However, old-school ways of securing clients and business can be incredibly time-consuming, piling additional pressures on teams and, fundamentally, detrimental to business efficiency and growth.
Despite the continual conversation around digital transformation, many property agencies (and agents) remain hesitant to change. The traditional paper-based processes, laborious internet searching, and spreadsheets still take precedence. But what if these agencies and agents could unleash new potential through technology?
Real estate CRM is a game changer in the property scene. According to TechRadarPro the best CRM enhances your client communications, puts the buyer or seller front and centre, and helps you increase closings and revenue.
However, many real estate professionals persist with manual processes without realising CRM can be affordable, easy to implement, and offer an incredibly valuable ROI. It’s time to make the leap forward.
Here are three ways companies can propel their relationships with CRM:
1. Slash admin time, streamline costs, and nurture valuable leads
There are many benefits to adopting a CRM system but cutting down on admin time and improving efficiencies are at the top. In fact, according to a recent survey by the Institute of Real Estate Management, the top issue mentioned by real estate management professionals is finding ways to automate repetitive tasks.
Adding to this, businesses that have implemented CRM systems can expect to see sales increase by 29%, sales productivity increase by 34%, and sales forecast accuracy increase by 42%.
Moreover, an all-in-one software solution can help you streamline tech costs. Having one software that can handle end-to-end processes, from CRM to marketing to data analytics, has essential financial benefits. At the same time, it also makes it easier for agents to adopt system use, and simultaneously reduces IT maintenance costs and time.
2. Give marketing the (AI) personal touch to attract clients
Over the last few years, the use of AI by marketers has grown exponentially, from 29% in 2018 to 84% in 2020 and with 70% of high-performing marketers claiming they have a fully defined AI strategy.
Interestingly, according to last year’s Salesforce State of Marketing, 89% of marketing organisations are using CRM systems.
With these figures in mind, 2022 could be the year that will see more integration between AI and CRM. AI’s analytical and predictive capacity can help identify current and future marketing, sales, and support opportunities for a brand. It can also help meet clients' needs and support client decision-making by better understanding their behaviour patterns. Moreover, its forecasting ability can support managers and alert them in advance of any changes so that they can prepare a more strategic response.
3. Unite processes to drive sales
The main goal of CRM is to improve customer relationships, which in turn can lead to better customer experience and higher revenues: a properly implemented CRM can yield a 245% ROI.
To achieve this, a good CRM system should be able to rely on five key features:
1) Data centralisation, so less time is being spent on sorting through multiple sources for information and more time is spent engaging with customers in insightful conversations.
2) Insightful reporting, so that managers can track team progress and make strategic decisions, while agents can see which clients are most rewarding and, consequently, make smarter arrangements on resource allocation.
3) Client-property matching that takes into account not only basic property information such as price range, locations, or the number of bedrooms but also listing browsing behaviour and history feedback.
4) Automated marketing email templates to make following up with prospects and keeping contact with previous clients easier and quicker while still maintaining a personal touch.
5) Use of native mobile applications to allow access to crucial information and respond anytime anywhere to leads, and to be able to update the property and client data in real-time and manage communications on the go.
These features are all equally important to help bring together all the processes that are part of a customer journey and drive sales.
The bottom line
Real estate CRM is a lot more affordable than people think, easy to implement, and offers an incredibly valuable ROI. In order to keep up with the current property market, agents must realise real estate CRM is a game changer and take the leap.
According to FinLedger, the first half of 2022 saw a record $13.1 billion invested in real estate tech and proptech companies. If it continues at the same pace, the proptech industry can even set a new record in venture funding. This shows that there are certainly exciting times ahead as the digital transformation will become more and more embedded in real estate management.
