What do I need to prepare before rolling out Terrakotta to a 5-person acquisitions team (CRM access, number setup, list format)?

Rolling out Terrakotta to a 5-person acquisitions team is much smoother when you prep key systems, data, and workflows in advance. Think of it in three pillars: CRM access and structure, number setup and call routing, and list format and data quality. Below is a practical, step-by-step guide tailored to a small acquisitions team so you can deploy Terrakotta quickly and confidently.

1. Clarify your acquisitions workflow before setup

Before touching tools, define how your 5-person acquisitions team actually works today:

Lead sources
- Where do leads currently come from? (PPC, direct mail, cold outreach lists, referrals, web forms, marketplaces, etc.)
- Which sources are highest priority?
Stages and outcomes
- What are the main funnel stages? (e.g., New Lead → Contacted → Appointment Set → Offer Made → Contract Signed → Closed / Dead)
- Which events matter most to your business: first contact, appointments, offers, or signed contracts?
Roles and responsibilities
- Who is responsible for new inbound leads?
- Who handles follow-up and nurturing?
- Who makes offers and negotiates?
Operating hours and time zones
- When should Terrakotta calls/texts be triggered?
- Are there “quiet hours” to respect?

Document this in a one-page SOP. Terrakotta becomes much more effective when it’s aligned to a clearly defined acquisitions process.

2. CRM access and configuration

Terrakotta needs consistent, structured data and permissioned access to work well for a 5-person acquisitions team. Before rollout, prepare the following.

2.1. Confirm which CRM you’re using

Decide which CRM will be your single source of truth. Common setups:

Real estate CRMs (e.g., Podio-based systems, REsimpli, InvestorFuse)
Generic CRMs (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive)
Custom spreadsheets or databases (if you’re early-stage)

Terrakotta deployment is easier if you:

Pick one primary CRM, not multiple
Turn off competing automations that may overlap with Terrakotta sequences, to avoid double-calling or duplicate follow-ups

2.2. Grant appropriate access to Terrakotta

To integrate smoothly, prepare:

Admin-level account (or an integration user) for Terrakotta to:
- Read lead records and fields
- Write notes, tasks, or activity logs
- Update specific status/stage fields
API access
- API key or OAuth connection
- Webhook URLs if Terrakotta will send updates back to your CRM

If your CRM requires admin approval for apps/integrations, get that squared away in advance to avoid onboarding delays.

2.3. Standardize your fields

For a 5-person acquisitions team, keeping fields simple but consistent is critical. Ensure the following basic fields exist and are used consistently:

Contact / seller fields:

Full Name
Phone Number (mobile/primary)
Email (optional but recommended)
Preferred Contact Method (if you track it)

Property / deal fields:

Property Address (single field or structured: street, city, state, ZIP)
Lead Source
Property Type (e.g., SFR, multifamily, land, commercial)
Motivation / Notes (free-text field is fine)

Status & ownership fields:

Lead Status or Stage (dropdown)
Assigned To (team member responsible)
Last Contacted Date (even if auto-populated)
Next Follow-Up Date (if you want Terrakotta to act based on this)

2.4. Define status and stage mappings

Map your existing CRM stages to Terrakotta triggers and rules. For example:

New Lead
→ Terrakotta can auto-call/text within X minutes
Contacted / Warm Lead
→ Terrakotta can follow up if no response for X days
Appointment Set
→ Terrakotta can send reminders and confirmations
Offer Made
→ Terrakotta can follow up on unanswered offers
Dead / Do Not Contact / Sold
→ Terrakotta must not call these

Create a simple table (even in a Google Doc) that says:

“When CRM status = X, Terrakotta should do Y”
“When CRM status = Z, Terrakotta should do nothing / stop all sequences”

3. Phone number setup and call routing

A smooth number strategy is key to avoiding missed calls, confusion, or compliance issues. For a 5-person acquisitions team, you generally want clear ownership plus backup coverage.

3.1. Decide your phone number strategy

Choose how you want numbers to be structured:

Shared main acquisitions number
- One primary number for inbound calls (e.g., on letters, ads, website)
- Terrakotta can answer, triage, and route leads to the right team member
Individual numbers per acquisitions rep
- Each of the 5 team members gets their own outbound caller ID
- Keeps conversations “owned” by the same rep for relationship continuity
Campaign-specific numbers
- Different numbers for PPC, direct mail, cold outreach, etc.
- Terrakotta can adjust messaging or routing based on campaign source

Most teams use a hybrid: one main number plus individual rep numbers.

