#442- The Mail-Right Show: CINC A Full Review for 2024 The Good, The Bad & Ugly

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CINC A Full Review for 2024 The Good, The Bad & Ugly

CINC Review 2024: The Good, the bad, and the ugly revealed! Find out if it’s right for you with our in-depth analysis.

In this comprehensive review of CINC for 2024, we dive deep into the platform’s features, examining its strengths and weaknesses. From user experience to functionality, we cover everything you need to know before deciding whether you’re considering CINC for your business or curious about its latest updates.

#1 – Introduction

#2 – Hyper-local lead generation and IDX websites (example – https://www.palmbeachflhomefinder.com/)

#3- Dedicated ad and platform account manager

#4 – Lead nurturing and seller lead capture

#5 – Platform geared toward teams and top performers

#6 – Alex, CINC’s AI Bot

#7 – Guaranteed Sales Program

#8 – Prices start at $899 for a single agent and $1,299 for teams per month.

Episode Full Show Notes

[00:00:29.430] – Robert Newman

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Today’s episode is 442 of the mail. Right, show. Today, my fearless co-host and I are going to talk about sync. For me, it’s, again, I’m going to talk about sync. I’ve talked about sync so much, but we’re going to speak of sync and all the things that have really not happened with them and a couple of things that have. Then, we will post this video and pray that some of you find it useful. Before we do any of that, though, I’d like to introduce you to my co-host. His name is Jonathan Dinwidd. He’s an English bloke, and he is an entrepreneur. He is dyslexic. He’s a pugilist. For those of you who don’t know what that is, look it up. You’ll be excited.

[00:01:26.930] – Jonathan Denwood

I don’t even know what that means.

[00:01:29.810] – Robert Newman

It’s actually the English word for boxer. So you need to be more in touch. He’s, really, really good with WordPress. He’s developed a lot of time. He has one of the world’s most popular podcasts on the subject, WP-Tonic. He’s got another podcast on learning management systems, and he has another business that he runs that handles that. And last but not least, he also has created an excellent system for real estate agents that is an all in one system. And he has another company that does that, which is what he is here today acting as the figurehead for. So without any further ado, John, anything I have not covered, could you please cover yourself, and we’ll jump into sync?

[00:02:18.370] – Jonathan Denwood

Yeah, sure. Thanks, Rob. Yeah, we are mail. Right. We’re an all-in-one lead generative system, but we also provide a really fantastic theme-based, semi-custom, or full-custom, great-looking WordPress website. And we’re one of the few providers that do that. Back over to you, Robert.

[00:02:42.640] – Robert Newman

Okay, so just jumping right into sync regarding what they have and have not done. And I guess I should be a little fair here, John, because I immediately jumped into the said, oh, they haven’t updated. Well, they have updated. They’ve slightly caught up with the rest of the world. And it only took them ten years of guys like you and me saying that they never update for them to update. But I have had no reports from clients on how this date works, which is essentially they have finally connected sync successfully to your cell phone. That’s what I read it as. So sync, for those of you who don’t know, is called short for Commissions Inc. Commissions Inc. Is an old-school all-in-one CRM lead system that’s been around for probably twelve or 13 years now. For a long time, they led the industry. They have dropped off significantly at this point, but they have a very sophisticated backend that still satisfies a very small number of very large teams that keep sync in business. And they’ve done a very good job at being very specific for a certain type of large brokerage that needs a really robust back end that connects to many different spokes of wheels such as transaction coordination connections banking connections Mortgage Company Connections Commission split connections Commission in case knows all of that.

[00:04:27.740] – Robert Newman

That’s my introduction to them. John, what would you like to say about them? I know you’ve reviewed them a number of times on your channel at this point, and you may have read some stuff that I still need to.

