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I was reading an article that was quite critical of CRM systems and their effectiveness in a) actually managing relationships and b) being implemented.  My general experience in real estate is that CRM systems are incredibly difficult to roll-out and are often viewed as a threat by the sales team rather than a benefit.

The argument we consistently hear being mumbled by agents is that they don’t want to put “their” data to the CRM.  If they do put “their” data into the database, they ensure that the the office can’t market to “their” clients via email and other forms.  As a sales professional, I understand this instinct.  We spend months and years building relationships with our clients and the thought of someone in marketing sending emails that I have no control over to the clients that I work with can be a scary thought.

As a real estate marketer, I find this extremely frustrating.  The fact that salespeople actively prevent the marketing team from using their CRM for marketing is a wasted opportunity.  There are solutions to this problem, but they require time and a lot of trust building.  Here are a few things I think real estate marketers should be doing to get access to the CRM mailing list:

1. Recognise that the sales team has a legitimate right to be concerned.  The database is their livelihood and it needs to be treated with the utmost respect.
2. Use the database for high-level brand-building and sophisticated communication.  Cheap call-to-action emails will quickly convert from communication to spam.
3. Customise the content to each agent.  Solve the problem of emailing “agents” clients by making all communication customised.  The sender of each email should be the agent and the content should be personalised to the agent with text and photos.
4. Share the email tracking graphs and analytics with the agent.

CRM marketing is an exercise in trust-building.  If your starting point is one of respect for the agents’ fears, you’ll get much better results.