I thought I should write on the trials and tribulations of finding a good CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. In my mind real estate (in fact all sales) is based on a relationship. Therefore why not work with a "relationship" program. Let me also say right off the bat...I am not going to spend a lot of money. So this leaves out Top Producer, Agent Office etc and all those other monthly expenses. As well we need to look at hardware, software, cell phone sync, and the clouds...By writing this I am hoping to help out as many real estate agents organize their customers and make more money by discussing what I did to find the perfect CRM solution. (and cheapest...)
Let's start off with software. Microsoft Outlook is a great "general" CRM program. However in real estate we have particular needs and information to track. I therefore discovered the ability to customize the contact forms in Outlook. Customizing forms in Microsoft Outlook is not difficult. By using the customization I was able to collect rent from my tenants, provide ROI numbers for my real estate investors and track my listings, showings etc. It was a wonderful thing. But as my business grew, the limitations of Outlook became apparent. It is a software program that resides on my computer. It is limited to its physical location. I needed to be mobile and have access from other locations. I needed to hire an assistant who could access it from another computer.
Hence I began to look at "cloud computing". I simply wanted to take my customized Outlook on the road with me and have my virtual assistant access my Outlook database from another program. To get Outlook in the clouds I need to look at an "exchange server". The best price I could find was 10 a month ( another 9 if I wanted to sync with my cell phone). And most importantly exchange servers DO NOT support customized forms.
So as my business grew, so did my frustration with the limitations of Outlook. I discovered two cloud based free CRM systems worth mentioning. The first is Zoho CRM. And I must say it is an amazing program. It's customizable. It is easy to use. You can have up to 3 people on your team access it. It has a reporting function. But sadly, it is not mobile (yes you can try through Google Apps...but good luck, I tried and it couldn't work).
So now my adventure lead me to Sugar CRM, community edition (yes it's free too). Like Zoho it is customizable but I found Sugarcrm to be slightly better then Zoho CRM. It has a much more intuitive workflow program. It offers action plans and campaigns (drip mail, auto responders etc....) and virtual limitless access from anywhere by anyone. However after setting it up I was hugely disappointed to find a very limited number of mobile phone apps that work.
During my mobile sync search I came across a stunningly easy to use (and yes free) sync program called Funambol. I was blown away how fast and easy it synced all my contacts, calendar events and notes to my Blackberry. I was also blown away by how versatile it is. Check out the Wiki on Funambol.
So in conclusion I must admit that I have yet to find the perfect CRM solution. Sugar CRM is almost there and yes I was told by RhoMobile that they would have a Blackberry sync ready in the first quarter of 2011 that would work with my Sugar CRM customizable fields. Once that happens, I will have no excuse to not becoming the most successful real estate agent ever (ahem....). And secretly I am hoping that some other amazing real estate agent will comment on this blog and tell me how they do it that works better then what I propose....
For Real Estate Investors in Barrie, Orillia, Midland and Innisfil more information can be found at Mana Investments.
For people looking to buy or sell there residential home you can find more information at Simcoe Homes 4 Sale.
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