I always like to think of CRM (Customer Relationship Marketing) as providing end-to-end coordination between the three functional pillars of sales, service and marketing. Every industry and every business within that industry adapts this concept to whatever makes the most sense for their CRM needs. When I was in the pharmaceutical industry that meant coordinating sales – tracking sales rep call detailing activity with physicians (i.e. visits) and their resulting prescription habits, with service – the product complaint and adverse reaction calls received into our customer service groups, with marketing – keeping track of the samples dropped at physician offices and the specific content used during in person physician meetings and other communication channels.
What does CRM mean for the real estate industry? At a high level we can see CRM in aales – agents tracking their leads from digital and offline sources like Zillow and open house traffic all the way through their buy/sell transaction, aervice – agents supporting consumers with the ability to perform independent home searches via personalized websites and quickly responding to any inquiries on specific listings or market conditions, and marketing – agents continuously working to nurture their contact sphere via drip campaigns, newsletters, and postings on social media to stay top of mind and ensure that they are the go-to person for any future real estate needs.
So it’s not a question of whether or not you as a real estate agent should be involved in CRM – if you are engaged in your business there is no doubt that in some way, shape, or form you already are. The question is, should you be investing the time and money to use Coldwell Banker NRT’s Intouch or Coldwell Banker’s Zap or any of the other vast number of CRM products on the market.
From where I’m sitting the answer is a definitive yes. For those just getting started there’s no better way to simply keep track of your sphere, their contact information, notes on their family members, preferences, birthdays, purchase anniversaries, etc. As Intouch has both a fully responsive desktop and a mobile application – all this information is at your fingertips wherever you are. More ambitious agents can take advantage of more advanced features like customizing the featured properties on your website, setting up listing alerts for clients, and automating contact group and marketing campaign assignments.
So give CRM a try, whether its Intouch, Zap or something else. I think you’ll find that you become much more efficient and effective in servicing your clients. And if your memory is like mine, you’ll love having the complete history of your interactions with them in one place!
