The latest shiny object distracting agents from core business generating activities is the obsessive quest for an all-in-one tool to automate the outreach to a living database of people referred to in the industry as CRM.
Real estate agents use a slew of CRM tools; from the domain-agnostic ones like Highrise to real-estate-friendly products you see at trade shows.
Some use proprietary company platforms. Others defer to the backend of their IDX.
What’s completely backward is that most agents are shopping for CRM solutions before they even have a thoughtful list of customers to manage a relationship with or a plan to add value.
The three components of a CRM is a list of people, a way to reach them, and caring.
1. A list of people
Everyone you know. As much contact information as possible. Contextual notes. Categories.
This list could be written in a notebook or cataloged in Excel, Google Sheets, or Trello. It doesn’t require expensive software or switching to a new brokerage flexing like it’s a tech startup.
If you think of an agent’s master-list like a coach's roster of a professional sports team, it’s like most of them start designing plays before knowing who any of the players are or how they fit in.
That’s how absurd it is to be evaluating paid software without a list in hand ready to serve.
2. A way to reach them
Phone, text, email, social media, coffee, lunch, events, at home, downtown, or the outdoors.
Most agents are conflating marketing automation with CRM. Software that sends email campaigns or property search alerts is narrow in the scope of overall agent operations.
Don’t abdicate customer relationship management to a vendor who doesn’t reflect your style or understand the nature of your individual connections with people who know you sell real estate.
Assemble a suite of communications and experiences and deploy it mindfully and on-brand.
3. Caring
Past clients get data. Prospects get products. Customers get services. Everyone gets love.
Reach the list of people you know in a way that is unscalable and authentic.
CRM is a discipline, not a product.
