Do you often feel like there's not enough time to get everything done? Ever wonder if you're working too hard for too little return? If so, it may be time take a hard look at your business processes and assess how organized you really are.

The key to working smarter, not harder is all in how you manage the details of your real estate business. Do you have a system for keeping track of things like contingency dates and client property preferences? If your answer is "no" (or involves Post-its and mental notes), you're likely losing precious hours from your day!

The tools you use are your first line of defense against workflow chaos. At a minimum, every agent should be using electronic signatures and a transaction management platform. Few things will free up time like paperless solutions. However, there's probably a product right under your nose that you're not using to its fullest--your real estate CRM!

We all know that real estate CRMs help you keep track of prospects and clients, but we bet there are things you didn't know your CRM could help you do. Here are our top five ways you can use your real estate CRM to work smarter, not harder:

1. Fully Leverage the Contact Profile

At its most basic, a real estate CRM lets you store the name and contact details of all your clients and real estate leads. However, when it comes to data, more is better! With a full-fledged CRM like IXACT Contact, for example, you can record names of a contact's family members, current and past properties, make notes, log communications, and more. More information means you have a more complete picture of your client--and that you're better able to serve them and build strong, lifelong relationships.

2. Keep on Top of Your To-Do List

The best CRMs let you know what you need to do from the moment you log-in. Does the solution you're using have a dashboard that lets you see your daily tasks and the status of all your active business? Can your real estate CRM let you set up a list of "to-dos"? Look for solutions like IXACT Contact that let you set up listing and closing "activity plans." Once plans are assigned to a contact, you get automatic reminders of tasks to be completed so nothing falls through the cracks.

3. Automatically Keep in Touch with Clients

"Automatic" is one the best features of a CRM. Many solutions come with built-in drip marketing capabilities. Look for ones that let you send out a variety of messages--from monthly e-Newsletters to more personalized communications. We like how IXACT Contact lets you assign different real estate marketing plans depending on the contact--FSBOs, past clients, hot seller prospects, long term buyer prospects, expireds, and more. You can even adjust the send dates or exclude certain activities from a plan.

4. Identify Hot Leads

Once you've set up drip marketing campaigns, use your real estate CRM's analytics to track the success of your messages. You can then dive down into the data to identify who your "hot leads" are and avoid wasting time on those less ready to buy or sell. For example, IXACT Contact lets you see who has opened your emails and clicked on any links. Those who open or click most are likely "hot leads" and should be followed up with. Analyzing who has clicked on links in emails (or read your emails multiple times) is a great way to see who's interested in a certain property--these contacts are most likely to be hot leads.

5. Capture New Real Estate Leads

More and more CRMs are offering integrated lead capture services. By adding a simple contact form to your site, you can automatically pipe new leads directly into your CRM when they give you their information on your website. Leads can be assigned to a drip email campaign or activity plan to be followed up with immediately. Never miss a new opportunity again!

To sign up for a FREE 5 week trial of IXACT Contact, click here. To learn about other CRM systems featured on RETechnology, click here.