there are multiple things that can happen. They can be a cold, warm or hot lead, for which you would likely act accordingly. 

Once your ready to move, you ask for the deal or to do business. 

Once accepted, you deliver. Once complete, you seek more business from them via referrals or other deals. 

The basis to automation is repetitive tasks and processes. Just by using the above framework, you'll likely see how you would react in each scenario. While you may change your processes over time and through experience, you generally follow the same path each time. 

This is where you can significantly increase your productivity and deal flow by using automation to conquer repetitive or predictable tasks. 

@Adam Adams - In that case, I would create an "Email" app which accepts all inbound emails for a particular, single, email address. 

Here's how it would flow: 

1. An Email comes into the app from anyone. 

2. Using a relationship field, I simply tag a client from an existing record. If its a first time email, I can simply select "Create New Record" and have a flow to create a record and file the email. 

Ultimately, I would be able to go into the record and see a history of all emails between myself and the client. 

@Adam Adams - Just to clarify, thats really the intent of Globimail... It auto creates the unique reply-to email so you dont have to keep up with them, or even know they exist. The average user, and email recipient, would likely not even know it exists. 

You simply would select "Compose Email" from the internal record, and all the necessary pieces would be created and formatted. You would not have to think twice about it. 

There is a lot to be said about individual process and preference. Thats the beauty of these systems. 

@Lennon Lee awesome!

Keep us posted as you progress!

@Adam Adams It looks like you have a central inbox in which you click a button and direct the message to the file folder. Please let me know if i'm wrong there.

Podio would be set up a bit different, but would achieve similar functionality.. Here is how it would work: 

1. A record would be created for an individual property, deal, person, etc...

2. By using Globimail, you would be able to have conversations with the email associated with the above record (IE. the record is for Bob, anytime you compose an email within the item, it would automatically go to bobs email) directly within the record or folder for Bob. 

3. You can repeat this multiple times and have multiple conversations stored and organized in their individual records, accomplishing the same thing as your doing in pipedrive, but without the extra step of having to manually assign it to a record.

Regarding multiple email addresses, here is how it would work:

1. You would map Podio or Globimail to your domain. All emails sent from Podio or Globimail would come from the same exact email address - So to the recipient, it would appear that you only have 1 email.

2. The main difference is the "reply-to" which is typically masked anyways. Podio would automatically attach a unique "reply-to" address which would direct the response directly back into the record from which it was sent, keeping it extremely organized and accomplishing the objective. 

The only downfall I see to this would be a generic email coming to that email that does not have a specific "reply-to" item email. For this, I would just direct all emails to a "leads" app and create a new record one time, and then continue the conversation from there. 

So its very possible to meet the same functionality, and maybe even eliminates a step along the way.