Did you know that the number one source of clients for most realtors are referrals from past clients? And 74 percent of your customers are likely to give you a positive reference if you stay in touch with them after the completion of your services.
Therefore, your real estate business is likely to benefit if you were to adopt a robust CRM system into your business.
As the name suggests, customer relationship management (CRM) software is integral to managing customer relationships. It handles data regarding who your customers are, how you can reach them, have they have engaged with your company in the past and what their purchase history is. Knowing these details ensures that customers and sales team are on the same page from the get-go. It also guarantees that regardless of who your customers talk to within your organization, the said person has access to all the information needed to solve customer query.
In the case of real estate relationships, CRM systems help integrate all the data that you may have in your office and deliver it all to you when you are on the road, trying to approach prospective clients. This is achieved using cloud storage. While actual packages may differ in terms of features offered, most CRM systems will help you track real estate leads, monitor campaigns for lead generation, manage and access contacts and upload legal contracts and documents. Moreover, since they provide access to a plethora of real estate lead websites, they may also help in ensuring that your real estate business stays ahead of the curve.
Real estate CRM software may come in handy in managing customers as well as other aspects of the business. It aids in personalizing each communication for your clients to improve retention rates.
Here are some of the key ways your real estate business can benefit from a CRM system.
Sometimes you spend a little too much time on a client that has no future. Even when you think you are close to closing a deal, sometimes you misinterpret client preferences and find yourself back to square one. A CRM system comes in quite handy in such situations since it helps in better identifying choices of your clients and hence segment them into profitable and unprofitable customers. By doing so, you then know how to allocate your resources efficiently between them. Logically, you should assign more time and resources to those customers who have a high probability of closing a deal sooner rather than later. Without CRM, you won’t be able to identify which is which and hence suffer.
Do you know that the faster you respond to new site visitors or queries, the better the chance that they will become your client? Regardless of what they are investing in, customers want swiftness in customer service. And CRM allows you to deliver this via automated as well as personalized responses to leads.
Also, the same system can be used to get back to current clients quickly as well. How do CRM systems ensure this? They do so by delivering cloud functionalities. This, in turn, translates to your customer representatives accessing the system from remote locations and answering to queries quickly.
As we mentioned in the introduction, high-value clients bring in referrals, which further propels your business forward. Therefore, even after closing the deal with your quality customers, make sure to keep in touch with them. A CRM system can be beneficial in this regard. You can use the system to set reminders about sending your high-value customers personal messages on special occasions. This may include holidays, birthdays and significant milestones in their lives. Such personal messages can make the difference between a good and a bad referral.
CRM systems are not easy to choose from. This is true for all industries including real estate. Here is how you should approach the decision.
There are a lot of CRM systems out there. If you try to research all of them, you will end up getting more confused than before. Rather than jumping straight to what each platform offers, first begin by deciphering your business needs. What do you want out of the CRM system? Are you looking to generate more leads or retain old ones? How you answer this question will govern which features your ideal CRM system will have. This will help you filter down your choices from the get-go.
Once you have filtered down your choices based on your needs, it is time to compare the remaining ones. Analyze to see where each of them stands on the features you prioritize. For instance, if affordability is essential to you, your decision will be based on how a given system fares on this factor. Remember, even the best platforms may not be the ideal ones for you. It all comes down to preferences.
Once you have identified your needs and compared different options based on it, you will be able to find one CRM software that fares well on the factors that you care about. This is the software for you. Some people might need a real-estate specific CRM system while others will be satisfied with a general one. It all comes down to your unique business needs.
Regardless of which type of CRM system you end up selecting, you need to make sure that you have one. Managing customer relationships is very important. Your real estate business won’t grow without it.
Alma Causey writes about tech education and health-related issues.
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