This blog expands on a recent National Association Of Realtors article, CRM Clean Up-Time. Nia Pearson, contributed her thoughts with freelance writer, Lee Nelson on the fundamentals Realtors should consider pertaining to CRM.
Throughout this blog we will share both reasons and benefits for Realtors that clean up and organize the contacts in their CRM (customer relationship management).
Let’s begin with a fact. According to MyOutDesk, 82% of all real estate transactions come from repeat and referral clients. This huge percentage makes contact list an essential part of a Realtors success. At Marketing 4 Real Results, we refer to CRM as the growth station and house of leads, communication, personal information and purchase history.
Top 5 Reasons Realtors Should Have An Up-To-Date and Organized Client List
- Stay top of mind. Inaccurate details diminish the contact value.
- The ability to create successful personalized and relatable marketing campaigns.
- The ability to quickly connect sellers and buyers based on specific needs that can be outlined in contact/CRM notes.
- The ability to create more meaningful relationships, by documenting, family events and career changes.
- The ability to ensure marketing information sent via postcards, email or social media are sent and received.
What Happens To Old CRM Data?
- If a Realtor does not clean up their list often, they are not accurately targeting prospects and likely wasting marketing resources.
- This process should be done at the end of each year calendar year. The end of the year is a great time, because of the holiday season. This offers an added opportunity to make a personal holiday call while also updating database contact details and start the new year in the right direction.
Quick Steps to Clean Up Customer List
- Download a full report of all contacts.
- Review the information and create subcategories, groups and/or tags to easily define the group.
- Set a task to call each contact in the near future, potentially 30-60 days.
- Make the calls as they are assigned by the tasks.
- Update your customer list with any new information received during the calls.
What Are The Best CRM Categories for Realtors?
- Keep in mind that niche marketing is more effective in reaching new clients because of the ability to craft a very specific marketing message that speaks directly to your target contact. Suggested segmented categories for Realtors:
- Target: Price Point, Zip Code, Hobbies, Buyer, Seller, Investor, Developer, Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, First Responders, etc.
What Should Be Considered Before Deleting Contacts?
- Before fully deleting a contact, its best to consider, moving the contact to an inactive status. Prospects in an inactive status require very minimal touch points per year. By saving the contact you have an opportunity in the future to re-engage. In a circumstance such as this, be sure to add a inactive tag to their contact to prevent them from unsubscribing all together from further communication.
How Should a Realtor Re-engage CRM Contacts?
- Realtors should schedule time at the end of each calendar year around the holidays, to make personal calls to each person in their CRM. In addition to wishing contacts a prosperous new year, this will be a great time to ask contacts about the below:
- Preferred communication method
- Wedding Anniversaries
- New birth of children and or/ grandchildren
- Real Estate /Investment goals
It’s crucial to keep good notes about any personal changes like marriage or pregnancy which are likely to buy signs that may require additional touch points. Tip: Type notes simultaneously while on the phone or immediately after the call.
Does Duplicate Data Negatively Impact a Realtors CRM?
- Duplicate data can be a huge disadvantage to a Realtors database, creating a waste of time and resources. In real estate every minute matters, so searching through duplicate records when looking for the right buyer or seller is not a productive way to spend time. The job of a CRM it to make getting more business easier, by building relationships through meaningful engagement and conversations, duplicate records prevent that process and waste marketing campaign resources.
- To identify duplicate data, its best to run a report of all contacts and remove all duplicate data. Before deleting contacts be sure to confirm the last contact method to ensure you are deleting the correct data. It’s not a bad practice to reach out via phone or text to confirm data details before deleting.
How To Format CRM Data?
- CRM contact data should be formatted in the most efficient manner which allows for quick fixes. This can be best accomplished by having a separate, column for: first name, last name, street address, city and state and zip code. This strategy can provide an added value for segmenting personalized marketing campaigns in the future.
What contact data is important for a Realtors CRM?
Since successful marketing campaigns requires a multi-touch attribution, contact details should cover enough information for more than one marketing tactic.
- Text – Requires an accurate mobile telephone number
- Email – Requires an accurate email address
- Direct mail postcard – Requires an accurate mailing address
How long should organizing your contacts take?
- The overall time needed to organize contacts will vary depending on the number of contacts. The average time to clean up each contact should take no more than 3 minutes. IE: 500 contacts | 500*3 = 1,500 minutes | 60 minutes/ hour | 25 hours for every 500 contacts
CRM Shortcuts
- The best process approach to database efficiency to make the task less daunting is to make changes in small increments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Consider downloading the list into an excel spreadsheet or a Google doc for quicker processing.
Key Takeaway:
Keep in mind a CRM’s sole purpose is to make life easier and streamline a process that allows you to focus time on client facing activities. Consider your CRM database as your most valuable and profitable opportunity channel.
As noted earlier, having an 82% opportunity to increase business activity is a hug opportunity. Practice using your database/CRM as a primary source for building repeat and referral business relationships. Consider this your quickest path to a new real estate transaction.
Block time to make consistent updates. Take time to understand your contact data and identify unique buying patterns. Be sure to ask prospects/clients the right questions, listen and pay attention to who engages and who does not. Use your CRM to facilitate calls, make notes, set appointments, assign task and follow-up call activity.
Once you’ve closed a deal or booked a listing appointment, you may think your job is done. Not at all. Keep in contact with everyone in your database on a regular basis to ensure that you are always top of mind to fill their real estate needs. Start with the people you know/sphere and continue to build over time. – Best of luck to you.
What is the best CRM for Realtors?
For Realtors in years 1-3 we recommend using a FREE version of CRM, like ZoHO.
Many brokerages have a CRM system in place and for those that do not it’s recommended to use a version that can be linked to email and text marketing. This is very important and the primary reason is to create a system that can be quickly and easily updated.
When you make a change in your CRM to an email address or phone number you want that change to be updated in your text marketing and email marketing platforms as well to avoid duplicating efforts. So instead of making an update in two places, you can make the change in your CRM and the other platforms will be updated as well, saving you time.
Learn more about the benefits of CRM here. Schedule a FREE consultation here.