[00:04:37.570] – Jonathan Denwood

Well, I don’t know them as well as you. I’ve done a couple of videos, and I’ve done a couple of posts, but it’s been based, I have not had login credentials and I have yet to deal with a customer that’s actively utilizing this. So my knowledge is based on general research. I agree with you think that was my impression that it is aimed at large brokerages, large regional or national brokerages and they can provide a custom solution that allows them to integrate into various third-party API systems. What shocked me were some of the industry’s reviews. There’s the fact that I’m not talking about the reviews that you’ve done, which I think have been normal. You can sometimes be a bit harsher than me, but sometimes I can be harsher. Um, but I think about this, you’ve been pretty fair but I’m talking about some other reviews which give the impression that this is a, could be a considered solution for the individual, the power couple, the small smaller boutique brokerage. And I don’t see it myself. Everything they provide I wouldn’t, I can’t say it’s terrible or indifferent. I see, I can’t really see why somebody wouldn’t use real geeks or maybe look at Melrite or look at one or two of the other solutions out there, why they would consider this platform, I really don’t know.

[00:06:53.510] – Robert Newman

I still, so there’s a handful of brokers and brokerages who are, have guys and gals that have developed a skill set in what could be considered the old school technology formats and if those people existed, complicated tools, Microsoft esque Excel sheets when it first came out, like I can go on and on something that has a thousand options for every single person out there lying the lion desk of CR of complicated CRMs. Sync probably suits them. But I gotta say, over the years sync has been dramatically priced out in terms of cost versus like what you’re buying for that cost. So on May 16, 2024, I missed this. John Jennifer O’Connell, the content brand manager for Sync, announced effectively that they were finally making many changes inside their CRM. So they were connecting it to their mobile phones. They noted that they’ve been receiving a lot of comments about pressure from their audience on what is effectively a very down market that matches what my commentary is to get the brand monitor. They don’t update their blog very often. Once a year maybe. Guys. So everybody knows. So this is absolutely staggering that they put something out there.

[00:08:24.820] – Robert Newman

The pressure on the business must be extreme for them to. And it was written stream consciousness, which surprises me. I didn’t find it all that clear as I just read through it. But anyway, that’s kind of indicative of sync. They provide a lot of value for a very defined personality and for everyone else they are way overpriced for what effectively you’re getting. They also require training classes to use the product in the first place. Depending on what state you’re in and what’s available, they oftentimes charge you for that training. Generally this system is good for somebody who actually has an operations manager and somebody that’s in there. And I have an update where I went into the platform and actually looked at it feature by feature. It took me 45 hours to research. That’s why I’m just like, I kind of never want to go into sync ever again.

[00:09:22.550] – Jonathan Denwood

But, but I, that was hot at the time. But would you find out the truth? You never, you never want that name or to be mentioned again, do you?

[00:09:34.960] – Robert Newman

Right. So just to stick along with what you’ve got. Duplicated dedicated atom platform manager. So hyperlocal lead generation inside examples. This is for sync. Okay, let’s take a look at Palm beach homefinder.com. the page that you, that we, that you actually linked in your show notes is actually incorrect. You put an extra thing there. All right. For those of you who are listening into the show, the sync website, in my opinion, if I was going to score something zero to ten sync sites at this point in the market 2024, I would give them a two or three at best. That’s my opinion. Take it or leave it. There’s very little that’s on these. It’s essentially a self generated AI based landing page that anybody could do. If sync hasn’t updated their systems to do this automated yet in like, let’s call it less than an hour, then they need to do some internal work on their systems and processes. But it’s very basic. That’s my opinion. John, what do you think?

[00:10:46.690] – Jonathan Denwood

I would give it a four to five because there are a lot of, you know, I don’t actually think much of KV core which is a, that’s in between, that’s marketed at individual and, but they’re, but they really have very, been very aggressive on their pricing deals through certain providers. But I, and you being quite frank about KV core and its performance problems, but the websites that they produce, they’re a little bit better than this. This is a lower between five and a lower four.

[00:11:31.740] – Robert Newman

So that everybody listening to the show and you, John, the way that these guys do lead generation, the way that most of these companies have is through all these quick searches that they do, you click a button and then it takes you to another page. Like I clicked a button for homes for sale and Loxa hot chain. Okay. And then I got four or five listings that are open houses on the left hand side of the screen. And then below that I got a whole bunch of quick searches that somebody programmed into this website. And this is where the work is. I’m not, from a design perspective, I stand by what I said.

