Customer relationship management might actually be the most important way to grow your real estate business. In order to continue to develop your customer base, you need to maintain the contacts you already have, while encouraging them to refer you to other people who are entering the market. Past clients, regardless of how satisfied they were with your work, will forget to use your services or to recommend them to others in the future, if you have not made the effort to maintain a relationship with them after the deal was finished and the papers were signed.
Luckily, with today’s excellent CRM software, it is easier to stay in touch than ever before. The programs are intuitive, easy to use, and extremely effective. If you’re not already using a CRM program, now is the time to start.
1. Make the most of the contacts you already have
A good CRM program means that you never lose track of a client or contact. You can categorize everything according to which social media platform is the most effective way to communicate and interact with them. CRM software also provides integrated access to your email and calendar, allowing you to contact people directly and to account for multiple meetings at once. Additionally, a tracking system tells you where each client is in the sale cycle, thereby allowing you to automate much of your marketing efforts. For more information, visit Ixact Real Estate CRM.
2. Give a little, get a lot
All real estate agents understand the importance of trading references, referrals, and cultivating a trusted network of professional colleagues that you can trust. Keep in mind that your CRM includes not just the names of all your past clients and current prospects – it’s also a handy database of all kinds of business owners and professionals. What this means, is that in event your client requires the services of another professional, you have a pre-tested database right at your fingertips.
Regardless of the service required, your CRM can act as your personal referral tool and allow you to accumulate all sorts of brownie points in the process. Send an email through your CRM to let the person you’re referring know to expect a call, and schedule a task in your CRM to follow up and see how things went.
3. The show must go online
CRM allows you to power your social media activity for maximum visibility and productivity. If you’re not already using social media as a primary way to market your services and develop your business, you’re already a step behind the game and now is the time to make up for it. By linking your social media accounts like LinkedIn and Twitter to your CRM, you can actually use social media to find reasons to keep in touch (birthdays, work anniversaries, etc.).
Making the most of social media is an important way to stay competitive and it is only going to be become more and more powerful as a younger generation of real estate agents comes of age. Speaking of which, it is also an extremely useful ways to keep tabs on how other agents are engaging with clients.
4. Don’t get left behind
The fact of the matter is, if people feel like you’re not up to date with how you’re running your real estate business, they are not going to feel like they can trust you to get them the best deal on a house. Clients pay a lot of attention to how their agents network and they want someone who they feel assured is “in the know.” Having an effective CRM program means that you never miss a beat and are able to impress client’s, old, new, and potential, with your diligence and savvy.
