Steve Trang: Becoming Objection Proof with Humans & AI in Your Lead Manager Roles

Steve Trang is the founder of Objection Proof AI and the former operator of Max Cash Offers, and he now builds practical AI tools that review sales conversations, run role plays, and work follow up for real estate investors. He joined us on stage at CG Select and Elevate in Clearwater Beach ahead of his masterclass on where investors actually are in their AI journey and what the next step looks like. This conversation covers what it costs to run AI across a real company, why the operators seeing the best results are running humans and AI on the same leads instead of choosing one, and how automated follow up is producing $1,000 cost per contract on leads most investors throw away. If you have a CRM full of leads nobody has touched in a year and a sales team that says it follows up but doesn't, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:22] – Host opens at CG Select and Elevate with 200 plus full time investors focused on getting better, not just bigger [3:19] – Framing the conversation around practical AI you can use today, not technology that's 30 years away [4:23] – Why 90 percent of the room has used ChatGPT but almost nobody has AI actually doing work for them [5:04] – Steve's team spent nearly $4,000 in tokens in one month and learned mostly what not to do [5:30] – Every employee gets a paid AI account, and why nobody has been let go because of AI [5:49] – The April lesson on using AI responsibly and setting budget overrides by team member [7:13] – How CG member conversations pushed Steve to build the AI product in the first place [7:31] – Automatic sales conversation review on every call, including an app for recording in person appointments [7:59] – Ten role play bots covering cold inbound, form fill to appointment, and appointment to contract [8:39] – The old Max Cash Offers cadence of nine dials in 24 hours and why it never got done consistently [9:20] – AI now calls forever until it reaches the homeowner, with no sick days and no bad days [11:37] – Why the top performing clients run humans and AI on the same lead instead of picking one [12:35] – Most teams have six closers and two good ones, so let AI cover the rest [15:30] – Peeling off $1,000 a month for Facebook leads and seeing $1,000 cost per contract [16:20] – The text message channel that dominated 2019 to 2021 and still has no real replacement [18:57] – Jacob Matlock closed a $60,000 deal eight days in from a lead untouched for two years [20:03] – What's next, an AI closer built to buy houses virtually over the phone   5 Key Takeaways Run Humans And AI Together — The clients getting the most out of this aren't choosing between a human lead manager and an AI caller. They put both on the same lead and let whoever connects first take it. Activity Is Now Guaranteed — Sales training has always assumed the follow up actually happens, and it usually doesn't. AI removes the variable, calling nights, weekends, and holidays without getting discouraged. Cheap Leads Just Got Viable Again — Facebook and other low cost leads used to die because working them took too much human labor. Strip out that cost and a $1,000 monthly ad spend can produce contracts at $1,000 each. Follow Up Is Where The Money Is — Somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of deals come from follow up, not first contact. A two year old dead lead turned into a $60,000 deal eight days after one operator turned the system on. Budget Discipline Beats Enthusiasm — Getting the whole team on AI is only half the work. Once everyone is using it, you need spending limits and clear rules about who is allowed to go over.   Links & Resources Objection Proof AI: https://objectionproof.ai Hear the AI caller: text AI CALLER to 33777  Hear a role play bot: text ROLE PLAY to 33777  The Collective Genius: https://thecollectivegenius.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If you've been telling yourself your team is handling follow up, go pull a lead from two years ago and see what happens. Steve's breakdown of running humans and AI side by side is the kind of thing that changes how you staff your sales floor, so send this to the operator you know who is still trying to hire their way out of the problem. Follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius podcast so more investors can find these conversations.