By Annette Anthony, Director of Corporate Engagement, EXIT Realty Corp. International
A CRM as it’s known, is a system heard of by most in the real estate business, but not familiar to all. A healthy and powerful one can provide more ongoing business than any agent will ever need in the lifetime of their career.
When I say “healthy” I’m referring to the quality of contacts and whether they know who you are, what you do, and that you’re a resource. If I were to randomly dial a contact in your CRM and ask if they know you, what would they say? The goal is, “Yes, they’re in real estate and they work at EXIT Realty.” But if they’ve never experienced your resourcefulness and care you lose the power of doing business with them time and again, or worse, the chance they’ll refer you.
I see two common mistakes made with CRM’s: when agents view it as a place to manage contacts, and when people think they don’t need one because they have social media. Think of the name: Customer Relationship Manager. It’s where you manage the relationship, and it’s all about being intentional.
8×8
Disciplined professionals make time for their CRM. I do this exercise by 8:00 am daily and I call it my 8×8. I take 15 minutes to look for eight interesting and/or personal social media posts and I’ll make my calls and send personal notes about the post. Then I add the notes to my CRM. It’s important to pay attention and leverage posts, but also to note your engagement for future. Staying in regular touch means adding value to a contact at least once a month, checking in to see if there’s a need to be filled, or reminding contacts that you’re a resource. If you have no notes and incomplete information, that’s a great indication it’s time to follow up. Think you don’t have the time to do this? Wrong! You’re already on social media anyway.
Doing Not Just Saying
What can you do if your client posts on social about their spouse’s recent promotion? My favorite suggestion – call them. Mention that you saw the news and stopped what you were doing to congratulate them. People love to be heard, seen, and appreciated. You can also deliver a bottle of spirits, order a gift certificate at a local restaurant for them to pick up, or send a handwritten note of congratulations in the mail. A “touch” is an intentional outreach to your contacts, and there are so many ways in which you can do this and for any number of reasons (EXIT Associates can learn more in the Resource Center). Personalized 10-second videos letting contacts know you’re thinking of them are hands down one of the best ways to connect. Try sending recorded audio messages instead of plain texts. Saying something is more heartfelt than typing it. People rarely do this which also means you’ll stand out! Even if you’ve neglected your database for years, you can always start on the right path today. Don’t overthink it. Dive in with a servant’s heart. Your only regret will be not starting sooner.
Value
No, not all CRM’s are created equal. The value is the regular engagement you put into your contacts in your CRM, not what you pay for it per month. Two agents could be on the same platform, one spending time focusing regularly on 100 contacts, making calls and adding value, while the other has over 4,000 contacts and only sending canned monthly newsletters. Who do you think will get the most return out of their CRM? I use one of EXIT’s Premier Partners, leveraging their landing page to auto-fill in my new contact’s info to save me time. Whenever I generate a lead using our EXIT technology it’s seamlessly added also. Their API provides up to 300+ data attributes which help me get to know each of my contacts better, not to mention, like with many of our Premier Partners, their customer support is second to none. If you’re not getting the best and most out of your current CRM, it might be you, not it. Discipline might be all you need, and the good news is, discipline is free.
For more of Annette’s valuable CRM Do’s and Don’ts, check out a free copy of the latest Adaptability Issue of The EXIT Achiever today by texting ACHIEVER to 85377!
