What is Real Estate CRM and How to Manage Customer Relationships With It

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 2020 real estate report by real estate industry experts indicates an upward trend and rapid growth in real estate investment. It is, therefore, time for real estate investors, realtors, and property managers to adapt versatile real estate CRM software to effectively manage growth opportunities, minimize risks, and maximize revenues.

Real estate customer relationship management (CRM) technology is the ultimate tool for 21st-century real estate management. It’s pivotal for business growth and managing customer relationships.

Hone your realtor skills as you read on and acquaint yourself with the essence of real estate CRM software. You’ll also unravel a practical way to integrate CRM in managing customer relationships to run a successful real estate business.

What is Real Estate CRM?

Consider real estate customer relationship management (CRM) both as a strategy and software that real estate firms and real estate agents use to manage their businesses.

Real Estate CRM as a Strategy: As a strategy, real estate CRM software is a means through which realtors build, manage, and sustain meaningful and successful relationships with both leads and customers.

Real Estate CRM as a software: As a software, real estate CRM is an organized system that centrally stores sellers, business leads, and customer data. The information can contain details about prospective leads, new and existing customers. It can also be details about user interactive activities from lead generation channels, their personal information, communication, and purchase history.

Major Types of Real Estate CRM Software and the Best Choice

You will find two main types of real estate CRM applications in the market – desktop applications and cloud applications.

Desktop real estate CRM software are stand-alone programs that exclusively and locally run on laptop or desktop computers. They require a user’s access to a host computer to run these applications.

Cloud-based real estate CRM software runs over the web and is accessed over the internet from remote servers. You can access your data anytime anywhere so long you have an internet connection and the details to log into your application. Today, cloud-based real estate CRMs are the most common and are preferred by realtors. To ensure proficiency, many agents also engage in practice and training programs to prepare for licensing tests and stay updated on industry standards.

How do realtors use Real Estate CRM?

Real estate CRM software is a hub for all business data. It keeps everything organized for easy access, anywhere, and anytime. Modern CRMs from insights to run successful real estate marketing campaigns and track returns on ad spend.

Realtors can manage their contracts and transactions, close deals, and overall, improve their productivity and attain efficiency.

Through real estate CRM software, realtors can obtain articulate reporting that provides insights on business performance so they can monitor their business growth. They can also use insights to revamp their strategies for better results.

Capturing and classifying leads with a real estate CRM saves time through automated business processes. Realtors can make follow-ups on leads based on their priority.

How to manage customer relationships with a Real Estate CRM

The success and profitability of a real estate business depend on your relationships with leads, prospective, new, and current customers. This is achievable only if you choose the right real estate CRM.

A real estate CRM software will help you understand the preferences of your customers and address their concerns appropriately and in time. It is effective for all players in the industrial, commercial, and residential property market.

Here are specific ways you can use CRM to build better relationships with your customers, leads, and prospects using real estate CRM software.

1. Keep your business data organized

A real estate CRM software will store and keep your information organized with one-click access. It helps manage huge amounts of data that could otherwise be bulky for established realtor businesses.

Business data may be minimal for real estate starters, but as the business thrives it can be bulky. Whatever the level of your real estate business, keeping your data organized at a central place from initial stages will keep you on track for growth.

Staying organized with real estate CRM software will also ease the process of onboarding properties. It has standard property fields and if need be, you can add more fields. Using an organized system makes engagements with your leads and customers more effectively.

2. Generate quality leads

Get quality leads! A real estate CRM software can analyze user activity based on their online interaction with your website, newsletters, or even your ads. You will discover lead indicators on their actual interests and refine your approach when reaching out.

For instance, you may discover a group of users interested in your posts for commercial properties. Such information can guide you on the leads to contact for your commercial properties on sale.

3. Manage business leads with real estate CRM software

Business leads can be current or future – they both need balance. Managing leads involves the establishment of a gradually close connection that can earn you a conversion.

Use the information from your lead capture forms to create segments for your users. You can then channel your marketing and sales efforts to an ideal customer segment.

A real estate CRM software provides data for you to create segments of customers interested in residential properties, commercial properties, both property types, or whatever categories you may have on the list. Further, you can dissect the segmentation into locations of interest for even finer details.

Once you segment your customers, you can now target your reach accordingly and carry on with the conversion of leads into sales.

4. Personalize your customer service

Before you make a sale, your prospects will develop a level of trust with your business. It takes time to establish such trust. Real Estate CRM software provides the right avenue to build that trust.

Always get ready to answer all questions of your leads and customers appropriately.

Use you real estate CRM software to fast-track your customer relationships by keeping it warm from your initial contact. Avoid a one-response-fits-all to your customers even if they are interested in the same property.

Customers may be novice or experienced buyers. They might be looking for financing to facilitate their purchase or may have ready-cash to make purchases. Be aware of such differences.

A real estate CRM software will provide you with details for each customer. Tailor your responses for each customer. They will appreciate that you took the time to understand their needs and will give you priority in their property search options. Supercharge your customer service further by sharing digital business card with contact details and a link to property-related FAQs.

