CRMs Are Sloppy. Details Make All the Difference

A CRM is one of the most critical pieces of technology that many agents use; it helps them stay in touch with both current leads and past clients, provides them with a list of critical tasks for each day or week, and helps them keep track of when they last spoke to whom. But that said, there can be danger in using CRM automations without paying attention to what the end user is going to see and refining the details.

Here's WAV Group's Victor Lund with a story about a CRM email gone astray.

Out of the blue, I received an email from a real estate agent I have known for years. It was a "Just Listed" email. The truth is, I have not received any emails from my friend in a long time, and I get a lot of emails. He sent me the email from an address that was not in my contacts, so it looked like spam. I wondered, why is this random agent sending me a "Just Listed" email when I am not registered for a saved search with them?

Bad Formatting

Notice how the header file does not line up with the image of the primary photo? I cropped out the broker's name (but that is in the header above the "Just Listed").

This email is from my agent friend, but I was not able to see that without scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page. If my friend is sending me an email, then I would think that their info should be at the top of the page!

There Is No Positioning or Narrative

Below the primary photo we find the listing details. Again, the alignment is off; the primary photo does not line up with the property details paragraph – bad formatting, again.

But the biggest problem here is that there is no narrative from the agent. What I am thinking is that this email should have been personalized.

Better Canned Copy

Hi {Victor}!

I hope you are doing well. As you may be aware, property inventory is very scarce in Spring Valley right now. But I am very excited to share with you that I have a new listing that just came on the market today. If you know of anyone who might be interested, I would appreciate an introduction. This is a great house in a wonderful neighborhood.

The copy written above could be hard-coded into this type of new listing alert. It creates a narrative and context for why this person is receiving that email. It hits better, and since I know this agent, I am likely to respond and say something like, "Congratulations," inviting some email dialogue.

Clean Up Your Sloppy CRM

Listen: CRMs are enterprise software programmed out of the box to automate a lot of tasks for agents that will keep them connected to their clients. These sales tools can work. But it is the broker/agent's job to go into every template email, customize the messages, review the formatting, and QA test the work. This work changes the impact from good to excellent.

Transaction volume is down. Invest your extra time in sharpening your saw. Don't let little stuff like this encourage your trusted network of contacts to hit the unsubscribe button.

To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.