Commercial Real Estate CRM

 

Managing a relationship with your clients and leads is a core aspect of any commercial real estate business. When you meet a client to show some properties, you want to know their likes, dislikes, budget, preferences, and constraints beforehand. You don't want to confuse the details of different clients or match them to the wrong properties.

However, building and maintaining a relationship can be quite challenging when you're dealing with dozens of clients a day. A customer relationship management (CRM) solution for commercial real estate businesses can help you deal with this challenge.

Dashboard in FollowUpBoss (Source)

When searching for a CRM solution, focus on a industry-specific solution rather than generic CRM software. Global commercial real estate association SIOR notes that a vendor who knows the functioning of the real estate industry can provide you the right tool for your needs.

To help you find the right CRM software for your commercial real estate business, our guide covers all the details about these solutions. Here's what we've discussed:

• What is commercial real estate CRM software?
• Common features of commercial real estate CRM software
• What type of buyer are you?
• Benefits of commercial real estate CRM software
• Key considerations when buying commercial real estate CRM software

What is commercial real estate CRM software?

Commercial real estate CRM software is a tool that helps realtors manage interactions with existing and potential clients. Instead of dealing with a messy datebook or a confusing spreadsheet, you can organize all the information in a centralized system.

• Recording and updating buyer information and all interactions with them.
• Managing a list of properties and mapping prospective buyers to the listings.
• Tracking appointments and meetings on the built-in calendar.
• Importing leads for internal and external sources and auto-assigning them to agents.
• Providing a bird's eye view of the deals or leads during different stages of the sales process.

Common features of commercial real estate CRM software

The typical features of a food truck POS system are as follows:

Contact management	Record, update, and manage information of each contact such as their names, addresses, and social media accounts.
Interaction tracking	Autotrack and document the written interactions (emails and messages) for each contact; also, log calls and add notes for each call.
Listing and buyer management	Manage property listings along with the details of prospective buyers.
Lead management	Import and manage leads from multiple sources, including the website, mobile app, online marketplaces, or integrated third-party sources.
Tasks and calendar	Create tasks for appointments, meetings, phone calls, deals, etc. Use the built-in calendar to manage scheduling and reminders.
Email and message campaigns	Create email and message campaigns on the tool, track responses, and get detailed insights into their performance.
Reporting	Generate detailed reports regarding the team's productivity and performance; also, track buyers on predetermined metrics.
Integration	Integrate with third-party applications directly or via an API (application programming interface).
Mobile functionality	Use the software on iOS and Android devices via mobile applications.
Notifications	Receive mobile and/or desktop notifications when a task or buyer account is updated.
Document management	Create and save sale- or lease-related documents on the system. Also, edit the documents and add signatures using a built-in editor.

Some products priced in mid and high ranges include additional functionalities such as document management, commissions tracking, IDX (internet data exchange) websites, advanced reporting, as well as complete marketing and sales automation.

What type of buyer are you?

A large real estate firm with offices in multiple cities has completely different CRM needs than an independent realtor. Taking a one-size-fits-all approach could likely leave you with a solution that doesn't have the right features or costs too much.

To avoid this, we suggest exploring solutions that suit your buyer type. Based on our research, real estate CRM software buyers fall into the following three categories:

• Independent realtors: Such buyers often work from multiple locations, especially while they're on-the-go. They have to execute lease/sale documents and follow-up on commission payments. These realtors should go for a cloud-based commercial real estate CRM solution.

  The cloud-based tool doesn't require additional hardware or investment to set up. It has a monthly subscription fee. Advanced features, such as document management and commission tracking, can help independent realtors execute these tasks on their own.

• Small real estate firms with a few agents: Our research found that 25% of all prospective CRM buyers are small real estate business. Such businesses need to manage client communication, nurture leads from multiple sources, and market themselves on their own. They have limited IT budgets and lack an in-house IT support team.

