5 Ways to Find NEW Business in Your Existing CRM

If you're using a CRM to manage your real estate business, good going. It's becoming an essential element for success. In a recent survey of agents and brokers, over 71 percent of respondents used a CRM system.

CRMs integrate your contacts with data from sources like social media, transaction logs, market statistics, and public records. They also provide access to real-time information on how customers are responding.

Research has shown that using a CRM can improve conversion rates by as much as 300 percent, while cutting marketing costs by one quarter. Basically the CRM is just a database full of people. So, beyond storing and managing information, what are some ways it can be used to generate new business? Glad you asked.

1. Generate referrals

The best way to earn a referral is through extraordinary customer service. Using a CRM during the listing and transaction process provides a very smooth customer experience. You are able to meet their needs efficiently and provide any and all information in short order. In this way, just making use of your CRM helps to generate more referrals, and thus create new business.

Making connections is the specialty of the CRM. It can help identify relationships among your clients and partners that can produce referrals for you.

2. Find sellers

Many times, when an owner decides to sell, they rely on personal recommendations or past dealings to determine whom they call. Your CRM can help you to identify potential sellers before they even know they want to sell. You can keep track of market conditions for all of your past customers and keep them posted. In particular, send targeted emails to people in areas where values are climbing.

This can start them thinking about the advantages of selling while prices are good, and since you were the one to let them know about it, they are quite likely to contact you for information.

3. Integrate social media

Social media can provide an informal way to stay in touch with past clients and their activities. You can link social media accounts, particularly Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, to your client profiles to keep this information at your fingertips.

These platforms can give you access to details that may lead to new business. For example, a company or individual may post information about upcoming expansions. This could lead to a need for more space, and they might welcome an informative email on likely properties.

4. Network

Remember to use the CRM to expand and strengthen your industry network. Use your contacts to make recommendations for reliable home professionals, like interior designers, plumbers, or painters. This will boost your value to clients, as well as promote goodwill in the local market. Remember that those home professionals have a tremendous list of clients themselves, many of whom will need a real estate agent sooner or later.

5. Stay relevant

Lastly, remember that you need to stay relevant and top-of-mind with your current and past clients. A great way to do this is to provide valuable and interesting information via a monthly newsletter. Not only are you staying relevant by providing your contacts with information that may interest them (market stats, local news, lifestyle blogs, etc.), but you're also positioning yourself as the local expert while staying top-of-mind.

The top CRMs today provide marketing tools like a monthly newsletter to make it easier for agents to execute this strategy without the extra work and burden.

You'll likely find more ways to leverage the data you have on hand to find new business. With the efficiency created through a CRM, you will have more time to explore opportunities and make new ones happen.

To view the original article, visit the Wise Agent blog.