CINC Review 2024: Prices, Features, Reviews, and Alternatives
In this review we’ll go over one of the more coveted tools out there, and whether or not they are worthy of this affection.
As you know, to be successful you’re going to need to find solutions to your lead generation, CRM, and website needs. For an all-in-one solution you can look to companies like CINC. They provide you with all of this plus additional features we’ll go over.
Today I’m going to review CINC – what they offer and their tools. You can decide if and how they can help you become more effective in lead generation, customer relationship management, and closing the sale.
Let’s dive in.
Quick Summary of CINC
CINC is a comprehensive lead generation platform rich with features. These include, but are not limited to:
- Lead gen options
- Nurturing automations
- A robust CRM
- Optimized IDX websites
Being an all-in-one solution, CINC has everything an agent needs from start to finish, the trick is you need to determine if it’s what you need.
Your leads will flow into their CRM, plus any other data sources you’re using will also connect with ease. Their custom mobile-friendly website is designed to display your listings and enhance your conversion through lead capture and marketing automation.
The cool thing is, CINC is so confident in their products that they offer a guaranteed return on your investment for the first year. Let’s see why they are so confident in the offerings, and if you would be too.
CINC Features
Every platform is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, and that’s how you determine which one is best for you. I’m going to dive into some of CINC’s strong features for you.
I will do the leg work here, so the challenge for you is to really weigh whether these features will actually benefit you, and if they are worth the cost.
1. Custom IDX Websites
With CINC you can create a custom website to showcase your listings and build your brand. I love that the websites are created to be conversion optimized to help you grow your database. Plus, it’s a good user experience with fast upload time on all devices – desktop, mobile, and tablet.
Added bonus – CINC’s websites retarget, keeping you top of mind for your clients.
They fully integrate with your CRM, which helps with organization. I really liked that you are able to focus onthings that matter while CINC prioritizes speed to lead and the leads you should be following up with. The website activity will trigger your CRM for future automations as well.
Why it’s useful: You’re going to need a website, and since the solution is likely not for you to become a developer, pre-done website that you can customize could be very helpful. It’s especially helpful because they’ve optimized their websites so they help with your lead gen.
2. CRM
I love that CINC’s CRM is good for team organization. It has custom tagging to prioritize leads, plus they automatically route leads to the right agent. You can also check your performance with each lead right from your dashboard.
CINC’s CRM is robust with:
- a dialer
- lead routing and tracking
- mobile app
- and tons of customization
A personal favorite feature – the multiple analytics/performance reporting dashboards to make sure you aren’t ever in the dark on your conversion or lead gen efforts.
Something you won’t get with other competitors is CINC’s elevated drip campaign system, AutoTracks, which offers intelligent, high-performing message templates that are based on lead activity. It works through text, email, agent reminders, and tasks.
The follow-up options are either communications that run for a set duration, through calendar specific dates you set, or a checklist that gets attached to a lead for items that need completion.
Why it’s useful: You’re going to need to use a CRM no matter what. The reason CINC’s CRM may have a leg up on some is the amount of organization it offers which is great for teams. The automation is also helpful to lighten your load.
3. Hyper-Local Lead Generation
Getting leads is CINC’s bread and butter. They have tons of data on real estate lead gen, and they have used it to tweak and improve their process to not only get you more leads, but quality leads.
The largest part of their lead gen efforts is through paid search. They have a multifaceted approach that focuses on connecting buyers and sellers at the right time when they’re both motivated.
My favorite part – CINC has proprietary technology that not only helps target different niches within a market, but also helps show you if those specific property types will perform well enough in the targeted area to give you a reasonable cost on the leads.
In addition to PPC, CINC offers hyper-local social media ads to bring in leads. These leads are typically cheaper, and they offer quality data since it’s pulled from their social media profiles. CINC will also advertise your listings you have on your branded page, so not only will the listings be getting a boost, so will you and your brand.
Why it’s useful: Throwing some spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks may work for some things, but hyper-local targeting helps narrow down the pool of people you’ll reach out to mainly only the ones that you can knock out of the park. This also translates into more budget-friendly lead costs.
4. Seller Suite
CINC’s Seller Suite offers a way to really take advantage of ads to increase your volume of listings. I know you’re thinking that’s a common thing, but with CINC you’ll leverage your home valuation and “sell your home” pages to generate more lead opportunities.
They capture insights from sellers to make sure you’re working with the motivated ones, and they help push them through the process with the homebuyer. The seller will also get helpful insights in their communications like recently sold comps, home value reports and more.
Bonus – CINC has some pretty knowledgeable ad experts that will make sure you’re nurturing with intention to give your leads the properties that will best meet their needs.
Why it’s useful: We’ve all heard quality over quantity, and that is sort of how I view this feature with CINC. You are more likely to get solid leads and useful information to help make your communications more effective.
