After almost six months of research, interviews and design, the Matrix is ready! It started as a way for me to be able to answer all of your questions when you called to ask about the various features of each. After mentioning it to some people and hearing the interest it generated, I decided to make it available to the public, along with some of what I know on the subject, in the form of a glossary

The Matrix allows you to compare any of currently 29 products side-by-side, across 350 features/topics/categories. Equally as important as being able to compare the product features, there is a 15,000+ word glossary to which they link, which will teach you every capability in virtually all of the products available on the market today.

There were/are 40 Real Estate specific Contact Manager and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions in all. Currently there are 29 products in the Matrix. I am affiliated with 22 of them as a reseller, and will soon be affiliated with the other seven as well. There are five more which have recently come onto the market which I am in the process of adding to the Matrix with which I am discussing affiliation. There are three in product development which will eventually be added. There are three that have gone out of business since I started. One of the 40 has opted not to participate in the Matrix, or to affiliate.

Gathering the data on each product started with a three to five hour GoToMeeting interview between myself and, in all but three cases, the CEO of the companies, to complete the initial raw Matrix. All the vendors now have 24/7 password protected access to the data in their product in order to edit it and keep it up to date. There is a field which contains the last date they revised the data.

Most products are targeted at North American residential resale agents. Some combine that with BPO's; REO's; Long Term Rentals; Short Term Rentals; International Sales; or Commercial Real Estate. Some are focused on marketing materials and light on CRM. Some are relatively simple, while some are seriously powerful. None of them are perfect, and none of them have it all, but some come pretty close, depending upon your needs.

The cost to do the comparisons and learn about what capabilities exist is $9.95 for access to all of it for one month.http://realestatecrmmatrix.garydavidhall.com/

This exercise has been an invaluable ongoing education, and is giving me a tremendous insight into the entire RE CRM industry. It is a pleasure getting to know the people behind the CRM's. Each and every CRM comes to the market with a different perspective about what is most important.

Other tools useful in helping with your search:

A History of Contact Management in Real Estate - Article

"...comprehensive, unbiased,........aspects of making a decision on CRM I never even thought of.........far and away the best article of it's kind I've ever seen on the Internet..."

OR

Considerations when choosing a Real Estate Contact Manager or CRM

A 60 minute Power Point Presentation by Gary David Hall

Prepared for the Real Estate Cyberspace Society's 2009 Cyber Convention

OR

Interview by The Lead Booster Club CEO Kathy Goughenour

Kathy interviews Gary for her membership for an hour, with a wide range of questions about

Real Estate Contact Management & CRM Productivity Software

When you're in the market - I am "The Real Estate CRM Broker! "