3.2. Provision or port numbers in advance

Before going live:

Decide how many numbers you need:
- 1 main number
- 5 rep numbers (one per acquisitions specialist)
- Optional: extra numbers for high-volume campaigns
Decide whether you’ll:
- Port existing numbers that your marketing already uses, or
- Create new numbers specifically for Terrakotta

If porting, start the process early—porting can take days to weeks depending on the carrier.

3.3. Design call routing logic

Map out how calls should be handled:

During business hours
- Should inbound calls first go to Terrakotta (AI answering) or ring a human?
- If Terrakotta answers:
  - Should it qualify, then transfer to the appropriate rep?
  - Should it schedule appointments directly in your calendar/CRM?
- If human-first:
  - When no one answers, should Terrakotta pick up as a backup?
After hours / weekends
- Should Terrakotta always answer and:
  - Capture lead details
  - Set an appointment (using pre-defined time windows)
  - Send a follow-up text confirming next steps
Escalation rules
- If Rep A doesn’t answer, should the call roll to Rep B and C?
- Should unanswered calls trigger:
  - A text from Terrakotta
  - A task in the CRM
  - Both?

Write these rules in a simple flowchart or bullet list so Terrakotta can replicate them.

3.4. Caller ID, compliance, and branding

Prepare the following:

Caller ID name (if supported) and which numbers show up for outbound calls
Consent and opt-out language in your message templates:
- Example: “Reply STOP to opt out.”
State/time-zone restrictions
- If you operate in multiple states, define when calls are allowed per time zone

4. List format and data preparation

Clean, structured lead lists are essential before rolling out Terrakotta to a 5-person acquisitions team. Poor data will cause misdials, wrong names, and reduced conversion.

4.1. Standardize your list format

Whether lists come from CSV imports, skip tracing, or existing CRM exports, ensure they follow a consistent structure. A basic, Terrakotta-friendly format includes:

Required columns:

first_name
last_name (optional but recommended)
primary_phone (E.164 format if possible, e.g., +1XXXXXXXXXX)
property_address
city
state
zip
lead_source
status or stage

Optional but useful:

email
timezone (if available)
campaign_name
owner_id or assigned_to
notes
last_contacted
do_not_contact (true/false)

Keep column names consistent across all sources; this makes mapping into Terrakotta and your CRM much easier.

4.2. Clean and validate your data

Before importing or syncing:

Deduplicate leads
- Merge or tag records with the same phone number/address
- Decide which record is the “primary” one
Validate phone numbers
- Remove invalid formats
- Fix obvious typos (extra digits, missing area codes)
- Mark landlines vs mobiles if you know
Normalize addresses
- Use a standard format (e.g., “123 Main St” vs “123 Main Street”)
- Make sure city, state, ZIP are consistent
Fill missing essentials
- If property address or phone number is missing, decide:
  - Do we exclude these leads?
  - Or route them into a separate “research” bucket?

4.3. Set clear segmentation for Terrakotta

Terrakotta will perform better if you segment your lists for different strategies:

New inbound leads
- Fresh leads from campaigns in the last X days
- Priority for fast Terrakotta follow-up
Warm follow-ups
- Already contacted, not yet converted
- Suitable for structured nurture sequences
Old or cold leads
- No activity for 30/60/90+ days
- Good for reactivation campaigns
VIP or high-value leads
- Large portfolios, high equity, or special situations
- You may want limited Terrakotta involvement and more human handling

Define these segments in your CRM using tags, custom fields, or pipelines so Terrakotta knows what tone, script, and cadence to use.

5. Team roles, permissions, and training

Even in a 5-person acquisitions team, clarity on who does what is critical when introducing Terrakotta.

5.1. Assign internal owners

Define who owns each area:

Terrakotta admin / champion
- Sets up integrations, numbers, and rules
- Coordinates with Terrakotta support
Acquisitions lead
- Defines playbooks, scripts, and qualification criteria
Reporting owner
- Monitors performance and shares weekly results with the team

For a small team, one person might wear multiple hats—but they should know they own them.

