Center for REALTOR® Development
Business:Careers
072: Best Practices for Using a CRM System with Chris Linsell
Today’s episode, with Chris Linsell, is on one of the most popular topics. I talk about it in so many classes, and people have so many questions. Chris is an expert reviewer of customer relationship management systems, or CRMs, the organizational tool we all need to have in some form. He breaks it down into how we use it, why we use it, and how we can benefit from having this system in our business. When he explains it, he makes these principles and ideas easy to understand, so I love his teacher heart that comes through. He and I discuss many tools for you. We talk about the broker-centric systems that many of you already have access to in your brokerage firm, we also then talk about some of our favorite independent systems for you to consider.
Listen in for timely expertise on CRMs and more office tech.
Announcement: The Center for REALTOR® Development has migrated all of its educational tools to one website: Learning.REALTOR.
[1:51] Chris Linsell is an expert and reviewer for customer relationship management systems.
[4:09] Monica welcomes Chris Linsell to The Center for Real Estate Development Podcast. As a consultant, Chris stays up with tech and real estate trends; he needs to know a lot about a lot of things.
[5:21] A CRM is a customer relationship management system. A spiral notebook can be a CRM.
[8:18] We all must manage customers and relationships. Most agents think of a CRM as difficult technology and software. Technology provides the tools we use to create the business that we want. Those tools are often based on the internet. But don’t overcomplicate things.
[11:01] If you want to scale, you are going to need better technology. You cannot share a spiral notebook or an Excel sheet with your associates. Agents need to keep up with leads and current clients, their deals, and their client database.
[14:21] Chris’s top CRM recommendation for real estate professionals is LionDesk. Other CRMs he recommends are MarketLeader®, Elevate Social ProTM, IxactContact, TopProducer®, PropertyBase, and WiseAgent. Monica likes WiseAgent and Follow Up Boss.
[23:56] Compared to general-purpose CRMs, these real-estate-based CRMs give you an amazing number of tools in one piece of software, Chris explains how CRMs substitute for tech stacks.
[27:22] What are CRM best practices?
[31:30] Chris advises Monica to commit to one consistent place to enter contacts, so she will have all her contacts together. Also, get tech support. Your brokerage may offer you a CRM, but have an exit plan in case you leave.
[37:11] Chris always coaches agents considering a CRM to ask themselves three questions: Can they commit to it for at least one year of subscription? It takes time for a CRM to build value. Does this tool solve one major problem? Does this tool provide the opportunity to effectively exit it if needed?
[39:53] The software is constantly upgrading.
[42:38] More best practices for CRM use:
[50:35] Additional tasks:
[54:14] A CRM is only as valuable as the time you put in on it. In the beginning, you will put more time into it while you learn to use it.
[55:17] What do agents need to know about predictive analytics? Predictive analytics is the use of big data to understand better and make better predictions about what’s going to happen next. Chris shares an example of predictive analytics for lead generation for the next 12 months.
[57:50] Big data sells predictive analytics to real estate companies; small companies can access the same insights as large corporations. Chris gives an example of how you have already used predictive analytics over small sets of data. Predictive analytics tools use larger data sets for greater accuracy.
[59:44] Chris lists some predictive analytics tools for real estate agents. He predicts that predictive analytics will be pretty mainstream within a year. Monica has been watching the vendors for a while!
[1:04:00] Chris’s final word is, you are in control of your success! You have the opportunity to run exactly the business that you want to run and the tools exist to give you every chance to have the business, the career, and the professional life that you want. Get proactive and invest in your success!
[1:05:21] Monica thanks Chris Linsell for bringing his wisdom, experience, and a willingness to call her out for the flaws in her systems! Who is helping you learn and level up in areas of your life? Every day is an opportunity to learn something new in business or life. Are you looking for those nuggets and the people who will share them with you?
[1:05:58] If you have enjoyed this episode, press the Follow or Subscribe button to get the notice of new episodes each month!
