What Should You Record in Your CRM?.
A useful CRM record should contain enough information to help you understand the contact, the relationship and what needs to happen next.
Your CRM does not need to contain every detail about every person.
It does need enough information to help you understand the relationship and manage it properly.
Contact details.
Start with the basics:
Name
Mobile
Email
Address
Preferred contact details
Keep these updated. Old or incorrect information quickly reduces the value of the database.
Property information.
Where relevant, record the properties connected to the contact.
This may include:
Property owned
Previous property sold
Property purchased
Investment property
Property they have enquired about
For a real estate agent, the connection between people and property is important.
What they are looking to do.
Record what you know about their situation.
For example:
Thinking of selling
Looking to buy
Considering an investment
Requested an appraisal
Planning to move later
Buyer who needs to sell first
This gives context to future conversations.
Important conversations.
You do not need to write a transcript of every phone call.
A short note is usually enough.
Record:
What was discussed
Any important concerns
Decisions made
Timing
Anything you agreed to do
Good notes should make sense when you read them months later.
Follow-up.
If something needs to happen, record it.
That could be:
Call next month
Send a market update
Follow up after an appraisal
Check whether they have bought
Contact them closer to their planned sale
A useful record should not only show what happened. It should also show what happens next.
Enquiries and activity.
Where relevant, keep a record of:
Property enquiries
Open home attendance
Appraisals
Offers
Buyer requirements
Past listings
Transactions
Marketing responses
This history can help you understand how the relationship has developed.
Keep it useful.
More information is not always better.
The goal is not to fill every field in the CRM.
The goal is to record information that will help you have a better conversation, provide better service or recognise an opportunity later.
A simple test is:
Will this information be useful the next time I speak with this person?
If the answer is yes, it probably belongs in the CRM.