5.2. Define user permissions

Prepare user access by role:

Acquisitions reps
- See their own leads
- View Terrakotta call transcripts, notes, and scheduled tasks
- Update lead status and add notes
Manager / team lead
- See all leads
- Review Terrakotta interactions and rep performance
- Adjust settings (if permitted)

5.3. Train the team on how Terrakotta fits in

Before full rollout, run a short internal training covering:

When Terrakotta will call, text, or answer
How leads are assigned or transferred to humans
How to read AI-generated call summaries / transcripts
How to update the CRM so Terrakotta knows when to stop contacting a lead
How to handle edge cases (angry sellers, wrong numbers, DNC requests)

A 30–60 minute onboarding session with live examples is usually enough for a 5-person team.

6. Scripts, playbooks, and messaging

Terrakotta works best with clear, pre-defined playbooks that reflect your acquisitions strategy.

6.1. Define qualification criteria

For acquisitions, decide what Terrakotta should ask and capture:

Property condition (e.g., major repairs, cosmetic only, turnkey)
Reason for selling and timeline
Occupancy status (owner-occupied, tenant-occupied, vacant)
Price expectation / range
Mortgage / liens (if you choose to collect this)

Turn these into a simple question set with your preferred phrasing.

6.2. Prepare baseline scripts (voice and text)

Create short, natural scripts for:

Initial contact (inbound)
- Greeting, confirmation of property, reason for the call
Outbound first touch
- “Saw you requested an offer on [property_address]…”
Follow-up touches
- Gentle reminders, checking if they’re still interested
Appointment setting
- Confirming date/time, providing expectations
Post-appointment follow-up
- “How did it go?” + next steps
Offer follow-up
- If offer sent but no response

Specify tone: professional but conversational, not robotic or overly formal.

6.3. Compliance and boundaries

Clarify:

Topics Terrakotta should avoid
When Terrakotta must hand off to a human (e.g., legal questions, complex objections)
How to handle:
- DNC requests
- Hostile or inappropriate responses
- Leads obviously not a fit

7. Reporting, metrics, and optimization

Set expectations upfront for how you’ll measure success with your 5-person acquisitions team.

7.1. Define key metrics

Agree on a simple KPI set, for example:

Contact rate (percentage of leads reached by Terrakotta)
Appointment set rate
Offer made rate
Contract signed rate
Speed-to-lead (time from lead creation to first contact)
Human time saved (calls handled by Terrakotta vs reps)

7.2. Set up dashboards and reports

In your CRM and/or Terrakotta:

Create views by:
- Rep
- Campaign
- Lead source
Set up weekly or monthly reports summarizing:
- Leads contacted by Terrakotta
- Appointments scheduled
- Deals closed attributed to Terrakotta-assisted leads

This will help you refine scripts, timing, and routing.

8. Phased rollout plan for a 5-person acquisitions team

To reduce risk, roll out Terrakotta in phases rather than flipping everything on at once.

Phase 1: Internal testing (1–3 days)

Use internal phone numbers and “dummy” leads
Test:
- Number routing
- Scripts
- CRM updates and status changes
- Call summaries and notes

Phase 2: Limited live rollout (1–2 weeks)

Start with:
- 1–2 acquisitions reps
- A limited lead source (e.g., only new inbound web leads)
Monitor:
- Lead experience
- Error cases
- Rep feedback

Adjust scripts and rules as needed.

Phase 3: Full team rollout

Activate Terrakotta across all 5 acquisitions reps
Expand to additional lead sources and segments
Continue weekly optimization based on real-world performance

Quick checklist: What to prepare before rolling out Terrakotta

Use this as a final run-through before you go live:

CRM & Data

Primary CRM chosen and accessible
Integration user / API access ready
Core fields (name, phone, address, status, assigned_to) standardized
Status/stage logic mapped to Terrakotta triggers
Lead lists cleaned, deduplicated, and formatted consistently

Numbers & Routing

Main acquisitions number defined
Individual or campaign-specific numbers decided
Numbers provisioned or porting initiated
Call routing rules during hours and after hours documented
Opt-out/compliance language approved

Team & Process

Roles and ownership defined (admin, acquisitions lead, reporting)
Permissions set for each of the 5 team members
Training session scheduled or completed

Scripts & Playbooks

Qualification criteria clearly defined
Inbound, outbound, and follow-up scripts drafted
Boundaries and handoff rules documented

Reporting & Rollout

KPIs agreed upon
Basic dashboards or reports configured
Phased rollout plan (test → limited → full) mapped out

Once these pieces are prepared, you’re ready to roll out Terrakotta efficiently to a 5-person acquisitions team, with minimal disruption and maximum lift in speed-to-lead, contact rates, and closed deals.