5. RealVerified Leads
This innovative product employs two-factor authentication to verify phone numbers of leads registering on CINC IDX websites, solving a longstanding challenge in online real estate lead generation.
RealVerified Leads provides a solution by ensuring the accuracy of phone numbers in a simple yet effective way. Upon registration, leads immediately receive a 4-digit code via text, which they enter on the website to verify their phone number and unlock full access to website features. This motivates more leads to provide accurate contact information, significantly enhancing lead quality.
Why it’s useful: Initial results show that 2 out of 3 leads generated by CINC are actively verifying their phone numbers, demonstrating the effectiveness and value of the product.
6. CINC AI
CINC’s AI is an add-on you should really consider. Think of it as an around the clock co-worker that is engaging and warming up the leads for you, but you get to take them across the finish line.
That may not give some people as much control as they would like, but if you are open to it, it can be great for time management. And, while their AI knows when to pass a lead off to you, you can also jump in anytime and the conversation history will be there for you to know where to get started.
Why it’s useful: We all know the upfront work with your leads can be time consuming, the problem is, it’s necessary. Features like AI can help take that over and save you time, but you’ll still have the final control to close the deal.
7. Support & Training
CINC has clearly put a premium on support given all the options you have, as well as the dedicated client service team at your disposal. There’s also a members community you can tap for additional help.
Even more valuable than the support, in my opinion, is that CINC gives all of their clients access to their individual and group training. You’ll also be able to learn from:
- Daily webinars
- Live events
- A thorough knowledge base
- And more…
Why it’s useful: I think this goes without saying, but having additional training and support is always a bonus (as long as it is good quality).
CINC Pricing
CINC’s pricing is going to vary based on location and your team size. Their plans start with an individual user option, and works up to their largest package of 50+ users. If you’re somewhere in between there you can also get the package for up to 4 users, or the next level up of up to 49 users.
CINC starting price is $899/mo for single agents and $1299/mo for teams. For all of their packages you can add CINC AI for an extra $200 a month. If your budget allows it, you can throw in the dialer as well and you’ll get 3 lines for an extra $75 a month.
While CINC’s pricing may vary, we do know they aren’t a cheap option, especially in comparison to some of their competitors. But, sometimes the adage is true – you get what you pay for.
Biggest Pros
While there are a number of advantages to using CINC, the three that stand out are their flexible lead gen, mobile optimization, and guaranteed return on investment.
They have flexible lead gen options.
CINC offers a multitude of ways to generate leads, and make their tools work to meet your specific needs. Their paid search and social media lead generation is definitely a front runner, but they also have product offerings outside of that. You can utilize:
- ListCast. CINC’s remarketing and advertising approach to lead gen. Add it to your platform for insights into your visitors to create dynamic ads that appeal directly to their wants. Your listings will automatically get promoted through Google, Facebook and Instagram, and the listing pool gets updated every 24 hours so it’s fresh and up to date.
- Google Local Service Ads (LSAs). Capture those seller or buyer leads that are getting closer to making a decision. These are a great way to better engage mobile traffic.
- Cash Offer Ads. Bring in those motivated seller leads with cash offer ads to help them close faster. The form the homeowner fills out gives extensive info on their home, helping speed up the process.
- Team Listings Ads. Generate leads for the whole team by listing everyone’s inventory through dynamic ads to target the right prospects. This way listings are getting more visibility, lead prices are lower, and the leads are more targeted using their recent online activity.
You’ll get mobile optimization.
Since the world has basically gone mobile for a good portion of everything we do, this is an important feature. In addition to making everything mobile friendly, they have a family of apps that work for IOS and Android. Specifically they have 3 apps you’ll benefit from:
- CINC Agent. Giving you instant notification of leads coming in.
- ETTA. An app designed for buyers to search through listings and stay in contact with you.
- CINC Open Houses. Open house leads can be valuable since these are typically more motivated. This app helps you qualify and capture those leads to follow-up with.
CINC offers a guaranteed return on your investment.
A guaranteed return on investment always gives you some peace of mind when you’re about to pay for a service. CINC’s guarantee (this is solely between you and CINC, not any third parties) is that you’ll get your money back at the premium price point agreed upon with CINC in the first year if you’re not satisfied.
Biggest Cons
With any good thing there are always some drawbacks. For CINC the main drawback is the learning curve for some of their features. This is followed with the cost of their products being higher, and the front of the websites not being as customizable as some may like.
There’s a steep learning curve.
Many users have commented on the level of difficulty they had learning how to properly navigate some of CINC’s features. Having “intelligent” features can often lead to a ton of steps to complete them, which has frustrated some agents as they try to ramp up leads with CINC.
There’s an overall lack of customization.
