On the 426th episode of Mail Right Show, Jonathan Denwood, and Robert Newman discuss the pros and cons of using Sierra Interactive in 2024. Robert Newman is the founder and CEO of Inbound REM. This inbound marketing company provides real estate website development and SEO consulting and provides services directly to real estate agents and brokers. On the other hand, Jonathan Denwood is the joint founder of Mail-Right, a CRM lead generation platform built on WordPress, combining several digital tools into a single, convenient, and user-friendly solution. This episode provides updated information about Sierra Interactive, one of the top real estate websites and CRM providers.
What is Sierra Interactive
Sierra Interactive’s founder, Ben, was an experienced developer who initially worked independently for real estate agents. He noticed a recurring problem: real estate agents frequently ask for tools to generate leads and manage a CRM on their websites. Ben was already developing similar tools as a consultant but envisioned a more scalable approach. He aimed to build a server-based, fast real estate website platform that could be sold using templates. This idea led to Sierra Interactive, which provides integrated solutions for real estate professionals. Ben used to blog and share his thoughts publicly, telling his adaptive approach: he responded to the needs he observed in the market. Real estate webmasters, who were dominant in the industry at the time, were not treating their customers well. Ben saw an opportunity to create a competitive product that better served the needs of real estate agents. Sierra Interactive began to outshine its competitors for five to ten years, attracting a significant following from real estate webmasters.
Sierra Interactive systems have different usages that are distinct to various user categories. Sierra Interactive is a great option if you have a team of five to twenty people and you’re looking for a customized solution to track where all your leads are coming from. With a $200,000 to $300,000 budget, Sierra Interactive can provide the tools and customization your team needs to manage and analyze leads.
Recently, Sierra Interactive has seen substantial growth, although Ben has since sold the company. A possible reason why Sierra Interactive sold its company is that the platform requires a complete rebuild to keep up with the mobile revolution. The company needs to catch up in several technological areas. Although they continue to produce solid features and are recognized as industry leaders, somebody needs to come with great enthusiasm and innovation to maintain the platform’s relevance. Despite this change in ownership, the platform remains a leading solution in the real estate industry. The primary cons of Sierra Interactive at the moment are the need for more clarity regarding ownership and company plans. This uncertainty creates significant concern among stakeholders and potential investors.
Sierra Interactive also faces significant competition from Follow Up Boss. Follow Up Boss is a better choice for real estate teams with an advertising budget between $200,000 and $300,000. However, there are a couple of drawbacks. First, Follow Up Boss does not provide a website. Second, Zillow recently acquired the company, raising concerns about data acquisition. While Follow Up Boss assures users their data is not shared with Zillow, some may still be wary of potential data sharing issues.
Sierra Interactive Main Features
Sierra Interactive became a top real estate website builder known for its integrated CRM capabilities. The platform achieved significant recognition, with Ruby Home being one of the most notable examples built on Sierra Interactive. Ruby Home, created by an experienced content marketer, became the number one real estate website in traffic and exposure. The website’s owner, Tony, even blogged about his positive experience with Sierra Interactive, and his review remains highly visible in search results.
However, once considered interactive, the content management system (CMS) they built now needs to be improved. For example, it does not support multimedia content like video and restricts the number of images that can be used. While Tony has managed to build a leading website using Sierra Interactive’s CMS, exceptional skill is required to achieve such results. As a result, the quality of leads generated by these websites has been declining for a long time. Overall, Sierra Interactive is not as well-prepared for the current technological landscape as expected.
Regarding SEO, Sierra Interactive stands out from other platforms. However, it’s important to note that the website of Ruby Home mentioned above, managed by an experienced inbound marketer, has been significantly customized