  They should opt for cloud-based real estate solutions that consolidate lead generation, sales funnel tracking, client communication, and marketing. The solution is maintained by the vendor and doesn't require in-house technical expertise.

  If a vendor offers an editable IDX website (which allows listings from multiple services and sources to be displayed on the website automatically), firms get to create individual landing pages for different locations and categories. This can give the firm's website a better structure and help them further brand-building efforts.

• Large real estate firms with a dedicated IT team: These firms have different teams for different functions. While agents directly deal with buyers, there are dedicated teams for sales, marketing, leases and contracts, as well as IT. The team functionality is crucial to CRM, along with marketing and sales automation.

  Therefore, choose a commercial real estate CRM solution that offers the above mentioned capabilities so that multiple agents can work on each lead. Run targeted campaigns and automate lead generation. With a dedicated IT team, firms can host the solution on their own so that it can be customized to their requirements.

Benefits of commercial real estate CRM software

Commercial real estate CRM serves as the primary relationship-building tool for realtors. It streamlines the processes of client servicing, marketing, and sales. Here are some of its key benefits:

• Organize client communication: Most commercial realtors manage client communication on multiple channels, including email, phone, social media, and in-person. The software streamlines communication across all the channels and organizes it based on the client profiles. It helps realtors promptly address each communication.

  

  User dashboard in Contactually (Source)

• Manage property listings: The software lets realtors manage and track information on multiple properties and so that the right listings are shortlisted for each client. Some solutions let you view properties on a map, or even create self-service portals where clients can view their shortlisted properties.

• Personalize the client's experience: The software can record information about the client such as neighborhoods of interest, budget, or even their preferred flooring. This helps realtors personalize the client experience and increase chances of purchase.

• Streamline leads from multiple sources: The software imports leads from multiple sources such as the firm's website, social media platforms, third-party brokerage sites, and advertising platforms. The leads could automatically be filtered in the pipeline or distributed among different agents. The software lets you set parameters, such as value, location, or source, to prioritize the leads.

  

  Leads in BoomTown (Source)

• Improve your follow-up communications: Realtors follow-up with buyers multiple times to close a sale. The software lets you schedule reminders for follow-ups and automate follow-up emails. This reduces the time spent on each subsequent communication and increase the realtor's efficiency.

• Make marketing and sales campaigns more efficient: The software helps realtors create targeted email campaigns to initiate and develop a relationship with prospective clients. It lets them measure campaign effectiveness and tweak the campaign as needed.

Key considerations when buying commercial real estate CRM software

With dozens of solutions in the market, choosing just one for your firm could be daunting. List the challenges you want to address and match these to the features that vendors offer.

In addition, here are some considerations to keep in mind:

• Focus on usability: “Clunky" and “hard to use" CRM software is a top pain point of small businesses. To avoid this, try out the free version of a solution to test the user experience and interface before purchasing it. These trials and demos allow you to get the complete feel of a solution.

• Check for mobile and BYOD capabilities: A desktop CRM solution will tie realtors to their desk, which is counterproductive. A mobile-friendly solution is vital as realtors are mostly out in the field. Also, they use personal computers and mobile devices for work tasks. For this reason, promote a bring your own device (BYOD) culture in the firm by ensuring that the solution you choose offers mobile capability.

• Ask about the integrations: As you source leads from multiple platforms (i.e., your website, social media, emails, and traditional marketing engines), the CRM solution should streamline leads from these sources. Therefore, choose a solution that integrates with all the internal and external platforms you use or plan to use.

• Review vendor's data storage and security measures: Realtors handle sensitive information such as clients' bank details, tax returns, and lease records. The CRM tool should have apt data storage and security measures. In cloud-based solutions, review the security protocol and check where the data will be stored. Meanwhile, on-premise tools require you to take charge of data security yourself, i.e., by using your own servers.

• Think beyond “sales only": While for some realtors the job ends at the sale, others have to handle property management and customer support throughout the lease period. If you need these capabilities, ask vendors about their help desk feature that integrates with your property management software.