How Real Estate Investors Get More Deals by Talking to Sellers

Nate Shankles (00:00)
so most of our investors are new or they are ⁓ you know, they’ve done a a handful of deals. so they don’t have a ton of experience, right? And so I think the thing I find myself saying the most is you gotta be on the phone. You don’t make money, you know, looking at data in a CRM. You make money when you pick up the phone and you dial.

You have to be having conversations with sellers daily. ⁓ and if you were if that is not your primary focus, you’re not gonna be as successful as as you can be. And that’s probably the biggest challenge for newer investors is just picking up that overcoming the fear of picking up the phone. ⁓ so I think that’s what I find myself saying the most in coaching calls is dial, dial, dial.

Michelle Kesil (02:28)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Nate Shankles, who is the Client Success Manager at REI Automated. So excited to have you here today, Nate.

Nate Shankles (02:47)
Thanks, Michelle. Glad to be here.

Michelle Kesil (02:49)
Great, so let’s dive in. First off, for those new to your work, can you share what your main focus is?

Nate Shankles (02:58)
Yeah, absolutely. So like you said, I work at REI Automated. I’m a client success manager there. ⁓ what we do is we help real estate investors build and scale profitable real estate investing businesses. and we help them do that by giving them education. We have, I don’t know, thirty to fifty hours of educational material. We have office hours three times a week. ⁓ and that leads into another pillar of our business, which is support. We you know.

Entrepreneurship is hard, especially real estate investing entrepreneurs. ⁓ and a lot of them are solopreneurs. And so we provide a lot of support. We have a great community ⁓ of investors, new, medium experience, lots of experience. ⁓ and so we try and build that community and support. And then we teach our investors how to systemize their business. A lot of investors do a great job.

doing deals ⁓ and making money, but maybe they don’t have systems in place. And so they get to a point where they don’t run their business, their business runs them. And we want to help them put those systems in place in their business ⁓ and kind of buy back their time. And my role is after a client signs up for either coaching or technology or CRM or lead gen or data tools ⁓ or both of those things, ⁓ then my job is to

help them implement those systems and have success with them within their business. So I get to talk to our clients all day, every day, which is which is really great. A lot of fun.

Michelle Kesil (04:36)
Amazing. And how did you get into real estate and in this role?

Nate Shankles (04:42)
⁓ great question. So ⁓ how far back do you want me to go, Michelle?

Michelle Kesil (04:50)
Well ⁓ whatever you think is necessary to answer in a concise way. if need be, but I think whatever you share will be relevant.

Nate Shankles (05:46)
well my grandpa was a real estate investor and I grew up ⁓ kind of on the poor side and I got to being, I don’t know, seventeen or eighteen years old and I realized I did ⁓ I did not want my kids to grow up. ⁓ how I grew up. I wanted to have ⁓ a little more money in the bank and ⁓ my uncle was a real estate investor and he said, Why don’t you invest in real estate?

So I started reading books on it. And of course I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And ⁓ I bought my first house 15 years ago when I was 23 years old and I did the BRRRR method. ⁓ and it was a great time to buy. I wish I had bought more. ⁓ and then I bought a few more that way, and ⁓ they cash flowed, I made some money, and I thought, hey, this is this is a good deal. Well, fast forward, ⁓

10 years or so. This is three or four years ago. And I got a phone call from a friend of mine who was a much more successful real estate investor. ⁓ Keith Gillespie, he’s the CEO of our company and the founder of our company. ⁓ he said, Hey Nate, I need some some help with this new thing I’m doing, REI Automated. Can you come help me work with our clients? And so I said, Sure. So that was three years ago. ⁓ I’ve learned a ton ⁓ about

All the different things in real estate investing, the different entrance strategies and exit strategies. I was a one trick pony before and so I’ve learned a lot since then. And so that’s kind of my real estate journey and it’s been ⁓ a huge blessing. My life wouldn’t be what it’s like now without it.

Michelle Kesil (07:32)
Amazing. And what do you think has been some of the main keys that have allowed the business to be able to grow and run successfully?

Nate Shankles (07:44)
⁓ I would say our focus on relationships with our with our clients. we’re a we’re a ⁓ we’re a coaching company as well as a technology company. And one of the things I think that ⁓ we do best from the top down is relationships with clients. Keith really focuses on that. I try to focus on that. People do business with people that they know, like and trust. And

How do you know, like, and trust someone unless you have a relationship with them? ⁓ so I think that’s an area where we ⁓ we really put a lot of effort and time.

