There is a saying in the real estate industry: if you’re not constantly accumulating fresh leads and contacts, then you’re not really trying. If you’re a realtor, then you understand just how critical it is to the success of your office to gather new names, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
(We will refrain from going Glengarry Glenn Ross at this moment!)
Canada’s real estate market, particularly in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, remains red hot. Because of the short supply and exorbitant demand, prices aren’t coming down anytime soon.
This is your moment to shine. People want to purchase a home, but it can be hard to find a bungalow, semi-detached, or townhome to meet their needs. You always need to be on the hunt for buyers and sellers – and, the way the market is functioning now, you need to tip the scales in favour of the sellers.
But, with the endless stream of contact-building, how can you properly manage them? Well, that is where a customer relationship management (CRM) system comes into play. These programs quickly become the lifeblood of your workplace, your business, and your overall success.
Unsure how to manage it? Here are five must-know CRM tips for real estate agents:
1. Information Stays in a Single Location
An important aspect of a CRM is to store all of your information in a single location. Otherwise, you quickly become unorganized, you lose pertinent data, and you fail at achieving a goal.
So, what do you do? Keep everything in one place:
- Names
- Addresses
- Birthdates
- Telephone numbers and email addresses
- Other relevant details about past and present clients.
By maintaining these personal elements of your clientele, you can stay on top of things.
2. Automation Plays a Key Role
You’re a busy person. From courting new clients to learning about the latest homes on the market, it can seem impossible to complete the most mundane of tasks.
To circumvent manual labour, you need to embrace automation.
Everything from sending thank you notes to sending out email campaigns, automating specific chores can play an essential role in your business. Indeed, five minutes may not seem like much, but that five minutes multiplied by 20, 30, or 50 can imbibe much of your day.
3. Measure the Numbers Regularly
Here is something you can’t automate: measuring the numbers on a regular basis.
Perhaps at the end of each workday, on the weekend, or at the end of every week, you need to crunch the numbers, comb through the figures, and peruse the statistics.
How many people are reading your emails? How many people have unsubscribed from your monthly newsletter? What is your click-through rate?
All these types of metrics should be honed in on so you can either enhance, adjust, or maintain.
4. Update Your Lists Weekly
A sublime CRM system is one that is organized and updated frequently. Without the updates, then you can get easily lost. You likely have categories – if not, you should! Sometimes, you may need to shift clients to specific categories so you understand where they are now.
Unsure how to update your real estate CRM? Here are a few tips to incorporate into your game plan:
- Did someone unsubscribe? Remove them from the list.
- Did a lead become a buyer? Change their attribution.
- Only a name and no contact information? Delete!
- Did you perform your quarterly contact? Update it.
As you will learn, updating is crucial to succeeding.
5. Daily Objective: Add One New Contact
If you don’t have a New Year’s Resolution – yes, we are about a quarter of the way through the year – then here is one to adopt right now: add one new contact every day.
Yes, it may be easier said than done, but this is a worthwhile daily objective to have.
Just think of it, one contact a day (even on weekends) is equal to 365 new contacts a year.
Real estate agents are extremely busy professionals. From the moment they wake up to the time they go to bed (you even wake up in the middle of the night), you are engaged in your business. It is your livelihood. One way to give your livelihood a shot in the arm is a customer relationship management system.
Even if you don’t have the time to establish one, then outsource this need and get one now!
You won’t regret it.