[00:12:09.010] – Jonathan Denwood

Yes, branding in branding terms, it does nothing for you. Absolutely nothing. And I think lead generation through brand and also branding and content marketing or SEO if you want to go down that route. At Mailwright, we provide a good looking template and we can customize it, but we provide leads through Facebook mostly. I think combining branding with lead generation important. This doesn’t provide any, any branding ability really, does it?

[00:12:49.430] – Robert Newman

It does not. And it costs $1,000 a month. And even though I’m not a fan of this other company either, Lofty would be like some other similar companies where you could get almost as much value for anywhere from 50 to cents. So Melrite would be on that list. Real geese would be on that list. Pro agent websites would blow all these guys out of the doors give you a better website at $65 a month. I can go real geeks.

[00:13:18.010] – Jonathan Denwood

Before we go for our break at real geeks wants slightly under $300. But it’s not just to have the website, they don’t. At Mailwright, if you sign a six month deal, you get it at $149.

[00:13:36.040] – Robert Newman

There you go. And there’s a lot of other companies that provide a lot of value in different ways. Pro agent websites is not a system. It is simply a website with an IDX on it with a programmer who figure out how to do all of that. Took a lot of time to do it and provides a great value for the cost, but it’s really nothing more than a business card and everybody that listens to the show, John needs to start understanding what the difference is between a lead generation company and a branded website company, a search site and a content marketing site.

[00:14:09.800] – Jonathan Denwood

And because it’s all a bit complicated. But that’s why you’re here, isn’t it, Robert, to clarify? So I think you need to be off quick, don’t you? So, yeah, let’s go to break.

[00:14:21.740] – Robert Newman

All right, so, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to go to break. And when we, when we do, John’s going to post this video on the mail, right show. I might dump this into a couple of private Facebook groups. I run it. Listen, if you see this and you get some value from it, if you appreciate our commentary, either one of us, both of us, doesn’t matter. Like the video, leave us a little comment. If you have some questions, if you disagree with us, message me. Obviously, it’s probably going to be me because I’m tired and irritated and I’m more opinionated today than usual. So we’ll be right back. Thank you so much for tuning in. We’re going to go to break. All right. Three, two, one. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to episode number 442 of the mailwright show. Today we are talking about sync. We just finished reviewing their branding and I was starting to go into the difference of products. Sync is a lead generation website and the main value that they provide is quick searches and landing pages and then they charge you for a advertising campaign and they throw everything into the CRM.

[00:15:34.570] – Robert Newman

And theoretically, the CRM is where the value is supposed to come from. These days, unless you are a very unusual real estate agent or running a large team, you can find any number of different places where the CRM is just as good. And you can spend dollar 69 or dollar 150 or dollar 250 or $500 with your interactive mail right follow up boss and lofty, all with just as good if not better of a CRM. So you are really handcuffing yourself into the most expensive system on the market for one of the least effective websites and least effective lead management system. The only exception to all that is if you’re a big team, in which case sync has to be a person you look at.

[00:16:23.370] – Jonathan Denwood

I don’t want to just because I think they’re in a basket. I think legacy players, I think Boomtown, they sold up Boomtown. We’re in this KV core. I know they’ve updated it, but I place it in what we’re talking about. There’s a whole group of these players and unless you’ve got a big agency, you know, I dramatically disagree with the way KV corps market themselves and have. It’s been successful for them and they’re still one of the biggest players, aren’t they? But if I was a smaller agent or a small boutique brokerage, it’d be the last thing I would use in my opinion.

[00:17:16.050] – Robert Newman

Yeah, it’s. So I agree with all, everything that you just said. Here’s what everybody should know. Real estate marketing companies really kind of like real estate marketing companies rely on agents lack of knowledge about technology in general, about using CRMs real estate in comparison to how much trade skills that you need and versus how much money you can make, it’s a unique industry. You can, you can get very few trade skills and yet you can make a million dollars a year. And that would mean that theoretically, instead of having to go to school, let’s say, and learn a whole bunch of new software systems or learning digital technology as you update your license. Very little of that is required by NAR or anybody else. Your mls, I can go on and on. All the licenses pertain to the transaction side and how much you know about answering questions about real estate specifically. But it doesn’t deal with the ever widening field of technology and your real estate marketing providers take advantage of that in a very big way. Let’s talk for a second about number six because you know something here. What do I have not seen any documentation about sync’s AI bots, so why don’t you talk to us about that a little bit?

