So, you’re using Microsoft Outlook. Who needs a real estate CRM when you have Outlook, right?
If you feel this way, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
Outlook is an email client, first and foremost, not a CRM or true contact management system.
Yes it has a calendar, task manager, and notes feature, but it doesn’t have the key features and functionality that you, as an Agent, need to be truly effective.
It simply doesn’t help you, as a real estate sales professional, to maximize the number of referrals and returning clients you get. Sure, Outlook may help you stay organized, but it wasn’t designed to do much more than that.
It’s Time for a CRM Designed for Real Estate Agents
You want a technology tool by your side that will help you stay organized AND grow your career in real estate.
Since you’re an Agent, that technology has to be real estate specific, specially designed and tailored to your real estate sales business.
There needs to be an area to manage your active business – your current buyers, sellers, and listings. For example, you need to be able to enter in a particular listing and then assign a listing plan to it.
A listing plan is a series of tasks associated with listing a home. It’s important because you’ll know that nothing will fall through the cracks and you won’t have to worry about remembering an important detail or activity.
As a real estate agent, it’s all about relationships so it’s essential to assign marketing plans and sphere of influence nurturing plans to specific contacts. These plans should have drip email (drip marketing functionality) built into them.
You need to be able to categorize your contacts into groups, filter your contacts across multiple groups, and then easily send a personalized mass email or letter.
Can you do these things with Outlook? I think you might run into some challenges.
But that’s not all.
If you’re emailing prospects, for instance, you want to know how effective your email was.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see stats on open rate, who clicked on what links within your email, and who forwarded your email on to others? After all, it’s the only way you can improve your email marketing.
I hope by now you get it. You’ve realized Outlook is not really a CRM tool suitable for real estate agents. It can be classified as a contact management system, but not one that you can really expect too much of a return from in terms of getting more referrals and repeat business.
IXACT Contact is a Real Estate CRM that Provides Results
IXACT Contact on the other hand, is a true real estate CRM tool that you CAN expect a return from. It’s a real estate contact management system designed specifically around your business and the unique needs and challenges that you, as an Agent, have.
Yes, a monthly or yearly fee is involved, but IXACT pays for itself multiple times over. If you get just one referral that turns into a client from IXACT Contact, that pays for your yearly fee for many, many years to come.
Take a moment to think about that. Think about all the charges and fees you’re hit with and then think about which ones are really worth paying for. Which ones truly will or can have a real impact on your business? Which ones will give you the highest return on investment?
If you’re using Outlook for everyday email correspondence, I’m not suggesting you stop. What I’m suggesting is that you supplement your regular email client with a true CRM. With IXACT Contact’s Outlook Link capability, all contact, calendar, and task information can be wirelessly synchronized in real time between Outlook and IXACT Contact. Now THAT’s convenient!
Ready for a true CRM for real estate agents? Sign up for a free 5 week trial of IXACT Contact at www.ixactcontact.com.