Top Orlando Real Estate Team Transforms Local Influence into Digital Dominance
Nicole Van Treese, founder of Sundial Real Estate and part of the prestigious Side Real Estate network, had built something many agents dream of: a thriving local sphere of influence in Orlando, Florida. As one of the top-producing teams in the market, Nicole and her team had deep roots in the community, trusted vendor relationships, and a steady stream of in-person connections.
But there was a problem.
"We had this incredible local network," Nicole explains, "but we were watching leads slip through our fingers every single day."
1. Lead Capture Was Broken
Despite meeting dozens of potential clients at community events, networking gatherings, and through referrals, Sundial Real Estate struggled to convert those handshakes into CRM entries. The process was manual, inconsistent, and easy to forget in the hustle of day-to-day business.
The team estimates they were losing 20-30 potential leads per quarter simply because they didn't have a seamless digital capture system that worked in real-time at events.
2. No Way to Provide Ongoing Value
Even when leads made it into the CRM, staying top-of-mind was a challenge. Email newsletters felt impersonal, and there was no centralized way to provide continuous value to their sphere of influence.
"The push notifications get opened and noticed more than emails these days, that may end up in spam," Nicole from the Sundial team notes. "So that's really important for us."
3. Vendor Relationships Were Underutilized
Sundial Real Estate had cultivated partnerships with the best lenders, inspectors, contractors, and service providers in Orlando. But connecting clients with these vendors was clunky—often requiring multiple phone calls, text messages, or scattered spreadsheets with no professional presentation.
When Nicole discovered HomeStack, she immediately saw the potential to solve all three problems with one elegant solution.
HomeStack gave Sundial Real Estate what they'd been missing: a branded mobile app that served as a complete resource hub for clients and prospects.
The app features:
What surprised Nicole most was how powerful HomeStack became in winning listings.
"When you are in front of a seller, and you have your own independent brokerage app, there's a misconception that an independent brokerage doesn't have strong technology and strong resources," Nicole explains. "I show them, 'Look at our Sundial app. Your home is gonna be featured here. Like, for example, this is your neighbor's home. All of your photos are gonna be here. All of my contact information, even our preferred lender, and even a mortgage calculator.' They are wowed."
The competitive advantage is clear: "There's nobody really out there in our area that's competition with us that has an app like this. So it really blows 'em away. It helps with conversion a lot."
One feature that transformed Sundial's event strategy was the flexibility of QR codes.
"It actually has made pre-event planning so much easier," Nicole explains. "As Michael mentioned, our individual agents have their own QR code for their events, and then our company events, whether I'm doing an overall Sundial Real Estate Company event or I'm doing even a recruiting event, I can have my company app QR code on there."
This means:
No more printing separate flyers, creating multiple landing pages, or manually tracking which event generated which lead. One app, infinite event possibilities.
The real power of HomeStack isn't just the app—it's how seamlessly it connects to Sundial's CRM, creating a centralized hub for every client relationship.
"The Follow Up Boss CRM obviously is our main hub. It centralizes everything," Nicole explains. "Where we met the person, the connection—I should say where we met the connection. Notes on where we met the connection. Maybe they shared with you, 'Oh, I have 3 kids, and we're thinking about moving.' 3 children. And you wanna make those little notes so you remember those little details. So it's one big centralized hub for everything, what their needs are."
This integration means:
Michael puts it perfectly: "Those 76 people from our NYE event now go into our CRM, now they're in our database, and now you're nurturing them with all of your marketing materials. I always think of the app as our client-facing tool. It's the top of the funnel kind of entryway to build that trust, know who's looking or what's happening, then they go into your CRM, and then it takes off from there."
One of Sundial Real Estate's most successful strategies has been their signature Taco Tuesday events. What started as a fun client appreciation idea has become a lead generation machine—and HomeStack is at the center of it all.
Pre-Event Marketing: The team promotes Taco Tuesday across all social media channels with eye-catching flyers featuring the Sundial app QR code.
"We always tease and make a funny little joke," Nicole explains. "'Don't download our app, you don't get your free tacos, and you don't get your free 2 margaritas.' And it works."
The messaging is clear: Download the Sundial app = Free food, free drinks, and ongoing value.
At the Event: When guests arrive, the rule is simple and strictly enforced.
Michael breaks it down: "If they don't download the app and we don't see them in our portal, they're not getting their 2 tacos, 2 margaritas."
This creates a fun, low-pressure way to ensure 100% app adoption at events. It's positioned as an exclusive perk for app users, not a data grab.
The Real Magic: Conversations That Convert But the app download is just the beginning. The real value happens during the event itself.
