FCB #052: Automate & Streamline Your Appraisal Business

Introduction

I coach appraisal business owners -- startups, solo practitioners, partnerships, franchisees, and growing multi-office businesses.  

By and large, they are all expert appraisers but most lack basic small business entrepreneurial skills.

I help them grow great businesses by focusing on the following five areas:

1. Mindset
2. Strategy
3. Traction
4. Growth
5. Leverage

In addition to financial leverage, there are five other types of leverage that appraisal business owners can take advantage of.

All of these have no downsides but massive upsides, especially when combined together synergistically:

1. Time & People Leverage
2. Technology & Systems Leverage
3. Communications & Marketing Leverage
4. Network & Relationship Leverage
5. Knowledge & Experience Leverage

In today's newsletter I'm going to focus on the second type of leverage: technology & systems leverage.

Specifically, I'm going to share how appraisal business owners can automate and streamline their appraisal businesses leveraging four types of software:

1. Appraisal Software
2. Business Software
3. Custom Software
4. Automation Software

Appraisal Software

Whether you have a commercial, residential or specialty appraisal business, you should be using appraisal industry-specific software for your core client fulfillment, appraisal production processes.

This is a no-brainer, and I'm not going to spend much time here other than list some of the top appraisal-specific softwares.

I will star (*) the ones I used in my own appraisal business.

Commercial Appraisal Software

• Data Comp Appraisal Suite
• Datappraise*
• LightBox Valuation
• Realquantum
• StartDeck
• Valcre

Residential Appraisal Software

• ACI One Collection
• Appraise-It Pro (SFREP)
• ClickFORMS (Bradford Technologies)
• TOTAL (CoreLogic | a la mode)*

Appraisal Job Management Software

Note: In addition to some of the above, which also have job management functionality, you may want to look at dedicated appraisal job management software such as:

• Anow, or
• Appraisal Inbox

Business Software

Appraisal business owners need several different types of software solutions they can leverage for a host of basic business functions, including:

• Accounting & Finance
• Customer Relationship Mgmt (CRM)
• Data & Business Intelligence (BI)
• Email Marketing
• File Management
• Human Resources
• Project Management
• Recruitment
• Social Media Management
• Website

What I see most often is a hodgepodge of separate apps for each of these functions (or none at all).

Typically, these separate apps are not integrated and, therefore, require tons of redundant data entry & management.

Worse yet, especially for very small businesses, I see the owners trying to track everything using Excel.

Small businesses can really benefit from using an all-in-one software platform or "ERP System."

The advantages of using an all-in-one software platform include:

• Increased Productivity
• Easy Reporting
• Higher Accuracy
• Simplified Compliance
• Improved Agility
• Enhanced Collaboration
• Scalability
• Integration
• Automation

The top all-in-one platforms include:

1. NetSuite by Oracle
2. SAP Buisiness One
3. Zoho One

Of these three, I found Zoho One to be most cost effective and suitable for small real estate appraisal businesses.

That's why I used it to scale my own commercial real estate (CRE) appraisal business from 6 o 7 figures.

While Zoho One has 40+ software applications, you can pick and choose as needed.

I used the following Zoho One apps in my own CRE appraisal business:

• Accounting & Finance - Zoho Books
• CRM - Zoho CRM
• Data & Business Intelligence - Zoho Analytics
• Email Marketing - Zoho Campaigns
• File Management- Zoho WorkDrive
• Human Resources - Zoho People
• Project Management - Zoho Projects
• Recruitment - Zoho Recruit
• Social Media Management - Zoho Social
• Website - Zoho Sites, PageSense & SalesIQ

For the most part, these various solutions are already integrated and accessed via a common dashboard and unified user interface.

With a unified dashboard and pricing at only $37/employee/month, Zoho One is a total no-brainer, in my opinion.

If you don't want to go with a true all-in-one ERP solution like NetSuite, SAP or Zoho One, and just want a smaller all-in-one solution for website, CRM and email marketing, take a strong look at each of the following options:

• Builderall
• Clickfunnels
• GoHighLevel
• Kajabi
• Karta
• Systeme

For my new online content creator business I was using Kajabi and am now moving over to a white-labeled version of GoHighLevel called Course Creator 360.

