4 steps to Effective CRM in Real Estate

The History of CRM systems

Client management systems were developed in the 1980’s even though the term CRM, or Customer Relationship Manager was not widely used until the 1990’s. Essentially companies needed a way to track a number of key indicators from leads, prospects, clients and business partners. This system also needed features such as database segmentation, marketing automation, and storage. In fact storage was one of the main reasons CRM systems were developed. Similar to the trend of moving towards a paperless business marketplace, CRM systems could store large customer databases for employees to access.

Our CRM systems

Today CRM systems have found their way into every aspect of business. Sales, marketing, customer services and much more are all on CRM systems. Typically for smaller businesses like real estate agents and teams, these are separate services offered by the agent. What a CRM can do for agents is organize these different parts of their business and centralize their business operations. The difficulty occurs when agents are unable to see beyond their capabilities. I believe CRM systems are more of a mindset, rather than merchandise. Here are some of reasons I think agents must think, before they act when it comes to CRM systems.

Effective CRM systems in Real Estate

In real estate I have seen several teams who have both effectively and ineffectively use CRM systems for their businesses. The effective teams often appear to have some aspects of the CRM system that other agents do not. This is simply not true. Often times they take it one step at a time. Below are the steps to maintaining an effective CRM system in Real estate.

• project
• People
• Process (workflow’s)
• Product (technology)

projects

Planning is the foundation of any good CRM system, especially in Real estate. Often times the planning phase is where you map out strategies, roles, and goals for the CRM to be as efficient as possible.

People

Next adding the people in different roles with different strengths is a critical step. Putting the right people in the right position at the right time is something that can make or break your CRM system.

Process

Process is the methods used to segment, market, contact, and distribute in your CRM. The process is guided by the goals set in your planning phase.

Products

Products are the technical CRM systems that you can choose. Did you know that Microsoft Excel is a CRM product? Before there were specific CRM systems like Salesforce and Infusionsoft, companies simply had spreadsheets like those in Excel. I know some lenders who run great businesses right from Excel workbooks. The product must be aligned with the previous three steps to maximize efficiency of a CRM System.

CRM is a mindset first, a product second. This is why three of the four factors of an effective CRM have to do with arranging thoughts together. (the why, who, when) CRM systems in real estate do not need to be difficult or complicated, they simply need to be thought of as part of a larger business strategy.

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