Database. It’s a scary word and we all know it makes no sense not to invest time and energy into something that captures and preserves the people we try so hard to meet – but yet I’ve never meet an agent that effectively ran a healthy database that they used to effectively to communicate with clients consistently.
If we spend energy running open homes, sending out thousands of mail out’s and constantly seeking to give our business cards out to prospects – and then write them down on a piece of paper never to be seen again? What sense does that make?
You will only get out what you put in, but what you can get out can put you miles ahead of the competition with a lot less effort. Technology is your friend, and it’s here to stay.
If you haven’t got anything, excel is a better option than nothing and will allow you to import your data into a database system once your up and running. However, if your in this industry – be in it.
Must have’s for your database:
1. Accessible. Your not always in the office, and you shouldnt have to be. Make sure its available to log into from anywhere. So you can take time off and still login and track conversations your having.
2. Easy to Use. I don’t know many real estate agents with computer skills, but either way it needs to be quick and easy. If you put on an assistant on will they be able to use it? Is it teachable?
3. Ability to SMS/Email/Mail Merge straight from database. Critical, simple SMS to confirm appt? Email to let enquiries know a property has sold?? Imperative.
4. Trails. Lets make our easier yea? Set these trails in place on a contact and have an automatic To-Do list when walking into the office.
5. iPad compatibility. I don’t want to have to do things twice, and I want to be able to add things quickly. Standing at an open homes, with an iPad bringing up my required calls for the day makes me happy.
Options.
There’s tons of options available, below is a list of each option that I’ve used in various businesses and there pro’s and con’s to you.
LockedOn – I really like this software, it’s cheap for what it does, achieves all the above criteria and I haven’t found anything it doesn’t do that I’ve required. Im reasonably critical, and Im impressed.
Complete Data – for a small business running a platform with 5 or 6 agents all using an integrated database, Complete Data is the bees knees. It has a high end capability, and price to go with it. Great for a company, shit for an individual agent.
AgentPoint CRM – usually comes packaged with a real estate website. Not the greatest to be honest, can sometimes be slow, and hasn’t been developed by a real estate agent like Locked On.
There’s plenty of options; and more will come in Part 2.
What to worry about when you have your database:
1. Every person you’ve ever sold for, and every person you’ve ever sold too. Call them every year on the day they moved in and send them something to let them know they’ve been in the property now for 7 years etc.
2. All your current sellers.
3. All your past market appraisals.
4. Hot Buyers.
More to come.
Gemma Duff 