Tweetables:
“[Chris] breaks down how we use [a CRM], why we use it, and how we can benefit from having this system in our business. When he explains it, he makes some of these principles and ideas so easy to understand, so I love his teacher heart that comes through!” — Monica
“[As a consultant,] you’ve got to be at least a voice in the room if not one of the smartest ones. So I do my best to stay up on everything that we’re talking about.” — Chris
“A CRM … is a tool that you are using to create better conversations with the people who are moving your business forward. … The most basic one … is a little spiral-bound notebook. … You’re managing that relationship by taking some good notes and recording the information that you need.” — Chris
“If you are a real estate professional who does more than five transactions a year, you are going to hit a critical mass in your short-term memory … where you won’t be able to keep straight the conversations … and the priorities for the people for whom you are acting.” — Chris
“If you want to scale your business … from 20 transactions to 50 transactions, … this is a critical tool because you might be able to remember all the people that you talked to today, but you’re going to have a really hard time prioritizing those conversations.” — Chris
“Anyone who’s listening to this, you have a tech stack already, even if you don’t realize it.” — Chris
“For my money, a real estate CRM is usually the way to go.” — Chris
“The real estate business has a very low bar to entry, … but it has a very high bar for success. You have so many things that you have to do in order to make it in this business. One of them is committing to a system that realizes that you’re running your own business here.” — Chris
“When your contacts exceed 100 people, you need a bigger system to categorize, prioritize, and communicate. And that’s where real estate CRMs really make you your money.” — Chris
“If you’re not a prospector, … [then predictive analytics] isn’t a tool for you!” — Chris
Guest Links:
https://theclose.com/real-estate-tech-companies/
https://theclose.com/predictive-analytics-overview/
https://theclose.com/real-estate-lead-management-strategy/
https://theclose.com/best-real-estate-crm/
https://theclose.com/market-leader-real-estate-lead-conversion/
ChrisLinsell.com
TheClose.com
The Matrix
Excel
“The Best Real Estate CRM for 2022: In-depth Reviews & Pricing”
LionDesk®
MarketLeader®
Zillow®
BoldLeads
BoomTown
Elevate Social ProTM
AI
Elevate Real Estate CRM Review + Video Walk-through
Jasper
IxactContact®
TopProducer®
PropertyBase
WiseAgent
Follow Up Boss
Tech Stack (Solution Stack)
MLS
Gmail
ReMax
Coldwell Banker
Real Estate One
Keller Williams
EXP
“Compass acquires Contactually”
Outlook
MailChimp
SlyBroadcast
Slydial
Offrs
Revaluate
NAR Annual
Additional Links:
Micro courses found at Learning.REALTOR
Crdpodcast.com
Learning.REALTOR for NAR Online Education
Training4RE.com — List of Classroom Courses from NAR and its affiliates
crd@nar.realtor
Host Information:
Monica Neubauer
Speaker/Podcaster/REALTOR®
Monica@MonicaNeubauer.com
MonicaNeubauer.com
FranklinTNBlog.com
Monica’s Facebook Page
Facebook.com/Monica.Neubauer
Instagram.com/MonicaNeubauerSpeaks
Additional Bio:
Chris Linsell is a REALTOR®, real estate coach, writer, technology analyst, and content strategist based in the United States. He is a hands-on real estate professional with more than 10 years of experience buying and selling anything from modest starter homes to massive waterside compounds. As a digital and content strategist, he’s worked with teams (real estate and non-real estate alike) to realize their lead generation and overall business goals by finding new ways to demonstrate their expertise and authority in their local markets.
Chris is a Writer and Technology Analyst for The Close, the internet’s leading source of actionable, strategic insight for and by industry professionals. At The Close, his job is to be up-to-date on the latest and greatest technology platforms, real estate strategies, and best practices that the leaders of our industry are using to buy and sell more homes every year. He is a thought leader in the real estate space, regularly hosting webinars and group coaching calls, as well as being a featured speaker at events like the National Association of REALTORS® Annual Conference. Linsell is also a contributor to publications like Apartment Therapy, Bank Rate, The Simple Dollar, EOE Journal, Mashvisor, and Constant Contact. He is also a regular contributor to industry-leading media like the Keeping It Real Real Estate Podcast
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