A great CRM system is a customizable and intuitive business solution, that should do wonders for your growth, productivity, and – in our honest opinion – simply make life better. Unfortunately, not everyone gets the flexibility or value-for-money that they are looking for. REAL Trends writes on CRM, and how to make better choices when selecting one.
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Travis Saxton from REAL Trends – one of the most trusted consultancies for analysis on the real estate industry – writes that, when it comes to CRMs, “Too many times I see broker’s [sic.] that want really simple and end up limiting themselves for long term growth. I have also seen several brokerages become handcuffed with a custom made solution and in the end pay far too much to adapt with the changing industry.”
So we let Travis take Propertybase software for a spin, to see if it provides the key solutions real estate professional need from their CRM, without limiting their potential for growth. Here’s some of what he had to say.
In my technology consulting I am always stressing how important a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is to building long term business success. Now more than ever with so many lead sources and higher demands from the real estate consumer if you want to help your business grow this should be an integral part of every brokerage’s technology and business strategy. We are inundated with website leads (even different types within our own site) Listing Portals, Social Media, Craigslist’s, Directories, Yellow pages, Rentals and I am just getting warmed up. How do you keep track and know whats [sic.] happening at your brokerage with all these and add into the mix 50-100s agents and sometimes many many more. While there are many providers in this area that offer very good solutions… So if you are seeking a CRM ask yourself these few questions:
1) Can I customize it to fit my needs as a brokerage and potentially accommodate different departments and ancillary services?
2) Can I customize it for my agents?
3) Can I use it to automate my business workflows to make my agents more productive?
4) Can I make sure its seamlessly integrated with my existing systems?
5) Will it integrate with social media as we know it’s not going anywhere?
6) Lastly but not least can I use it to automate follow up/relationship marketing campaigns to ensure we are engaging our consumer on the agents behalf?
These are some tricky questions that if asked to many of the industry technology providers several would not be able to answer.
Enter Propertybase CRM built on the salesforce.com chassis. Many of you have heard of Salesforce.com- it’s widely considered the best CRM in any industry, but until now nobody has made it real estate friendly. I know of several brokerages who have spent considerable amount of time and money in taking this category leading platform in adapting it to the real estate market but that method is not perfect and easily repeatable.
Propertybase CRM accomplishes exactly this… Not only can you manage your leads with their system but integrations with social media and the customization to handle any lead sources you may have to your brokerage are significant additions. Add on the ability to manage transactions and even go completely paperless with docusign integrations and more. This CRM really is a top solution…Propertybase is completely adaptable so if you have a website company you have been doing business with Propertybase can be that new addition that seamlessly integrates to take your business to the next level.- Travis Saxton | Turning the World’s #1 CRM into a Real Estate Machine
These excerpts are merely highlights from the original article, and the full piece is filled with worthwhile considerations for real-estate professionals currently using, or in the market for a CRM. Propertybase promotes a try-before-you-buy policy on our software so you can test its functionality for yourself.
Needless to say, we were astounded by the insight and thorough review Travis undertook of Propertybase software, particularly in relation to the most common CRM needs of real estate agents. Most of all, the post is a reminder that asking the right questions are what yield the best solutions, a philosophy Propertybase reflects in its development processes.
Tell us about your experiences with and opinions of CRM solutions in the comments below. Have you had negative experiences? Are there more considerations real estate professionals should be making when it comes to their CRM strategy?