[00:18:38.310] – Jonathan Denwood

Oh, it seemed very generic to be, like I say, I was just going with the most up to date reviews and there isn’t many reviews, there’s one or two. You’re one of them. But there was a. There’s been one or two reviews. I’m not going to name them because I just don’t think it would be appropriate. But the most latest detailed review from a source that has some credibility in the real estate industry. I found it to be on the verge of a place place advertisement I didn’t think it was quite disgusting in some ways because it was obviously just played placed advertisement it was. In my opinion, it was an honest review. It was extremely misleading. And the person that you, that doesn’t really know that much, that doesn’t listen to this podcast, would get a totally inappropriate impression of what this platform could really offer them. Robert it’s a bit sad, really.

[00:19:55.640] – Robert Newman

Sadly, the real, the close and a few other websites that are all very, very popular sometimes seem to partner a little too strongly with some of their advertising partners. They link, they basically. So for everybody listening, here’s one of those technology things you should know. A person that owns a website can make an agreement with another person that owns a website and take a commission if you sell their stuff. It’s called the affiliate arrangement. And the close is an affiliate based website company. They have a few of them. And the close is real estate focused. And so the close just talks about real estate and they make money through affiliate commissions. That means that everybody you see on their website, for the most part, is paying them. Which means that oftentimes I do not find the reviews completely transparent or honest because why, when they review a company, they are likely making a commission off them.

[00:20:49.380] – Jonathan Denwood

And that’s your opinion, not mine, isn’t it? Rob?

[00:20:52.290] – Robert Newman

Yes, this is my opinion.

[00:20:54.010] – Jonathan Denwood

I never mention. I’m not saying it’s that particular provider that you’ve just named. So if they, if they want to.

[00:21:02.490] – Robert Newman

Take umbrage, take it up with me. Everybody can’t theydeze Robert at inbound Rem okay, that’s, and it is absolutely 100% to be clear. That is my opinion, and it is only an opinion, it is not a de fact. Like I don’t know who they’ve got their commission agreements with. I can only tell you that they do. And they have that language on their own website. So if anybody, you can check me on that all they want and they can talk to me about that all they want, but they posted it themselves. Seven guaranteed sales program. Is this something that think is doing now?

[00:21:39.570] – Jonathan Denwood

Well, if you read the sources that say that the actual reality, it’s not lying. You have to utilize their platform to their requirements and then they will guarantee a result. But you’ve got to go through all their training and utilize it in the way that meets their requirements.

[00:22:12.480] – Robert Newman

Robert got you all right. Well, I uh, there were some notes that you left and I got to be honest with you John, I hadn’t scanned all the way down the page. So just so you know, I uh, I actually. So great, I dead brain that myself without looking at your notes.

[00:22:27.820] – Jonathan Denwood

So I wouldn’t say it’s misleading, but I wouldn’t say, say it’s totally transparent either, in my opinion.

[00:22:35.650] – Robert Newman

Robert, there appears to be some changes in pricing. Okay. So I haven’t talked to nor reviewed sync in a couple of years. Not seriously. Done a deep dive, talked to customers and done some of the background auditing that I do when I do review a company, John, and some other website sources that we’ve reviewed, which we are not saying correct, we’re just saying that we looked. That’s it. Okay. The prices are listed from 899 to 12.99 per month currently. Did I get that right, John? Because you’re the one who did the research.

[00:23:12.180] – Jonathan Denwood

900 to around 1300. Yeah.

[00:23:15.430] – Robert Newman

Okay. And there seems to be a new option for dollar 200 a month for AI. And I have to admit that the pressure for AI probably comes to sync from Gueloppo. It certainly doesn’t come from John or I in the sense that there’s lots of conversation around things like AI and stuff like that. And we’re not reading that, we’re discussing it.