"Now everybody—it's ingrained in everybody's heads that we have our app," Michael shares. "You know, download it, it takes 2 seconds to sign up, and then we end up having really good conversations with the clients at our Taco Tuesday, which oftentimes leads to either referrals or repeat business from them."
The best part? Nicole gets to focus on what she does best.
“Utilizing our app at in-person events has taken out all of the stress where I can do what I do best, which is making sure that I'm there, I'm hosting, like the hostess with the mostest," Nicole shares. "But I know that I'm spending the best use of my time by doing that. I'm still capturing all the leads, and they're still gonna be nurtured, and we're getting them to engage."
Michael, a team member at Sundial Real Estate, has also perfected the art of lead generation at his gym events. His approach is tactical, repeatable, and highly effective.
The Setup:
The Pitch: "I tell them, 'Don't delete it.' It's also a really cool app. It's kinda like Zillow but a lot better because it links to our local MLS. So if anybody's interested in browsing homes, like I do often all the time, it's a really good portal for them to have."
The Results: "On average, we typically get between 10 and 15 signups" per gym event.
The Follow-Up: "I do the push notification for if they win, and then I get all of their contact information already, and then I stay in touch with them with quarterly market updates. So it's a really, really great tool, and it really makes the events worth your while, especially with getting vendors involved with splitting costs and things like that. It's been amazing."
When asked about the overall measurable impact HomeStack has had on Sundial's business growth, Nicole's answer centers on competitive advantage:
"It helps with conversion a lot."
The app has become their secret weapon in listing presentations, especially against larger brokerages. By showcasing technological sophistication that rivals or exceeds big-name competitors, Sundial Real Estate dispels the myth that independent brokerages lack resources.
But beyond listings, the recurring events like Taco Tuesday have created a predictable pipeline of engaged sphere contacts who regularly generate referrals and return as repeat clients.
One of the most underrated features has become one of the most powerful: push notifications.
"The push notifications get opened and noticed more than emails these days that may end up in spam," Rachel emphasizes. "So that's really important for us that you guys have that and we think it's a great feature."
This direct line to clients and prospects means Sundial's message cuts through the noise of crowded inboxes and actually gets seen—especially important for promoting upcoming Taco Tuesdays or other events.
Sundial's Taco Tuesday isn't just an event—it's a brand. Recurring monthly events build anticipation, loyalty, and predictable lead flow. Choose something memorable and make it yours.
"No app download = no tacos and margaritas" creates a fun, non-negotiable incentive. Position your app as the gateway to exclusive perks and watch conversion rates soar.
Individual agents get their own QR codes. Company events get branded codes. Taco Tuesday gets its own promotional materials. This makes event planning easier and attribution automatic.
Blast your event on social media with flyers that include your QR code and clear messaging: "Download the app to get in." As Michael notes, now it's "ingrained in everybody's heads" that Sundial has an app.
Don't ask people to "give you their information." Invite them to download a tool that helps them browse homes better than Zillow, access exclusive vendor networks, get free tacos, and receive real-time market updates.
The app gets them in the door, but the real magic happens in the conversations. Use events to build genuine relationships that lead to referrals and repeat business.
The app is the front door, but the CRM is where relationships are built. Notes about "3 kids," "thinking about moving," and "met at Taco Tuesday" turn into personalized follow-up that converts.
Show sellers their neighbor's listing in the app. Walk them through how their home will be featured. Demonstrate the mortgage calculator and vendor network. It's an instant credibility boost.
Michael's strategy of involving vendors in events creates win-win scenarios. They get exposure through the app, you get cost-sharing, and clients get value.
Stop relying solely on email marketing. Push notifications get opened and drive action—perfect for reminding your sphere about next month's Taco Tuesday.
As Michael notes, the biggest benefit is time savings. You capture leads automatically, nurture them systematically, and spend your time doing what you do best: being the hostess with the mostest.
Sundial Real Estate's transformation illustrates a fundamental truth in modern real estate: local influence and digital presence aren't opposing forces—they're complementary when you have the right tools.
Nicole's final word of advice: "If you really wanna take your business to that next level and you're community-based, or really focus on your top 50 clients, that's definitely something you really need to think about."
HomeStack didn't change what made Nicole and her team successful. It simply gave them a way to:
The results speak for themselves: improved conversion rates, zero lost leads, effortless event planning, predictable referral generation, and a competitive edge that's helping one of Orlando's top teams stay on top.
Ready to transform your sphere of influence into your most powerful lead generation tool?
Want to create your own "Taco Tuesday" moment that captures leads while you focus on relationships?
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HomeStack helps top-producing real estate agents and teams turn their local influence into digital dominance. With branded mobile apps that serve as complete client resource hubs, HomeStack makes lead capture seamless, client engagement ongoing, and vendor collaboration strategic.
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