The real estate industry has endured many ups and downs over the last few years, from market crashes to a paralyzing pandemic. But this sector’s malleable nature and adaptability to change keeps it from collapsing. Successful businesses resort to digital transformations in times of crisis, so it’s no wonder that the majority of top real estate agencies use CRM systems to keep up with their leads, contacts, and deals.
A real estate professional’s daily responsibilities revolve around directly contacting clients and staying well-informed about their preferences and history. The right CRM solution can achieve all this and more, centralizing client and property data, improving engagement campaigns, saving time on routine tasks, and enhancing overall team collaboration.
Even though the market is teeming with robust CRM systems, the popular off-the-shelf services don’t provide the customization a real estate company requires. So, business owners must turn to solutions that address their unique needs when drawing up plans for digital reconstruction.
What Is CRM For Real Estate?
General CRM solutions like Pipedrive or Zoho CRM don’t usually offer features that specifically cater to real estate. Often, essential features (such as built-in e-signature) are sold as add-ons. Additionally, the popularity of these services across a broad range of industries means that they might be rich in features useless for real estate.
CRM for real estate is specialized software that responds to this industry’s specific needs. It’s designed to help realtors and brokers manage their relationships with clients, leads, and other stakeholders while also serving as a centralized platform for data storage, organization, and analysis.
Fortunately, the growth of the real estate industry has encouraged the rise of many custom CRM solutions, which offer more scalability and adaptability, diverse integrations, and APIs while preventing data loss and human error.
Recommended Real Estate CRM Software in 2023
Salesforce
AscendixRE primarily centers on improving sales and property management with valuable features like an advanced search and filtering tool and MarketSpace, a platform for deal collaboration and property listings.
Left Main REI serves as both a real estate investment and CRM solution, providing various tailored features such as Buy Box, a matching system for buyers and properties based on their specific criteria. Additionally, Left Main REI equips users with insights into the level of investor interest in the properties listed on their system.
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Top Producer X
But the most intriguing aspect of Top Producer X has to be smart targeting, an AI-powered real estate farming feature. This advanced tool targets the top homeowners most likely to sell in the area. By analyzing listings from the past two decades, the AI identifies triggers that prompt people to put their houses on the market, ultimately increasing listings and commissions.
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Follow Up Boss
Follow Up Boss established itself as an industry leader many moons ago. As a CRM system designed explicitly for the real estate sector, it functions as a central hub for communicating with clients and leads across channels, including email, SMS, and phone. This remarkably adaptable platform provides an open API and seamlessly integrates with over 250 third-party apps, from automation services to website providers and messaging software.
Some customers may find the high-tech interface challenging to navigate. However, Follow Up Boss’ positives – ranging from effective lead-sourcing tools to its 14-day free trial – far outweigh its negatives.
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Key Features To Look for in Real Estate CRM Software
Before implementing a custom CRM system, a real estate business needs to conduct comprehensive market research and carefully compare each solution’s features against their needs and requirements. There are several must-have tools that the best real estate CRM service should include:
Contact and Lead Management
- 360-degree view of clients with segmentation.
- Lead capturing and tracking features.
- Customizable client journeys.
- Automation of follow-ups and reminders.
- Email software integration and tracking.
- SMS and call integration.
- Marketing automation tools.
- Real-time chatbots.
Property Management and Listings
- Advanced property listing and inventory management.
- Tracking of property details and history.
- Automation of recommendations and property matching.
- Email automation for interested buyers when a new house is listed.
- Agent commissions management.
- Advanced invoicing and billing management.
Analytics and Integrations
- Comprehensive database with custom reports.
- Sales forecasting and pipeline management.
- Performance tracking and reporting like heatmaps, feedback polls, and funnel analysis.
- A smart business ecosystem (featuring integrations with other real estate platforms, accounting software, and document management solutions).
Other Factors To Consider When Shopping for a Real Estate CRM System
Keeping a real estate business healthy and thriving doesn’t only require the sales-focused and property-management features of a CRM system, as it’s crucial to consider the overall usability, security, and accessibility of each solution. Additionally, every successful real estate company knows how fundamental teamwork is, so effective collaboration tools are a huge plus. Ideally, a decent real estate CRM platform should provide:
- A smooth onboarding process, which is ideally complemented by live demos.
- Scalability and adaptability to accommodate a company’s needs as it grows.
- An easy-to-use and intuitive interface that improves user experience and productivity.
- A jam-packed mobile app that enables everyone to work on the move.
- Robust team collaboration features, including integrated communication channels, task assignment capabilities, and meeting schedulers.
- Responsive and accessible customer service.
- Comprehensive self-support resources, such as guides, webinars, FAQs, and videos.
- Highly secure servers and privacy measures that safeguard sensitive data and client information.
Additionally, all this should come at a reasonable price. While specialist CRM services offer a variety of plans and prices, it’s realistic to expect to pay between $50-79 per month per user for a more basic plan. As with many services, opting for larger plans that account for more users will provide lower costs, plus many services offer free demos or trials.
How CRM Software Promotes Real Estate Agencies’ Success
For prominent real estate businesses and locally based companies alike, the widespread adoption of CRM systems has been incredibly beneficial. From substantial surges in conversion rates to enhancements in lead and client engagement campaigns, there are many success stories:
Increasing Lead Conversion Rates
Robert Slack Fine Homes’ subscription to Follow Up Boss has resulted in immense growth, evident in increased deals, new paid leads, and enhanced contact engagement. Its communication features and workflows mean the company can automate speed-to-lead campaigns, resulting in higher conversion rates for paid leads and a strong ROI.
Streamlining Property Management
For Calson Properties, subscribing to AscendixRE has led to expedited service delivery, better sales and task organization, enhanced project visibility, and considerable savings on software implementation and maintenance expenses.
Automating Communication and Improving Client Satisfaction
My SMART Team’s subscription to Top Producer X has enhanced lead engagement and improved client satisfaction with its advanced automation features, drip email campaigns, follow-up coach, and smart contact lists.
Surviving as a real estate company in an ever-evolving market can be challenging without a custom CRM system. If your business is currently considering a digital transformation, then a fully packed, real-estate-focused CRM solution should be the first thing on your list. Make sure to check out our CRM reviews, comparisons, free trials, and coupon pages to find the best and most cost-effective option.