5. Boost your revenues with real estate CRM software

Becoming a successful real estate agent needs strategy, time, and commitment. You should make fact-based decisions when looking forward to growing your sales. An operative real estate CRM software is user friendly with a straightforward report generation process.

Real estate CRMs like Agile CRM for realtors allow you to generate comprehensive and objective reports for your business.

You can generate reports based on sales, property, seller, or customer data. They will provide you with a deeper sight into your business to assist you to address concerns affecting or arising from all sectors in your business.

As you analyze the findings from your real estate CRM software reports you will identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business and devise a mitigation strategy.

Once you address the loopholes in your business, you will earn a better market position staged for revenue growth.

6. Make informed follow-ups

It is convenient and seamless when you make follow-ups with your sellers or buyers using real estate CRM software. You can reach out by sending them a message, an email, or via a phone call – all from the CRM dashboard.

Expect information about leads from different parties. They could be property sellers, owners, experienced property agents, or new entrants into real estate dealings. Such leads differ in value and need a personalized approach.

Every lead goes through a process with the end goal of a conversion – a sale, property onboarding, or a mutual agreement with other real estate industry stakeholders.

Whereas it may be relatively easier working with sellers, bear in mind working with buyers needs more attention. A real estate CRM software is the tool to keep record and help you make follow-ups. It shows you contacted leads, the outcome, and subsequent steps until a deal is done.

7. Generate and analyze reports

Real estate CRM software stores data centrally – this allows you to generate reports to track your performance to discover how well your business is doing.

Reports will help you discover the areas you are performing well so you can capitalize on them and areas to improve on.

Through real estate CRM software, you can use filters to create many kinds of reports based on your data selection. The reports are clear, accurate, and can populate information as graphs. You can generate leads, customer, sales, and property reports.

8. Manage contracts and transactions

If you run alone real estate business or if you work with real estate agents, you will find it easier to manage contracts and transactions with real estate CRM software.

Share contracts with your team. You can allow parties to your contract easy access for a quick check and processing. Track the progress and outcome of every contract.

Find out which contracts came through or failed and the underlying reasons. Check the status of all initiated transactions and manage commissions through real estate CRM software.

9. Build your referral network

In a real estate business, you may have contacts of professionals and service providers in the real estate industry within your real estate CRM software. They can be financiers like mortgage lenders, contractors, or cleaning agencies.

Some of your clients might ask you to leads to such services. It will be a plus for you if your clients can get more solutions through your leads.

Whenever you give a lead to your customer, always notify the service provider. Make a follow-up to find out whether the deal came through.

Giving your customers referrals through your real estate CRM software to other service providers can help meet their needs. You’ll build better relationships with other businesses and stand a chance to get a referral could opportunity knock.

10. Save your customers’ time, and yours

Time is an asset for every property agent. Think about a real estate CRM software as an ideal partner in time management benefiting you and your customers.

The features in a CRM make it easier for you to switch between tasks with clicks. Your operations run efficiently. You can also schedule tasks within the real estate CRM software and keep pace with your calendar.

Customers find it easier to work with time-conscious realtor business persons. Their confidence will grow when they know you can live up to your word and this will even make business much easier for you.

11. Manage closing deals

In real estate, a transaction is successful when you close a deal. Delays in closing a deal will delay your payment. They may, further, delay onboarding other deals that can be more lucrative.

Real estate CRM software provides a convenient way to close deals. If you have a real estate CRM in place, you are assured of a smooth closing process even if your business grows exponentially.

12. Integrate with other tools

The versatility of a real estate CRM software allows you to integrate other key functions like customer service desk, social media, market automation tools, calendar scheduling, call functions, and email marketing. Such applications improve the efficiency of business within your team and the services you offer to your customers.

Here are some of the ways that these applications will be handy to your business:

Customer support desk: A service desk within a real estate CRM can improve customer support by enhancing timely communication between your sales team, customer support team, and your customers.

Market automation tools: Real estate CRM software integrations have tools that can help you get important insights from your website or application about user interactions. As you understand the browsing behavior of your users, you will learn about their interests and organize your marketing strategy geared at meeting their needs.

Appointment scheduling: Calendar integrations with tools like Google lets you set appointments with your contacts within a real estate CRM software.

Email marketing: You can get customer emails from your real estate CRM software and use them to run your email marketing campaigns. Segment your customers based on related data so you can send them relevant emails based on their interests.

Social media management: Advanced real estate CRM can even allow you to share new properties on your social media marketing channels. Use social channels like TikTok to post property videos and pictures. Get followers and ask them to share this content for a wider reach. You can get important insights regarding your audience interactions. You can then use this information to run better marketing campaigns.

Parting Shot

A real estate CRM software is an essential tool of the trade for every realtor. A real estate CRM keeps all data centrally organized for convenient access. It provides insights about users’ browsing activities to identify their interests. You can, then, personalize your reach as you focus on conversions.

The reports you generate from your real estate CRM will provide you with the metrics you need to examine business progress. You can use the information to understand the needs of your customers and adjust your sales strategy to meet their needs.

Integrate other technology tools into your business via your CRM to boost your customer service, marketing, and boost revenues.

Check out Agile CRM software for realtors meant to assist you to maintain a competitive edge in your real estate business.