New Client Intel Tool Taps Public Records to Compile Insights on Your Contacts

Real estate agents and brokers frequently use public records to gather information on properties—but what about using it to collect information on people?

That's what Secret Agent, a new client intelligence tool, aims to do. The solution taps public records data to provide demographic, financial, lifestyle and other information on an agent's sphere of influence. The information is served up in a 'dossier' of sorts that lets agents see data points that can help them connect with prospects or identify contacts who may be ready to list. The public records data is accessible from within Moxi Engage, a broker focused CRM from Moxi Works.

"Let's face it, the core of an agent's business is built upon a strong client base, but it's impossible to personally keep up with every single one. Secret Agent now does it for them," says York Baur, CEO of Moxi Works. "By reminding an agent to reach out to clients when their kids are heading off to college or letting them know the investment opportunities their clients care about, it frees up even more time for agents and keeps them on track."

Secret Agent collects and compiles the following types of information on clients and prospects:

• General demographics - Age, gender, median years of school completed
• Financial - Estimated home value, estimated household income, estimated net wealth, charitable donations
• Family - Marital status, number of children, age of children
• Lifestyle - Pets, interests, consumer purchasing habits
• And more

The idea is to give agents a way to connect with clients and prospects better by offering detailed information. So if, say, a prospect is interested in sports cars or golden retrievers, you can lean on Secret Agent to find this out ahead of time—thus giving you an opportunity to use this information in conversation and deepen the bond with your client.

Using Data to Become a Secret Agent, Man

A far more impressive use of Secret Agent's dossiers is to predict the likelihood of an individual to list their home for sale. The solution uses public records data to predict life events, like an impending empty nest or change in net worth or income, that may necessitate in change in residence.

When this data is compiled in Moxi Engage, the CRM uses it to help agents identify who they should be reaching out to and why.

Here are a few examples of how this data can be used to identify a likely listing:

• Age of children - A household with older teenagers may soon turn into an 'empty nest,' and the parents may be looking to downsize to a smaller home.
• Increase in income or net worth - Research shows that consumers' lifestyles typically rise to meet their income level. Secret Agent can identify clients that are currently living in houses that may be beneath their means. A raise or increase in wealth can indicate a prospect who's looking to size up.
• Length of residence - Have prospects who have been living in the same house a long time, or are approaching your area's average length of residence? They could be considering a move soon, and may want to talk to an agent about their home's value.
• Change in marital status - Previously single clients whose marital status changes may be looking to purchase a home with their new spouse. This is also true of contacts who recently adopted or had a child.
• Approaching retirement age - Contacts who are coming up on the finish line of their careers are more likely than the general population to downsize to a smaller home.

Of course, when an agent looks up information on their sphere, they need to be delicate about introducing their intel into conversation so as not to creep out the client. For advice on how to handle this kind of situation, see: Help! Should I tell my clients or biz contacts that I looked them up in advance?

To learn more about Moxi Works, visit their website. For a list of additional CRM solutions, visit our Product Directory.