While the websites are customizable to an extent, the complaint is the lack of ability to make minor tweaks without having to go through CINC. This coupled with a lower level of customization on the front end, could be a drawback for you.
It can be a pricier option.
As we mentioned, CINC is not the cheapest option, and for some it may be too pricey. While brokers and larger teams can probably budget for them, I would say the solo agents are hit the hardest with CINC’s price tag.
Who’s CINC best for?
CINC is a quality product, but there are definitely some that’ll benefit from them more than others. Let’s look at the users that will gain the most from going with CINC.
It’s great for Brokers and Team Leaders looking to scale their business.
This is the group CINC targets the most with its product offerings like the seller suite, and a full featured CRM. Plus, it’s the most cost effective for brokers and teams.
It’s great for high performing agents that have been in the industry a while, and have a higher budget.
Again, CINC is not a cheap option, but you get what you pay for. High performing agents typically have a higher budget, and have worked with other CRM’s so the learning curve won’t be as steep.
It’s great for Teams trying to grow their business quickly.
The automation and organization that CINC offers helps teams keep their focus on what matters – growing their business.
Who’s it not good for?
On the flip side, there are people that really probably aren’t the best fit for CINC. Unfortunately, these categories of professionals likely won’t get the full benefit for the price if they go with CINC.
It’s not that great for new solo agents that haven’t built their business and are looking for a budget friendly option.
The price may be a little much when you are starting out and on your own. They would be a great option once you have built up your business more and can effectively use all the bells and whistles.
It’s not that great for small teams that aren’t ready to let go of some control.
Their automation features are awesome, but if you are still looking to micromanage every step of the way, they may not serve the ultimate purpose of saving you time.
It’s not that great for agents who don’t have the time to learn the ins and outs of a complicated product.
The learning curve that comes with a sophisticated product is not for everyone. If you’re already strapped for time to grow your business, this might take away from what you need to focus on.
What other users say
The people have spoken, and more than not they are saying they like CINC and their product offerings. So much so that on major review sites they’re getting 4.4 star rating.
Agents had complimentary things to say about the training offerings, the organization the dashboard created for their team, and the intelligent automation features.
While many are very happy, a few others have critiques. Beyond the complaint with the amount of learning required to use their tools + the steep price, some agents had higher expectations for CINC’s lead quality overall. That is also typically followed up with the notion that the good leads were excellent, they just wish there was a way to weed out the bad leads better.
Other than the occasional questionable lead quality comment (which could be entirely attributed to high volume of leads where there will always be a couple bad apples), our review of CINC seems to be pretty aligned with other agents’ experience.
What experts say
Another place to look for knowledge on CINC and its product offerings is from the experts. Many seasoned realtors, and others that are considered more general real estate experts have given their 2 cents on CINC as well. Now let’s take a look at some of the things that have been said.
“There are some ups and downs with CINC. The downside with CINC is that it is expensive.. From what I have seen I think their website and CRM are actually pretty strong… In terms of the actual website performance from a Google ads perspective it is really strong.” – Eric Preston – Realtor, AgentLaunch employee
“There are a lot of impressive things about CINC. Most of the pros about this company are about the company itself, which is rare…The system is one that you don’t own… In terms of the top pros it’s going to be on the CRM lead management side.” – Robert Newman – Founder of Inbound Real Estate Marketing, 12 year real estate marketer
CINC Alternatives
Best All-In-One Solution
- Fully customizable
- Can be used for lead generation or stand alone CRM
Best for Seller Leads
- Easy to learn platform
- Best-in-class technology
Best Budget Leads
- Get leads instantly
- Integrates with dozens of technology platforms
As we have gone over in this review, I think CINC is a great option, but if you are one of the people that this may not be the best fit for, there are other options out there. Whether it’s due to price, your team size, or something else, there is another product out there that will work for you.
- Real Geeks. With Real Geeks you will get all the same main features as CINC, and a few different add features, with a smaller price tag. It’s by no means the cheapest, but it may fit better into your budget. It’s also a good option for solo agents.
- BoomTown. If you are okay with the price tag from CINC, but don’t have the energy or time for the learning curve, BoomTown is probably a good option to look into. They offer CRM, websites, and lead gen, but are considered a little more user friendly. Check out a more lengthy comparison of Boomtown vs CINC.
- Market Leader. For you solo agents getting started this is a great alternative. They focus more on individual agents than teams, which is the opposite of CINC.
The Final Verdict
Overall, CINC is a great option for the right person(s) who has a higher budget and is a little more savvy in terms of learning how to master new tools. If you are a brokerage or a high-performing team, CINC’s tools are definitely catered to you.
You will get everything you need, including tools to keep your team organized. If you are on the fence because you are either an individual agent, or maybe have a smaller budget, and want to do a little more research, take a look at how they stack up in the lead generation category compared to others, as well as how they perform compared to other CRM alternatives.