Michelle Kesil (08:25)
And what about REI Automated is different from other similar services out there?

Nate Shankles (08:33)
great question. Well, so early in the days of the company, we had a hodgepodge of technology tools. Right? We had ⁓ this phone system over here and it worked with this CRM here and this property data tool. And so things were kind of all over the place. So our investors really had to and they had

You know, they had us for coaching and but they had all of these different services from different vendors. And what we’ve tried to do is take all of those services and basically s combine them into one package. And we’re that’s what we’re doing. And so that’s I think one of the things that makes us different. And also what this is what I’ve heard from our investors who have gone through other programs.

The quality and the depth of our training material, as well as the level of hand holding, maybe that’s not the best way to say that, but the level of support that our investors get when they sign up for our coaching is ⁓ and this is what I’ve heard from our investors who’ve gone through other programs, is high quality. There are other programs that maybe don’t do

as much on the education side or on the support side. ⁓ and we do those things very, very well.

Michelle Kesil (10:43)
What does the program look like? Is it a group course or what’s kind of that structure for your class?

Nate Shankles (10:51)
⁓ great question. So we have a few different programs, a few different tiers, right? ⁓ but essentially, if you if you’re just looking for like, hey, I want to consolidate my technology, we have some different tech stacks available. CRM, data, lead generation, all in one, and the different packages provide ⁓ different ⁓ different options, right? Different things you need for your business.

⁓ so if you’re just looking for technology, you can go that route. What we found most people need, especially newer investors or those that don’t have a lot of systems in place yet, is they need the technology piece, but more than that, they need the coaching. They need the education and they need the support. And so we have three different tiers of our support as where as well, where you can get access to our group office hours three times a week. Come in and ask your questions live with Keith.

We have investors in the group who have done hundreds of deals and been in the game for twenty plus years. And so it’s really ⁓ it’s not just, you know, the sage on the stage, Keith sharing his knowledge. It’s the group, it’s kind of like a mini mastermind three times a week. so we ⁓ we give that as a part of our coaching program, as well as weekly one-on-ones with me, as well as ⁓ we have a community leader program where we have

really successful investors within our community and we link up our newer investors with them so they have them as a resource as well. So ⁓ those are some of the different services that that we provide that we provide to our to our investors. Our clients.

Michelle Kesil (12:37)
No worries. What would you say you’re most excited about or looking forward to opportunity-wise right now?

Nate Shankles (12:48)
Yeah, so for a long time our CRM was built on another platform. It wasn’t our own platform. Well, we have some genius developers who have built our CRM on our own platform. And so one of the things that I’m really excited about ⁓ is how quickly we can handle client requests.

And how quickly we can handle their, you know, if they have tech issues or problems. and I know that sounds silly, but ⁓ I’ll give you an example. Just the other day, one of our clients ⁓ was I was on the phone with them and they said, Hey Nate, it would be really helpful if I had this feature. It was some contact list that was a little bit different than what we had built. So we made a quick video about what this client wanted, submitted it to our support team, and

Within about an hour, we had a genuine response like, hey, we’ve dug into this. Here’s what it’ll take to build it. We’ll be done with it in about a day. Within 24 hours, I had a feature that I could push out to our clients and say, that particular client and say, Hey, test this. Is this what you wanted? ⁓ and that’s one example. I could probably give you dozens if I sat here and thought about it. And so I love that because

no matter how you do your business, you can ⁓ you can customize the technology for you. ⁓ and so that’s one of the things that I really love. And it’s not it doesn’t take a week for these things to happen. It’s ⁓ we get back to you within an hour or two and oftentimes the feature is built within a day or two. Sometimes more of course, but ⁓ I really like that aspect of our CRM. And I think once ⁓ once the floodgates open, I think people are going to see the value that Keith and our community can bring to them. And I love talking with people. I love working with people and helping them be successful. And so I’m excited that I’m gonna ⁓ some of my favorite clients I probably haven’t even met yet.

⁓ and I’ll get to meet with them and work with them and talk with them and see them be successful. So that that’s something that I’m excited about.

Michelle Kesil (16:01)
Amazing. And are your clients typically brand new investors or all over the board?