[00:23:39.740] – Jonathan Denwood

And I’m starting, I’m a bit more upbeat about it than you, but I agree with you that the way some companies are utilizing it and marketing it to the undead knowing is extremely damaging. I feel in my opinion, Robert.

[00:24:05.180] – Robert Newman

And I agree with that because successfully applying large language models and various chat GPT scripts is tricky. Now, I am honestly starting to look at it much, much, much more seriously because we’re getting close to what chat GPT is referring to, Sam Altman is referring to, referring to as the third iteration of. They have five levels that they listed. I was never very interested in level one or two. I am very interested in level number three. And so we’re looking at, maybe we’re taking a deeper look at it. I’ve seen and started to see some impressive things, John, which came from chatgbt only recently.

[00:24:51.240] – Jonathan Denwood

I utilize a lot of AI tools, but I use them very conservatively, and I don’t jump into it. I do a lot of testing, and I get, I am conservative in the way I utilize it. But if I get the results that I’m looking for, and some I do, I’m using AI tools every day, Robert, but I don’t dive into it. And I certainly don’t make outrageous claims to clients of mine about the results they’re getting. And unfortunately, there are some providers in the real estate industry that I feel are making some outrageous claims.

[00:25:37.760] – Robert Newman

Robert indeed. So, in no particular order, ladies and gentlemen, we’re closing the show. And I’m just going to point out some things that I didn’t understand I haven’t researched. And frankly, if I get a client, any of you listening to the show, and you have a burning desire, you can talk to me directly@robertinboundaratum.com. and I’ll dig through it for you. I don’t need to do any of this on my own, but Sync’s long post has mentioned several products that I am not familiar with, all by name. There’s one called ETA, there’s another one called Launchpad, and they seem to be indicating, and they’ve done a, they have, for the first time in my memory, revealed some percentages on their blog, which shows you that they’re under pressure. Like they’ve actually talked about lead conversion rates, problems with the system, and where they’re seeing results, and they’ve never done that before. They have never talked about that. They’ve never revealed their stuff to clients, at least not that I remember. I say that as an opinion. I don’t recollect it. And then they’re saying that the transactions are coming more and more from property-specific stuff, that people are engaged with what they’re calling AI, but it’s a chatbot, and they’re calling that chatbot Aetna because Ylopo named theirs Rya.

[00:27:04.750] – Robert Newman

There’s no doubt that y Lopo was the first market with a named chatbot kind of system. And so there’s no doubt that sync is following in line with the path that y Lopo blazed. And as far as I can tell, they’re doing a couple of phone number verification things, and they’ve got a few things that you’re doing, QR codes and activations, and they’re doing all of that in the property base. I have yet to look at any of those things. I have looked through John’s example site in the product notes. I don’t see any of these things in the wild, so I don’t have any comments on them. If anybody wants to give me, if you’re an existing sync customer and you’re taking umbrage to anything I’ve said, or if you want me to check it, then call me, and I will log into your system with you, and we can walk through it and see where these features are. And especially if you think I’m getting any of this wrong, if you’re seeing a vast productivity spike out of one of these features that I am, nothing declaring is very exciting. Lord have mercy.

[00:28:08.360] – Robert Newman

Reach out to me, prove me wrong. I would love that. That’s all I got for this subject. If anybody wants to research me, it’s inboundram.com dot. You can go to the services or about pages. Both have different ways to get in touch with me and my team. John, how about you?

[00:28:25.910] – Jonathan Denwood

It’s going to the mail right.com. Have a look at what we’ve got to offer. We’re adding in the next month a whole library of fantastic looking WordPress based themes on Gutenberg that can be easily adapted by yourself. At the end of the year, we will be adding our mobile app to our product. So we’re still developing it and improving it and I think it’s fantastic. But I would say that. But, I honestly do believe it when I compare it to some of the established players out there. I’m amazed at what we built, but it took a long time, but we got there in the end, and it’s a fantastic platform. Back over to you, Rob.

[00:29:17.370] – Robert Newman

All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning into the show today. We always appreciate your time. Attention, your ears, all the things. We’ll catch you next time.

[00:29:31.860] – Jonathan Denwood

Sorry. There we go. Just give me a second.