Ask me anything about Automation or Podio
Specialist · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 134 posts · 81 votes
Hey Everyone!
I can absolutely credit BP for helping me get my start in Real Estate, and taking me on a life path that I could have never planned.
As part of that path, I recently sold my Property Management business and learned a whole heck of a lot along the way.
I decided to sell and focus on what I enjoy the most: Business Automation.
I feel that the least I could try to do for this community is to provide any tips or things I learned while turning my business auto-pilot.
Feel free to ask away! I'll help with absolutely anything I can!
@Collin Goodwin you're right, it can turn into a graveyard and many can overlap. I have worked hard to make sure mine are very clean, unique, and useful, as I also sell my turn-key system commercially to other wholesalers. It's awesome to see them scale their business and work much easier with the automation.
Man that is a tough question! I have a ton of useful workflows, but I have 4 primary workflows that I would say I cannot work without.
1. Automatically pulls property information for me in every lead
2. Automated drip campaigns (contacts the sellers automatically)
3. Creates, and sends 3 types of offers to the sellers for Esignature, or through USPS
4. Sends the back end buyer contracts for Esignature
Picking 4 was hard...all of the workflows that transfers the information from one App to the next App is also incredibly useful, as I can't imagine inputting all of the information over and over.
@Collin Goodwin I thank you for taking the time to type the detailed response. Awesome info!
Absolutely - would love to dive in further. Feel free to reach out anytime
@Collin Goodwin We use propertyzar. Not sure about add on or integration. We can send emails and text directly within the software. We don't have to go out to twillio or anything like that. Not sure if that is what you were asking. I just know they use twilio on the back end.
Thats awesome... I'll have to look into that. Thats nice to have.
@Collin Goodwin curious how podio compares in functionality to something like Process.st?
I've actually have never heard of Process.st until you just mentioned it! I checked it out and it looks to be comparable.
Are you using it for team collaboration and project management in your mortgage business?
Maybe I can help uncover some key differences... what exactly are you using Process.st for, and what are you not able to do in it that you wish you could?
@Collin Goodwin Thank you for the response!
We also use Appfolio, and completely agree with your assessment of limitations in the software. Unfortunately, Appfolio seems to push out updates that are unrefined and thus the usefulness is often non-existent. As Appfolio has a closed API, how are you able to pull data from the program? Did you use a different accounting system?
In regards to Podio, we've spent time setting it up as a basic CRM platform, but see so much potential in other aspects of our business. This includes custom owner statements and cover letters, move-in/out flow, inspections (preferably signed by tenants if tenant related), AP automation, project budget tracking, inventory tracking, construction management, etc. Do you have any recommendations on effective Podio/Globiflow training?
Zapier has been a quick, effective solution for entry-level AP automation utilizing Google Drive for organization. The issue has been scaling. As our AP increases, functionality becomes slightly error prone, and the end product is still difficult to properly organize.
As the finance manager for our organization, I deal with Appfolio's lack of accounting functionality on a daily basis. Constant workarounds cause redundant office work. With so many ideas for automation, do you have recommendations for prioritizing? Possibly starting with a core automation that can branch into more specific functions?
Lastly, have you had any experience with some of the more robust property management software like Yardi or OneSite? From a outside perspective, they seem to offer many of the features and automation we are looking for, but making such a major core software change requires full confidence in the platform.
Thank you for your time!
With regards to pulling information out of Appfolio, into Podio, we did this on a limited basis. Out of a team of 15, it was only myself and 1 other property manager that operated inside of Appfolio; the entire other team operated in Podio. The reason for this was that we let Appfolio shine where it did, accounting and leasing, and we did almost everything else in Podio.
So... here was our general process. When a new guest card was submitted, we used Mailparser.io to scrape the information from the guest card email (We set up our mailparser email as an actual user on Appfolio, and enabled email notifications for guest cards only). Once this information was in our Podio database, we could now use it as a reference field in all other applications such as screening, move-in flow, inspection, work orders etc. The automation got the data in, once the person was in our database, it was a simple reference field from then on out and flowed quite nicely, without ever having to duplicate the entry.
As previously mentioned, we used Podio for virtually everything outside of accounting once the tenant or client was in our database. This included all move-in/move-out flows, Property Inspections, Maintenance, Maintenance Invoicing, Customer Service, Payables, New Client Acquisition, Showing Scheduling, Client & Property On boarding, and a few other features.
