So, we are heading into the end of the third quarter of 2014. I’m curious… on a scale of 1 to 10, what score would you give your database management? (10 meaning that you rock the house, and 1 meaning you don’t have one.)
As lots of you already know, I’ve a systems girl. Give me a system and I will work it ceaselessly. Over the last several months, I’ve been checking out Real Estate CRMs (customer relationship managers), watching video tutorials, and studying options and price points. I wanted to be able to offer a CRM to all the agents in our brokerage free-of-charge, and I wanted to feel really comfortable with the selection.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could start off 2015 with your CRM up to date? Wouldn’t it be great if you had a sphere of influence of 200+ and each individual was on a drip campaign, getting direct mail, and hearing from you via social media?
If that sounds good to you and you didn’t give yourself an 8, 9, or 10 in your self-assessment, then read on.
Here are 3 things to consider when selecting the best real estate CRM:
- Who will do the management? Are you working on a team? Do you have an assistant? Who will do the database management? Will you be doing everything on your own? If more than one person will be in and out of the CRM or if you are on a team, then you will need to explore CRMs that allow for a few admins at one flat rate.
- Are there existing workflows or campaigns in the system? Some CRMs already have existing workflows and email campaigns that can be customized, and others do not. Depending upon whether you want to create your own campaigns or use ones that have been created for you, keep an eye out for this feature in the CRMs that you are looking at.
- Will you be using the CRM for the entire real estate transaction or only until contract? Some CRMs have all the bells and whistles from generation of the lead all the way through to closing of the transaction with a place to house all of your real estate contract documents. If you are an agent that has a transaction coordinator and doesn’t fuss much with the paperwork after the lead has been converted, maybe you don’t need all these extra features.
In no particular order, here are some of the CRMs that I’ve looked at this season:
- iXact Contact – Lots of built-in work flows and campaigns. Built in flyers, and a really great customer service.
- Agent Office – We looked into this one for one of my coaching clients because he wanted something that tied in with Outlook, as this one does. If you use Outlook, this might be for you.
- My Real Estate Tools –I really loved that you could customize and order mailers and they’d be sent directly from the system. You could also program drips for multiple years with one click.
- Sharper Agent – They have some pretty swanky marketing materials, and I understand that they have a nice CRM, but I haven’t tried it yet.
- Top Producer – TP has been around forever. I looked at it again recently and was very impressed. May be a few too many bells and whistles for some people, but it’s pretty sweet.
- Property Base – This is built by the Salesforce people. Salesforce is one of the most renowned CRMs in the sales industry. So, I’m thinking it’s gotta be good. (It’s pricy, though.)
- Wise Agent – I just looked at Wise Agent again. Wise Agent prides itself on 24/7 customer support. This is good if you would work late!
- Realvolve – This is the one available to the agents in my office. We’ve uploaded our own workflows, emails, and letters because the system doesn’t come with any. The tie-in to social media is awesome and they have strong customer support.
- Referral Maker – This is Brian Buffini’s baby. It is focused on your sphere of influence primarily and sending out those monthly items of value that Buffini recommends as part of his coaching. If you are a Buffini believer, then this one is for you.
As you get geared up for 2015, if you are exploring CRMs and want my advice, feel free to email me. There are lots of choose from (in addition to those on this list) and making that decision can be overwhelming. The key is to commit to a database and develop a good system for managing it. That can be the difference between two closings and twenty.
Best of luck!
Carrie Gable - RealSupport Inc. says
Great info! There is an emerging real estate crm called Real Estate Juggler that is coming onto the scene. To say they are inexpensive is an understatement at $99 per year. Seems they can do a lot of what the top CRMs do. We have our eye on them…
AgentDrive.com says
Good list, thanks! For a broader choice, you might also want to check out AgentDrive CRM we built, too:
https://www.agentdrive.com/
Thanks!