CRM in real estate is confusing, we know.
Choosing the right CRM for your real estate business is an annoying task. With so many options available, it can be hard to know where to start. In this article, we'll break down what CRM is, why you need it, and what to look for in a CRM. We'll also share our top picks for the best CRMs for real estate agents in 2024. While we love Outpost, we'll also share some other options that might be a better fit for you depending on your situation!
What is CRM?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system that helps businesses manage their relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. A CRM system helps you stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.
Your CRM is your database of contacts, leads, and clients. It's where you keep track of who you've talked to, what you've talked about, and what you need to do next. A good CRM system will help you stay organized, follow up with leads, and close more deals.
Some CRMs are simple and easy to use, while others are complex and feature-rich. The best CRM for you will depend on your needs, your budget, and your technical skills. Also, more modern CRMs are AI-powered and can help you delegate tasks, automate follow-ups, and even predict which leads are most likely to convert.
Your CRM is the heart of your real estate business, so let's make sure you choose the right one!
What to look for in a CRM?
Alright, now that we got the basics out of the way, let's talk about what to look for in a CRM. Here are some key features to consider when choosing a CRM for your real estate business:
- Ease of use: You want a CRM that's easy to use and doesn't require a lot of technical knowledge. Look for a CRM that has a clean, intuitive interface and is easy to navigate.
- Customization: Your CRM should be customizable to fit your needs. Look for a CRM that lets you create your own experience.
- Integration: Your CRM should integrate with other tools you use, like your email marketing platform, your website, and your lead generation tools.
- AI: Since we're in the era of AI, your CRM should make use of artifical intelligence in some way to save your time, look for AI powered CRMs.
- Mobile: You're always on the go, so your CRM should have a mobile app that lets you access your data from anywhere.
- Pricing: Your CRM should be affordable. Many CRM's built for real estate cost ridiculous amounts of money. Luckily, however, there are reasonable options out there. You should also look for a CRM that offers a free trial so you can test it out before committing.
Best CRMs for Real Estate
Let's get down to business. Here are our top picks for the best CRMs for real estate agents in 2024 (while trying our best to be unbiased!):
1. For beginners:
If you're starting out and need a simple way to manage your contacts and leads, these CRMs are perfect for you:
- Outpost: I know, not a very unbiased look to mention our product first, but Outpost was built to be accessible to beginners. The Outpost interface is super modern and clean, it's simple, easy to use, and very affordable compared to the other solutions on this list. Outpost is perfect for agents who are just starting out and need a simple way to manage their contacts and leads.
- Pipedrive: Pipedrive is another great option for beginners. While it's not built specifically for real estate, it's easy to use, has a nice interface, and is very affordable. Pipedrive is good for agents who are just starting out and need a simple way to manage their contacts and leads.
Outpost's modern and clean interface makes it easy to use compared to other CRMs.
Some other options for beginners include: Zoho CRM, HubSpot CRM, and Monday.
2. Advanced CRMs:
Advanced CRMs are a bit more complex and feature-rich. They're hard to start with, and they can be expensive, but they offer some powerful tooling for teams and agents who are getting to the point where they need to scale their business. Here are our top picks for advanced CRMs:
- Follow Up Boss: Follow Up Boss is a powerful CRM built specifically for real estate agents. It's feature-rich, and is customizable. Follow Up Boss is great for agents who are looking to scale their business and need a packed CRM to help them do it.
- BoomTown: BoomTown is another great option for advanced agents. It's a bit more expensive than Follow Up Boss, but it offers some powerful features that can help you grow your business. BoomTown is perfect for agents who are looking to scale their business and need a powerful CRM to help them do it.
Both of these options are great, but they're not for everyone. Some other options for advanced agents include: LionDesk, kvCORE, and Realvolve.
Note that that all of these advanced CRMs are going to be more expensive than the beginner options. They're also going to be more complex and harder to use. If you're just starting out, you might want to stick with a beginner CRM until you're ready to scale your business.
If you're in between these two stages, you might want to consider Outpost, which is a great middle ground between beginner and advanced
3. Free CRMs:
If you're on a budget, there are some great free general tools out there that can serve as a CRM. While they're not built specifically for real estate, they can be a light way to get started without spending any money. Here are our top picks for free CRMs:
- Google Sheets: Google Sheets is a great free way to manage your contacts and leads. It's not a CRM, but it can be a good way to get started without spending any money. Google Sheets is perfect for agents who are on a budget and need a simple way to manage their contacts and leads.
- Airtable: Airtable is another great free option. It's a bit more complex than Google Sheets, but it offers some powerful features that can help you manage your contacts and leads. Airtable is perfect for agents who are on a budget and need a simple way to manage their contacts and leads.
- Notion: Notion is another great free option. It's a bit more complex than Airtable, but it offers some powerful features that can help you manage your contacts and leads. Notion is perfect for agents who are on a budget and need a simple way to manage their contacts and leads.
We'd recommend that you don't stick with these free options for too long. They're not built specifically for real estate, and they're not going to offer the same features as a dedicated real estate CRM. But they're a good way to get started without spending any money. Just watch out and make sure you don't get locked into a system that's not going to scale with you, or that's going to be hard to move your data out of.
If you're on a budget, you might want to check out the first two beginner options we mentioned, Outpost and Pipedrive. They're both very affordable and offer some powerful features that can help you grow your business.
Conclusion
We think, that if you're reading this, you'd probably like Outpost. We're a modern, clean, and easy to use CRM that's perfect for real estate agents who are just starting out. We offer a free trial, so you can test us out and see if we're a good fit for you.
But if you're not sold on Outpost, that's okay! There are plenty of other great CRMs on here that might also be a good fit for you. Just remember to look for a CRM that's easy to use, customizable, integrates with your other tools, and is affordable. And remember, your CRM is the heart of your real estate business, so choose wisely!