CRM for the Real Estate Industry
Today, it is no longer enough to be better than your competitors. Industry knowledge and interpersonal skills are just two cogs in a complex machine.
As competition grows with the value of real estate, the importance of managing leads and opportunities, and collaborative communications grow with it. It’s now vital to business operations that a CRM solution is implemented as part of the workflow of any realtor, be it in the sales or the rental market.
So much so that a report forecasts that the global CRM Market will be worth over $10 billion in the real estate industry alone.
But CRM for real estate is still part of an emerging evolution of the industry, and if there is ever a time to get onboard, it’s now. It’s especially important for smaller businesses that need to be faster, more efficient and offer a closer personal relationship with their clients if they want to beat the national competition to the punch.
Still not convinced? In this article, we’ll explore the key benefits to implementing CRM in your workflow, no matter which sector you specialize in.
A CRM solution is the key to improving every aspect of your business, including managing customer relationships and keeping their data secure. It transforms how the financial services sector engages with customers and leads.
Managing your Real Estate Property Portfolio
One hurdle that every real estate professional faces is managing the constantly changing depth of their property portfolio. Without the right tools, managing multiple properties – whether they’re for sale, rent or both – can quickly overwhelm.
With a CRM, access to this information is improved in a number of ways:
- Centralised data brings stability as property and tenant information is all found and updated in one place. You can finally bin those binders of complex spreadsheets!
- Automation of processes removes tons of manual work, including documentation for events like lease renewals and invoicing, tracking maintenance requests from tenants and even scheduling viewings with potential clients.
- Reports of data visualise insights that focus on how your business is run. Take information from the likes of tenant and customer feedback, lead times on property sales, maintenance costs and more to make data driven decisions on future policy changes
This lays the foundation for growth, especially for smaller businesses, by enhancing the quality of your portfolio data.
As a CRM’s strength lies in relationship management, accurate linking of tenants and clients with properties as the ball rolls on leads and existing customers means you’ll always have a clear place to see who is associated with which property. This is especially useful if a lead is looking at multiple properties and you need the information on their preferences on the go, such as during a viewing.
Property Sales & Admin CRM Benefits
As mentioned above, good property management goes hand-in-hand with lead conversion as sales will always offer a better service when they have clear information on their potential client.
But sales are not the only team that benefit immensely from this information.
Real estate businesses experience a number of unique scenarios, such as long conveyancing waits, that means a client saying yes to their new home is just the beginning.
A CRM, however, is more than just a tool for the sales team:
- Communication after a sale has been agreed is vital to ensuring your client is willing to continue through to the end of a potentially lengthy conveyancing process. The client could talk to anyone within the company, so chat and call logs, as well as automated scheduling of check-ins with them, will keep the process as frictionless as possible.
- Solicitors are a key stakeholder that ensures all legal ramifications are accounted for and documentation is signed and delivered. A CRM builds relationships with business associates as efficiently as it does clients. Happy customers face minimal barriers to getting the keys to their new home, and this dialogue plays a major part in that.
- A progress tracker within a CRM ensures the process is as smooth as it can be. Automated alerts to follow-up on progress or simply to contact the buyer helps you stay up to date and the buyer sane through the long wait.
The combination of these benefits will also help local or regional estate agents in the longterm where positive word of mouth is an extremely effective marketing tool.
CRMs also combine with email marketing tools to cater emails to potential buyers by automatically sending relevant new properties as and when they become available.
Rental Market CRM Benefits
For agents and managers in the rental sector, a CRM is essential for managing the complexities of leasing and tenant relations.
Unlike the real estate sales market, rental requires an ongoing discussion between you, the tenant and the owner of the property to maintain order and sustainability.
However, CRM takes on an even greater role in property rental management:
- Tenant screening during the onboarding process is completely trackable in a CRM. Automated background checks, credit score analysis, and application processing enable discovery of the best tenants for any given property.
- Management of leases also track start and end dates to highlight renewal opportunities and review any special agreements with tenants. It also sends automated reminders for lease renewals to minimise vacancies.
- Payment Tracking monitors rent payments, late fees, and security deposits. Many CRMs integrate with accounting software, making it easier to manage financial records and securely release deposits at the end of a lease period.
Similarly to sales, CRMs work to send automated marketing to interested parties in newly available properties. However, the parameters of rental are usually stricter as it’s set to the owner’s preferences should they decide to withdraw it from the rental market.
These include a huge number of elements or restrictions. Some of the most prominent include whether pets are allowed, if the property is a HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy) property, if the property is furnished or not, or if smoking is allowed inside the building. It’s also vital to note if the house is accessible for those with disabilities.
With CRM, your email marketing can be highly targeted at the tenants with specific needs, as specified by each potential tenant.
Conclusion
As the UK continues to battle with a low supply, high demand economy for housing, a robust CRM becomes an ever-growing necessity to keep pace with the competition.
From managing properties, closing sales and streamlining rentals, to dealing with important stakeholders, litigation, admin and financial obligations, the strengths of CRM in centralisation and automation inject good process and practice into any estate business.
At enable.services, we offer two different CRM products, SugarCRM and mondayCRM, that can elevate you above your competition. This includes enable’s award-winning professional services that tailor solutions for your business.
For one customer, Westport Property Management, it transformed the way they work at a vital time. Check out enable’s success story with Westport Property Management here.
Ready for your digital transformation? Start with a CRM made for you by contacting us now.
