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Out of Sight Out of Mind - Not with a CRM!

danielkatz919
Jan 14, 2015
2 min read

In an earlier REHangout newsletter I mentioned that 89% of surveyed buyers answered they would work again with their Realtor; however only 29% end up doing so. Why? Well apparently most Real Estate agents disappear or simply do not keep in touch with past clients (their best source of new business!!!). To prevent this from happening CMRs come in handy. A CRM (Client Relationship Manager) is basically a program that allows us to periodically connect with our database of customers and keep ourselves present in their minds when it comes to their real estate needs. A CRM also allows us to monitor the interest our contacts have on our messages (i.e. Who opened the email, who clicked on a link - if applicable, etc.) thus hinting who might be in the market for some serious shopping! A CRM could be as simple as our email or a sophisticated as we can imagine. The key to choosing the right one is to know what our ultimate goal is. Do we want to send our contacts some real estate information sporadically or do we want a program where every action taken is tracked and stored? Or maybe something in between? There are hundreds of CRMs out there; here are some considerations to help you decide which one to choose: 1.- Price: most CRMs are web based with a monthly fee after a free trial period. The fee depends on the amount of emails to be sent during the billing cycle and/or the amount of contacts stored. 2.- Flexibility: another consideration is flexibility; namely if the system can be used in different platforms like a tablet, smart-phone, etc. 3.- Ease of Use: Some of these programs come with so many different tools and features that their use becomes too complicated, compromising our ability to use them efficiently. Another consideration is how simple is it to upload and categorize the contacts. 4.- Double Opt-In: Some CRMs required that every added contact has to receive an email to confirm they want to be on the list - we all know how that will end! Some very good programs out there are Constant Contact, Vertical Response, Top Producer, IXACT, SalesForce, Zoho, etc. For the purpose of my REHangout newsletter, I use MailChimp which has a free version for up to 2000 contacts and 12000 email per month. The program is super easy to use and very intuitive. There are no double op-ins needed (I do not know how many of you would have accepted my "Invitation") and lastly I can use it in my PC as well as in my tablet. Here is an article that goes in detail on several real estate specific CRMs. Enjoy! FYI: For those of us affiliated to the Miami Board of Realtors, we get access to a great CRM program called Net-Aspects which has a good balance between simplicity, flexibility and ease of use. The Board offers free classes to learn it. I suggest you give it a try!