Case Study
Vision Realty and the Power of Partnership with Sierra Interactive and GGMS
Success Spotlight
- Team of 12
- Market coverage in Central and Southern Ohio
- Recording breaking year in 2023, the best in the company’s 30+ years
- In eight months generated nearly 1,000 leads on Google, driving 32,000 website visitors
- Ads reached over 200,000 people and almost 1.5 million impressions on social media, leading to an additional 88,000 website visits
- Achieved a 23% answer rate leveraging Sierra Interactive’s automations
Don Payne, the founder of Vision Realty, has been committed to the Central and Southern Ohio real estate market for over four decades. With a career spanning 45 years and the establishment of Vision Realty in 1990, Don has seen and done it all. Vision Realty operates as an independent brokerage, a conscious choice by Don to maintain creativity, control and the ability to steer his own ship without the restrictions often imposed by franchised operations. His team, a well-rounded group of 12 professionals, includes sales agents, a virtual assistant, an inside sales agent (ISA), administrative support and more, each playing a critical role in serving buyers, sellers and investors across the region.
Despite his vast experience, Don recognized that to continue growing his business in a competitive landscape, he needed to adapt to the digital age. This led him to explore new tools and partnerships, culminating in a transformative relationship with Sierra Interactive and Gallagher Group Marketing Suite (GGMS).
Streamlining Operations for Success
As Vision Realty grew, so did the complexity of managing leads, marketing efforts and client communications. Don was operating in a market where online leads had become crucial, making up 50-60% of his business. However, the systems he had in place were outdated and inefficient, leading to missed opportunities and unorganized workflows. His website was stagnant, and despite generating leads, the lack of a streamlined follow-up process meant that many potential clients were slipping through the cracks.
Don knew he needed a change, but he was cautious. He wanted a solution that would not only revamp his online presence but also integrate seamlessly into his operations, allowing his team to maximize productivity without being bogged down by complex, cumbersome systems.
Vision Realty’s Business Transformation: The Power of Sierra Interactive and GGMS
Don’s journey toward a more efficient and profitable business began at a workshop organized by his real estate coach, Bubba Mills of Corcoran Coaching and Consulting, where he was introduced to Sierra Interactive. Don was considering making a change and was intrigued by the capabilities of Sierra’s Real Estate Platform. Don met with Sierra, where they demonstrated the system’s features. Initially, Don was concerned about the potential cost after seeing everything the platform could do, but when he learned about the affordable price, he immediately saw the value and signed up.
But the real game-changer was the introduction to GGMS, a marketing suite that worked hand-in-hand with Sierra Interactive. Sierra recommended GGMS to help Don maximize the potential of his new site. Without fully understanding what he was getting into, Don signed up for GGMS on the same day he signed with Sierra Interactive. What followed was a business transformation that exceeded all expectations.
I signed up not totally understanding what I was getting, but the day I had Sierra was the day I had GGMS. And let me tell you what, it just blew up. It made a huge difference in my business.
The Transformation
From the moment Vision Realty adopted Sierra Interactive and GGMS, Don’s business began to flourish.
I’m getting leads left and right – I’m closing deals!
The combination of Sierra’s robust platform and GGMS’s targeted marketing strategies brought a new level of efficiency and effectiveness to his operations.
1. Lead Management and Automation:
GGMS helped Don and his team get organized, automating many of the manual processes that had previously slowed them down. One of the first successes was a lead that had been sitting dormant in Don’s old system for ten years. After transferring the data to Sierra Interactive and sending out a re-engagement email blast, the lead responded within two hours and went on to purchase a home. This was just the beginning.
With GGMS, Vision Realty was able to systematize lead management, ensuring that every potential client was followed up with in a timely and relevant manner. The automations and priority task lists in Sierra Interactive allowed Don’s team to focus on the hottest leads, streamlining their workflow and increasing productivity.
They simplified it so that you just go down the priority tasks on a daily basis – those are the ones you call, those are the hot ones, those are the ones looking, ready to do something – just stay in touch with them. They made life really, really easy. It’s helped me be more productive.
2. Expanding Online Presence:
Don’s decision to enhance his digital footprint paid off immensely. With GGMS managing all of his online marketing efforts, including local service ads, pay-per-click (PPC) and social media campaigns, Vision Realty’s online presence grew exponentially. One particularly successful strategy was the Facebook Property Promoter, which generated over a million views for Vision Realty in just one year. The consistent, targeted advertising drove a steady stream of leads to Don’s website, where Sierra Interactive’s platform took over, converting visitors into clients.
3. Content Strategy and SEO:
Understanding the importance of fresh, relevant content for SEO, Don consistently produces blog posts that are hyper-relevant to the Columbus area.
I realized that to increase my SEO you need to have original content.
With the help of his long-time content writer, he ensures that his website is always updated with 4-6 new blogs a month, driving organic traffic and establishing Vision Realty as a local market expert.
Sometimes you look at a site and you’ll see blogs from 2022, blogs from 2023, which leaves [the website] stagnant. But my stuff is fresh. New content – talk about Ohio, talk about buying, selling, contractors, everything. Anything real estate, we’re going to talk about it.