I'd be curios as to why you are using Zapier + Google Docs outside of Podio? There might be a missed opportunity here to bring int into Podio.
With regards to getting started and setup with automation, I'd say my top time saver was autoresponders to guest cards that allowed them to schedule showings (mass showings!) through calendly. This could be replicated with almost any autoresponder service, but the fact I was able to do it with Globiflow was a huge help as it kept me from having 1,000,001 tools.
I don't have experience in those systems. I asked Yardi for a free trial and they turned me down... likely because they know that most wont be successful without a on boarding process.
Were you referring to accounting automation? We used Xero for our maintenance program and once a work order was marked complete by a technician, and reviewed by a supervisor, an invoice would be automatically created in Xero (and sent to the client!) on a time and material basis.
What are some specific workarounds that are currently holding you up?
Is there a list of php calculators that are necessary to program globiflow. I spend a lot of hours trying to get the right combination and I’m an integrator by trade.
Hey, Patrick! I wish... what are some specific things you are trying to do that are holding you up?
@Michael DeFrancisis I'm interested in your setup.
Hey @Don Cuffy, I'll PM you!
I love threads like this. I want to get everything as streamlined and efficient as I can. But, I am not working leads or doing direct mailings. I am probably doing 2 - 4 deals a year right now. Mostly flips. I would love to find some sort of tutorial more focused around setting Podio up for that sort of business specifically, without the direct mail/leads campaign pieces.
Hello, i am new to podio i downloaded the application and i know that i need to set a system to manage my leads in the future. right now it's just me i have a few cold callers that help me out a bit but they are paid by deals closed. I want to build my business as if i am already making 50K monthly right now i don't even make $1k a month) with that being said. Can you point me in the right direction to get started with correctly setting up podio. i am a real estate investor focused on all things real estate. i rehab, wholesale and manage residential properties. I feel as though i need to be able to visualize my business and take that visualization and move it into podio. however, i am having a difficult time doing that since i don't understand podio. i wondering is there an investor template or something out there to help me get started.
Thanks,
Greetings, @Tony Gunter! Mind blowing is defiantly right...
To fully understand the concept you have described, we need to separate 2 types of workflows:
1. Outbound Communications
2. Inbound Communications
By using Zapier, Webhooks & API's, you have probably figured out the huge potential of automating outbound communications such as direct mail, voicemail, sms text, email, etc. What I am picking up on your Boolean String reference is the ability to search for and update items through inbound communications. Am I correct on this?
Hello, i am new to podio i downloaded the application and i know that i need to set a system to manage my leads in the future. right now it's just me i have a few cold callers that help me out a bit but they are paid by deals closed. I want to build my business as if i am already making 50K monthly right now i don't even make $1k a month) with that being said. Can you point me in the right direction to get started with correctly setting up podio. i am a real estate investor focused on all things real estate. i rehab, wholesale and manage residential properties. I feel as though i need to be able to visualize my business and take that visualization and move it into podio. however, i am having a difficult time doing that since i don't understand podio. i wondering is there an investor template or something out there to help me get started.
Thanks,
Deangelo,
Just want to make sure you are also using Podio on your desktop/laptop browser as it is MUCH more useful that way, I have found, than through the App. At least for really customizing and setting it all up.
@Michael DeFrancisis -- Would love to hear more!
I have 1300 prospect files I have assigned the same follow up sequence to. I did this pretty quickly by exporting the leads and populating the follow up sequence type through Excel, then, I imported the spread sheet and voila, follow up sequences were assigned. The downfall, is it appears that I have to go into each file individually and hit start which is extremely time consuming. Is there a way for me to start these sequences without having to go into each file and click start? This could take weeks. Thanks for any help you are able to give.
@Collin Goodwin
Podio seems very complicated to me. As I need to simply skip trace absentee owners, send postcards, track my FB ads and have automated responses for leads to my website, I'm looking for something specific and cheap.
What I'd like is something to have when an assistant answers calls- they can enter answers to customized questions- set appointments that will directly link to my Google calendar- if appointment is set, have automated email and text- if not set, have automated follow up schedule- and then track my marketing.
@Collin Goodwin I’m looking to automate my note acquisition business. I was going to go on Upwork but I dont really have a set list of things or even an understanding of exactly who I need to hire. Any help getting this project started would be helpful. Thank you.
@Andre Harris if you can post more of the requirements of your project and a little bit of context of how it fits in your big picture I can try to offer some recommendations.