Relationships are built on timeliness — providing the right service at the right time. Because CRMs provide real estate agents with information about lead behavior, they help agents provide effective customer service to clients through every phase of the real estate sales or purchase process.
Since CRMs display lead behavior, agents can easily scan the system to see what listings users “favorited” or where they clicked in email newsletters. Rather than guess at what someone wants or needs, agents have precise information that lets them make informed decisions and provide high-quality customer service, turning more leads into clients.
Since agents can automate so many tasks within the CRM, they won't need to devote as much office time to repetitive administrative duties. The time they recapture can then be used to show properties, market their services, meet with leads, and perform other valuable tasks.
Agents are more likely to sell something to a past client or to someone who was referred by a past client than a cold lead. Since CRMs make it easy to stay in touch with past clients to generate that referral, agents can increase their conversions and their income as a direct result of the platform.
Real estate agents often let follow-up fall by the wayside during busy periods. A CRM can promote responsiveness by systematizing the follow-up process, for instance by serving up suggestions of customers to call. This might make the difference in convincing someone to begin the home search process.
Data gathered can help agents refine their approach by delivering feedback on what's working and what isn't. For instance, agents can see where in newsletters leads clicked and tailor content to serve up more of what resonated with their clients. This takes the guesswork out of lead prospecting while increasing the relevance of content delivered, which leads directly to higher rates of satisfaction and a greater return on investment.
Many real estate agents are replacing a manual process with a CRM, with significant benefits to organization, productivity, and time management. Less time spent searching for a scrap of paper where a lead's phone number was written down translates to more time making impactful contacts.
Many brokerages turn to CRMs to increase efficiency, finding these secondary benefits a surprising bonus of introducing the new technology. After the initial learning curve — which can be steep if the CRM is complex — real estate agents can begin implementing the marketing, automation, and contact management services to best serve their needs, whether it's serving existing customers or prospecting leads.
