Why Productivity Systems Are the Future and CRMs Are the Past

By Frank Chimento, VP – Broker Division, Elm Street Technology

CRM software is diluted and largely ineffective! There, I said it. It's true. The future belongs to productivity systems, NOT CRM software.

Last December, while attending Inman Connect in New York City, I overhead a few industry insiders commenting sarcastically about the good news that there are "...only about 10 new CRM products this year." They were right and that is good news. Yet, when you go online or open almost any industry related blog, you'll read or hear companies harping on the need for having a CRM. Of course, these are usually companies that sell CRM software. Often, they'll quote anecdotal statistics confirming the increase in business by companies that employ CRM software. This shouldn't be surprising to anyone, considering that in business you get what you focus on and, of course, CRM software can help some people focus.

However, in real estate, what matters even more than simple customer relationship management software is productivity. To put it another way, growing a real estate brokerage or a real estate agent's business is about capacity. It's about scalability.

Let's break it down. After almost 20 years working with brokerages and agents of all shapes, sizes and brands, as well as working with the largest technology companies in the industry, it is solid science that the typical agent has almost 400 contacts in their "database." With even conservative assumptions of only 3 percent turnover year-over-year (industry data says it's more like 5-7 percent,) that means 12 transaction sides should take place in every single agent's database each year.

Yet, the typical agent does not average anywhere near 12 transaction sides per year. Why not? I submit this lack of volume has less to do with a CRM system and much more to do with a lack of productivity systems. Gathering everyone you know into one "place" should be part of your strategy, but understanding the sequence of how to qualify and quantify which individuals are likely to move through a sales pipeline should be the paramount objective of every professional real estate agent and brokerage. To do this efficiently without breakage requires a system, not merely software. It requires understanding how to increase capacity, because we have yet to determine how to add more hours to the day. Growing a real estate business is a process, not an event!

What determines an effective productivity system?

Flexibility

Agents and brokerages in today's environment use a variety of tools for staying in front of clients and one size doesn't fit all, but it's important your productivity system is open enough to allow for plug-n-play opportunities. The future of the real estate business is all about integration. Think of your smartphone. You may use many different apps to accomplish tasks compared to what I may choose. Your real estate productivity system should function in the same manner. Think of your productivity system as your mainframe or your operating system that allows you to connect and/or disconnect ancillary services at your choosing without disrupting the entire ecosystem.

Business Model Congruency

A useful productivity system is congruent with the real estate business. In other words, your system needs to "understand" real estate. It makes little sense to apply another industry's nuanced systems to real estate. It's not congruent.

For example, stellar productivity systems understand sales cycles and the differences for referrals from your spheres of influence, compared to leads from online portals or pay-per-click campaigns. Good productivity systems understand your GCI goals and how transactions are conducted, as well as having the flexibility to navigate the "parent/child" relationships (technologically speaking) regarding team structures, etc.

Be careful your system is not one-sided toward only your sphere of influence or only your online lead cultivation. It needs to handle all aspects of your business.

Data Is the New Bacon

Everything tastes better with bacon, and a great productivity system is all about managing data. Your system must be able to handle live MLS data as well as customer and task/activity data. Data is power. Data is control. To scale your business and increase capacity, you must own and utilize your data to find the gaps in your production and identify solutions.

KPIs

Key Performance Indicators are the lights on each side of your runway. Not knowing where you are or where you're supposed to be will put you in a ditch. If there is one startling observation I've noticed over my career it is that profitable brokerages and agents know their KPIs and review them constantly. Underperforming brokerages and agents usually ask me, "What does KPI stand for?" Your productivity system must provide comprehensive visibility into all the appropriate indicators necessary for making decisions and adjustments during your business activities.

Ironically, most CRM software companies state that a good CRM should improve agent productivity. In reality, increases in capacity or "output" is what increases production. A more honest statement would be that a good productivity system will increase profitability because it will identify gaps, increase capacity, reduce waste, and provide more time to focus on the activities that generate revenue. In short, a good productivity system provides the kind of coaching and insight that moves the needle toward profitability.

Elevate BOSS (Business Operating System & Services) is a new brokerage and agent productivity system that's 100 percent devoted to increasing profitability by boosting production capacity. Elevate BOSS is much more than software, it is a system. Because it is built on a cloud-based open API platform, it is flexible and can integrate with a variety of ancillary tools.

Providing everything from social media marketing, IDX sites, MLS data feeds, customer activity workflow and task coaching to lead aggregation-response-routing-and tracking plus CMA creation wizards and brokerage recruiting modules, this productivity system is the new framework putting the most critical pieces of functionality at the fingertips of real estate professionals. Additionally, the unprecedented key performance indicator dashboards provide agents and brokerages with never-before realized access to the information that matters most.

The new Elevate BOSS platform is now bringing on small, medium, and large brokerages for our beta release and implementation. If you would like more information about this revolutionary business operating system, visit: boss.tryelevate.com