Nate Shankles (16:10)
it I think it’s all over I think it’s all over the board. ⁓ we have had some brand new investors never done real estate before in their life come in and say, Teach me and we teach them and we support them and they do their first deal. I think that’s probably I don’t know. I don’t have the numbers, but I think that’s probably 30% of our clients. a good

50 to 60% of our clients are folks who have ⁓ maybe put a property or two under contract but not been able to close, or maybe they’ve done a handful of deals, but ⁓ and they want to get to that next level, but they just don’t know how to do it. ⁓ I would say that’s probably fifty-ish percent of our business. And then

We have probably anywhere between 10 and 30% of our investors who they have experience. ⁓ they’ve been investing for a significant period of time, they’ve had success and they still see the value in the community, in the technology, et cetera. So ⁓ I would say roughly twenty to thirty percent brand new, fifty, sixty percent, like ⁓ done a few deals and then

Anywhere between 10 and 30 percent, really ⁓ lots of experience and an established business.

Michelle Kesil (17:46)
Amazing. And what are you most focused on solving or scaling to next?

Nate Shankles (17:59)
We would really like to serve investors with our technology. ⁓ I think before we we led with our coaching because that was where we really shined. And now we have the technology ⁓ to to back that up ⁓ or to go along with.

that. So I’m excited to have ⁓ CRM, the lead gen and data ⁓ tools that match the coaching in in quality and effectiveness, if that makes sense.

Michelle Kesil (18:47)
Sure. And can your clients just be ⁓ part of purchasing the technology or they have to combine that with the coaching?

Nate Shankles (18:59)
great, great question. ⁓ the answer is they can ⁓ they could build an a la carte ⁓ product just for them, where they where they pick the services they want and you know leave the things that they that they don’t. most of our clients have some level of coaching with the technology, ⁓ but not all of them.

⁓ and so we have three different tech only programs, tech stacks, right? And then we have three primary coaching programs that include the technology. ⁓ and if someone wants just coaching, they can they can choose that like I said as an a la carte item as well. Does that is that clear as mud? Okay, good.

Michelle Kesil (19:47)
Yeah, of course. Awesome.

And what is the biggest coaching advice that you offer investors?

Nate Shankles (20:00)
so most of our investors are new or they are ⁓ you know, they’ve done a a handful of deals. so they don’t have a ton of experience, right? And so I think the thing I find myself saying the most is you gotta be on the phone. You don’t make money, you know, looking at data in a CRM. You make money when you pick up the phone and you dial.

You have to be having conversations with sellers daily. ⁓ and if you were if that is not your primary focus, you’re not gonna be as successful as you can be. And that’s probably the biggest challenge for newer investors is just picking up that overcoming the fear of picking up the phone. ⁓ so I think that’s what I find myself saying the most in coaching calls is dial, dial, dial.

Michelle Kesil (20:58)
Yeah, that makes sense. Are you the one facilitating the coaching sessions?

Nate Shankles (21:04)
So we have four coaching sessions a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, one o’clock Eastern time. Keith does ⁓ our office hours. He also and that’s just for REI Automated clients. ⁓ he also does, I think, one show a week ⁓ or one live event a week for just anybody to go to.

⁓ and a lot of times there’s he does some coaching there too. And that’s primarily for non-clients. ⁓ and then I do it’s called rookie role play on Tuesday nights, and we go over some of the basics ⁓ of you know being on the phone with sellers.

Michelle Kesil (21:53)
Amazing. Well, thank you so much for sharing all of that.

Nate Shankles (21:58)
Yeah. Thanks for thanks for asking and thanks for having me on, Michelle. I enjoyed

Michelle Kesil (22:02)
Course. And yeah, before we wrap up, if someone wants to reach out and learn more, where can people find you guys?

Nate Shankles (22:10)
⁓ great, great question. So ⁓ reiautomated.io. reiautomated.io. you can reach out there. ⁓ you can you can find us on Facebook, REI Automated. ⁓ you could you could shoot me an email, [email protected]. we we’d love to hear from you.

Michelle Kesil (22:33)
Perfect. Appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.

Nate Shankles (22:37)
yeah, thanks for having me, Michelle. I loved it.

Michelle Kesil (22:40)
And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Nate who are building real businesses. And we’ll see you on the next episode.