Having a well-organized and updated CRM can go a long way in helping you strengthen old connections and prevent the new ones from falling through the cracks. Here’s how to keep yours in tiptop shape.

In real estate, our livelihoods depend on our connections and the relationships we form with people. The biggest way to impact your business and nurture the relationships you’re creating is to start using a customer relationship management software (CRM) as a database.

In this article, we’re going to walk you through the active and passive touch points you need, and how to audit your CRM to supercharge your database for a never-ending stream of business that you will enjoy converting.

Active touch points

We can’t possibly remember everything we do in a day. We can’t possibly remember every single conversation or interaction we’ve had with a person. It’s even more impossible to stay in touch with every single person on our contact lists. That’s why we need to input them into our CRM and track everything we know about them.

To get the best results out of your CRM, make sure that you complete their contact information. Include their phone numbers, email addresses, first and last names, social media networks, birthdays, home anniversaries and most importantly, their mailing addresses. What’s more, record any important details about their hobbies. 

As real estate agents, we don’t sell homes every day. A large part of our time is spent educating our clients on taking this next step in their lives and guiding them in the right direction. This is an important process. Just focusing on the deal without putting the necessary care and effort is much like expecting your car to drive without gas. 

The more you have about a person, the more you’re able to input into the system, and the more the system is able to interact with them in the background. 

Passive touch points

Now that you have your list created and are actively reaching out to your contacts in regards to real estate in their area (while also checking up on them and how they’re doing), you’re going to need passive touch points running in the background. 

Your CRM is going to send business messages for you — in between the time you call and do the things you’re supposed to do to build and nurture your relationships. 

When you have active and passive touch points working together, you can build a positive association with your name and what you do for a living. The active touch points focus on cultivating relationships with your contacts, while the passive touch points focus on building your business.

If you make an effort to commit to these steps and processes, and use your CRM, deals will come to you later naturally. What’s more, if you ever find yourself in a position where you have to transition and pivot, you’ll be able to do so more effectively. Optimizing your CRM makes your business stronger. It helps you create relationships and fosters clear communication with your clients. 

CRM audit

I’ve discussed adding people to your contact list in this article, and while you’re looking for places to find people you know to add to your CRM, don’t forget your social media

Think about the people you have on there (those who aren’t already in your CRM), and start to take some of those contacts and move them into your database. 

Review your CRM, and look for any missing information from the people listed in your database. This will give you another reason to pick up the phone and have your next active touch point phone call. It will give you something to talk about.

The key here is to put yourself in the right place, at the right time, and use your well-organized and completed database to constantly build your brand and relationships in 2021. 

Kathleen Black is the CEO of Kathleen Black Coaching and Consulting in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Connect with her on Instagram at @kathleenblackcoaching or through her website ItTakesa.Team.

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