The content that Don has is all relevant to Columbus, but not necessarily specific to Vision Realty. Don is providing guidance to buyers and sellers through educational content, rather than a hard sell to use Vision Realty. For example, one blog post on bridge loans, written years ago, continues to generate leads, proving the long-tail value of quality content. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, generating several organic leads a month.
Our Complete Real Estate SEO Playbook breaks SEO down into straightforward strategies that are easy to understand and even easier to implement and track. The result? When done effectively, SEO can increase your organic traffic, build brand awareness and establish you as your local market expert.
These SEO efforts, paired with Sierra’s IDX websites, boosts Vision Realty’s credibility and search rankings, highlighting their local market expertise.
4. Exceptional Customer Support:
Don quickly realized that the success of his partnership with Sierra Interactive and GGMS wasn’t just about the tools themselves but also the people behind them. Don expresses how his monthly meetings with GGMS has their services acting as a team member: “Once a month we sit down and look at everything I’m doing, look at my ad spend, and they say, ‘Hey Don you need to increase here, adjust here, you need to do this, you need to call more here,’ and I like that because it keeps me on point and doesn’t get stagnant. Once a month I know where I’m at and what I need to do to tighten up on stuff. So for me that’s fantastic, it’s great.”
Sierra Interactive’s customer support team became an extension of Don’s own team, providing quick and efficient answers to his questions and helping him make the most of the platform. Whether it was learning how to use a new feature or troubleshooting an issue, Don knew he could count on Sierra’s support.
I love [Sierra Interactive’s] customer service department. Normally it’s not that I have an issue, but it’s been ‘how do I do this’ or ‘how do I do that’. Instead of me sitting here trying to figure it out, let me just call them. And they’ll run it through quick, and I can move on…tech support has been phenomenal with Sierra. I love it. They’re great
5. Leveraging Google Reviews:
Google reviews can be a game changer for real estate teams. Don maintains a 4.9-star rating with 167 total reviews He shares how this led a client to buy a house site unseen: “Google reviews – that has done wonders for me. I’ve been working on that and it’s been a big game changer…I had one lady who lived in Breckenridge Colorado – I will never forget her. Breckenridge is about an hour and a half North of Denver and her husband was moving to this area. She went online and found me based on my Google reviews.”
Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date Google Business Profile (GBP) is an often overlooked piece of your online presence. Consider what sellers search for on Google and ensure your profile addresses these queries. Encouraging clients to leave Google Reviews can significantly influence local search rankings and customer decision-making. Both positive and negative reviews build trust and credibility, so it’s important to monitor and respond to them regularly. This showcases your commitment to customer service and reinforces your reputation as a reliable real estate agent. Unlock the power of Google Business Profile for your real estate business with the Ultimate Guide to Google Business Profile – a 35-page digital download, including best practices for management.
Don includes his Google Reviews on the homepage of his real estate website. This underscores the importance of showcasing customer feedback on your homepage not only for instant social proof, but to help boost your SEO as well.
The Results
The impact of Sierra Interactive and GGMS on Vision Realty’s business was profound.
Don has been with us for years, and he’s become more than just a client—he’s a friend. Watching his business grow and reach milestone after milestone has been truly rewarding. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, we’ve helped him achieve remarkable results across Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. We’ve generated nearly 1,000 leads on Google while driving over 32,000 visitors to his website! His ads have reached over 200,000 people and almost 1.5 million impressions on social media, leading to an additional 88,000 website visits. Inside the CRM, Don and his team are true action-takers. By leveraging Sierra Interactive’s automations, GGMS is pushing high-intent hand-raisers to his team, resulting in a 23% answer rate. We’re grateful for the opportunity to support his business and look forward to continued success. Cheers to you, Don!
– Mike Gallagher, CEO of GGMS
In 2022, Don achieved the highest gross commission income of his career, only to surpass it in 2023. Despite a challenging market with rising interest rates, Vision Realty closed 176 transactions and generated $41 million in sales in 2023, with an average price point of $225,000-$230,000.
2022 was the biggest year I ever had in my whole career. I grossed more commissions than I ever had. And then in 2023 I eclipsed that. I’d never done that before.
Don attributes this success to the consistent, strategic approach provided by Sierra Interactive and GGMS. The platforms not only helped him generate and manage leads more effectively but also allowed him to stay focused on dollar-productive activities while the systems handled the rest. Don’s business is thriving, and he has no plans to change his setup.
I’m a lifer, I’m not going anywhere!
A Strong Partnership
Don Payne’s success with Sierra Interactive and GGMS is a testament to the power of the right tools and partnerships. By integrating these systems into his business, Don was able to streamline his operations, increase his online presence and ultimately grow his business beyond what he thought possible.
As Don puts it, “Sierra and GGMS to me are like husband and wife. We’re a big happy family—and I’m Junior.” This partnership has not only supported Vision Realty’s growth but has also given Don the confidence to continue scaling his business, knowing he has a team of experts behind him.
For anyone considering making the switch to Sierra Interactive, Don’s advice is clear: “Definitely make the switch, it’s a very, very good move. The system will help you get organized, but you need to have GGMS with them. Because that made a huge difference.”
Vision Realty’s journey is a powerful example of how the right technology and support can transform a business, driving success and ensuring long-term growth in an ever-evolving market.
Thinking about revolutionizing your real estate team? Get started with Sierra Interactive today and experience the benefits of automation and streamlining operations.