If a small business owner was looking for a great all-in-one website/CRM/email marketing platform with automation built in, I would highly recommend GoHighLevel.

Custom Software

One of the best investments I ever made in my CRE appraisal business was our Assignment Management System (AMS).

I paid a relational database developer $2,500 to build out our AMS in QuickBase, an Intuit product.

If I was going to do this again today, I would definitely NOT use QuickBase (way too expensive).

Instead I would use either:

• Zoho Creator - If I was already leveraging the Zoho One all-in-one platform, or
• SmartSuite - If I wanted an enterprise strength no-code relational database platform at SMB prices.

Of course, there are a ton of other "canned" project/work management software solutions out on the market like:

• Airtable
• Asana
• Basecamp
• ClickUp
• Notion
• Smartsheet
• Trello
• Wrike

Of these, I think ClickUp is probably the most comprehensive and user friendly for project/work management.

However, for CRE appraisal businesses, I recommend building your own AMS either in Zoho Creator or SmartSuite.

If you have a residential appraisal firm then I would recommend using either Appraisal Inbox or Anow.

Automation Software

A lot of the software platforms and solutions above have automation built in.

It's very important to note that you should have a proven-successful process before you try to automate it.

However, software like GoHighLevel, SmartSuite and Zoho One all have built-in automations that make it much easier to automate.

Still, there may be times when you need to automate disparate systems or stand-alone workflows and need specialized automation tools.

Here is my list of favorite automation software tools:

• Elgato Stream Deck & Pedal - Fully customizable LCD keys and pedal to control your computer apps & tools.
• Loom, Descript or Scribe - Computer screen recording/transcription software that makes training and systemization a snap!
• Make or Zapier - Low-code/no-code single or cross-software workflow automation platforms.
• RoboForm - Automate website logins with safe login IDs and password creation & storage.
• TextExpander - Save time by replacing keystrokes with an expanded "snippet" of text.

Conclusion

When you're just starting out with your new appraisal business the steps I suggest are:

1. Mindset - Learn how to switch your paradigm from appraiser technician to appraisal business owner.
2. Strategy - Do a S.W.O.T. analysis, create an Issues List, and work on your strategy & action plans.
3. People - Start hiring leveraged support: first appraisal & admin assistants and then appraisers. Then add outsourced vendor services.
4. Technology - Start leveraging all-in-one platforms like Zoho One and GoHighLevel. Once you have proven processes in place, start automating like mad.
5. Growth - Work on your three major growth engines: new clients, new talent, new systems.

If you want to build a great, successful appraisal business, leveraging people, technology and systems isn't optional.

Most small appraisal business owners are not "leverage savvy" as they are most often working too hard "in" their businesses as appraiser technicians.

Once they shift their mindset from "technician" to "business owner," and start working "on" their businesses, they can start to take advantage of the various types of leverage:

1. Time & People Leverage
2. Technology & Systems Leverage
3. Communications & Marketing Leverage
4. Network & Relationship Leverage
5. Knowledge & Experience Leverage

With respect to technology and systems leverage, I help my appraisal business coaching clients get four types of software in place that they and their teams can leverage:

1. Appraisal Software
2. Business Software
3. Custom Software
4. Automation Software

The software solutions out there on the market can revolutionize your appraisal business.

Most important, they can free up incredible amounts of time for you and your teams.

Ultimately, learning how to maximize leverage is going to set you free, financially and time-wise.

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If you need help growing, scaling and systemizing a great business, I can help you two ways:

Go to www.CalvinCummings.com and...

1. Click on "Subscribe Now" for my weekly newsletter.
2. Go to the Coaching page and click on "Book a Consult" for a free 90- to 120-minute coaching session.

Let me help you solve one key challenge or major issue you're struggling with via Zoom in 90 to 120 minutes, FREE!

See if our Appraiser2X or Founder2X Coaching Programs might be a good fit for you and your business.

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I scaled my CRE appraisal business from 6 to 7 figures and sold it in 2022 for 7 figures, all-cash.

That sale of my appraisal business set me totally free financially and gave me ultimate time freedom.

If you are willing, able, open-minded and coachable, I can help you do the same.