Keller Williams Deploys AI-Powered Ad Campaign Platform
Keller Williams (KW) announced additional generative AI integrations and a host of powerful feature enhancements to Command, a smart CRM-plus platform and its associated mobile app. "Our new campaign platform paired with AI capabilities will save our agents more time and money, allowing them to focus on what matters most," said Heather Pollard, head of digital and design, KW. Launched in Q3 '23, KW's new Paid Ads experience offers agents better quality leads, more available channels, easy-to-use ad creation, and new AI-powered features for listing ad types, generating more leads at a lower cost. The new Generative AI Ad Copy feature uses AI and machine learning to generate high-performing headlines and body copy primarily for single-listing, single-image ads, single-listing multi-image ads, multi-listing carousel ads, and single-listing multi-channel ads. "We're revolutionizing the approach to ad creation with this groundbreaking feature, setting a new standard for engaging, results-driven content," said Pollard. "Welcome to the future of CRM, where automation meets personalization, and the agents' brand messaging is fully maximized." Through Labs, the innovation hub of KW, the franchise continues to partner with real estate agents and teams to release software integrations and CRM features to increase productivity and eliminate pain points with lead generation, marketing, and real estate team workflow capabilities. "We continue to roll out vast updates that give our agents an unfair competitive advantage in the market," said Chris Cox, chief technology and digital officer, KW. "In partnership with our agents, we're automating more and more functional tasks, saving them time and money." The latest updates to Command include: New Contact Advanced Filtering Capability allows agents to finely dissect their database, supercharging productivity and simplifying the discovery of precise client groupings. With Automated Market Snapshots for social media, agents gain instant access to hyper-local market metrics, eliminating the need for manual data entry or design template manipulation. Transaction Summary Sheets empower all stakeholders to seamlessly access and share comprehensive deal terms in a user-friendly PDF format. Expanded Date and Data Fields within the Opportunity App empower agents to meticulously record and track more transaction-relevant dates and data points, including the loan commitment data, home inspection date, escrow due date, and more. Vendor Tracking in the Opportunity App of Command enables agents to effortlessly monitor all real estate deal-associated vendors and seamlessly export the comprehensive list as part of the transaction summary sheet. Through the Opportunities APIs, third-party vendors on a deal gain access to real-time deal tracking spanning the entire lifecycle, facilitating optimal support for all stakeholders. The newly introduced Onboarding Portal provides new KW agents with an all-in-one, streamlined onboarding experience. It efficiently gathers essential information, introduces KW models, systems, and culture, and seamlessly transitions users into Command, ensuring a smooth and comprehensive onboarding journey. "We are the home of the tech-enabled agent," said Cox. "Our agents highly influence our roadmap through Labs. And our latest innovative and forward-leaning features and benefits of Command reflect our 'By Agents, for Agents' approach to technology R&D." Command mobile app's latest updates include: The Bulk Selection and Action for Contacts empowers agents to efficiently perform multiple actions across numerous contacts simultaneously. From seamlessly transferring contacts between personal and team accounts to adding tags, assigning SmartPlans, and documenting notes and next-step activities—streamlining contact management has never been easier. The new Swipe gestures enable agents to take actions more efficiently and faster than before, such as notification reading and deletion, task editing and archiving, contacts editing, and Opportunities CGI numbers display. With the introduction of Real Estate Team Lead Features, team leaders, or rainmakers, can effortlessly manage lead routing on their teams, whether individual assignments or bulk distribution to a designated agent or the lead pool. "We remain laser-focused on building safe, reliable, and scalable solutions enabling our agents to serve their clients better," said Cox. In February 2019, KW originally released Command, hosted on the Keller Cloud platform, for general agent availability. In December 2021, KW released the first version of the Command app. Command has more than 170,000 quarterly active users as of September 30.

3 Tips for Increasing Agent Productivity Through Your CRM
Any real estate brokerage is only as profitable as its agents are productive. When agents are struggling to find inventory and close transactions, that means that brokerages are also facing revenue challenges. The key is to help agents increase their production levels and the number of deals that they close without spending money on additional products and services that they don't need. A new WAV Group analysis of data around how agents are using their CRMs can shed some light on ways brokerages can make this happen. Here's what the analysis showed and how you can start using the learnings in your own business. 1. Provide a CRM for All Agents to Use The majority of top-producing agents who responded to the survey are using some kind of CRM to help them communicate with their spheres of influence. One interesting finding from the survey was that it does not seem to matter whether top-producing agents choose and pay for their own CRM, or whether they use a CRM that's provided by their brokerage or by their MLS. In the study, a wide majority of agents who had completed between 31 and 50 transactions in the past year said they were using a CRM provided by their brokerage. More than three-quarters (87.5%) of these top-producing agents used some kind of brokerage-provided CRM. 2. Make Training Easy to Access and Complete Providing a CRM is an important first step, but as brokers already know, agents aren't going to use tools that they don't understand. The research indicates that top-producing agents have typically been using their current CRMs for more than a year, and also that they spend a significant amount of time learning how to use the tool so that they can leverage it to its full advantage in their market. The type of training provided matters. Top agents are more likely to say that they took in-person or live online training around their CRMs, as opposed to on-demand videos that can be watched at any time. They take the time and effort to learn about new features and options in their CRM, deploy them, and iterate to maximize their value. If you don't already have a CRM expert or evangelist at your firm, it may be time to uncover or create one. Talk to your CRM vendor about available trainings and see if it's possible to organize some live training sessions at your brokerage. If the CRM vendor can't help you, perhaps your in-house expert can offer some regular (monthly or bimonthly) training sessions for any agent who wants them. 3. The Best CRM Is One You'll Use It's an adage worth repeating because it's true! The agents who close the most sales are more likely to use their CRM multiple times every day. And they say that in markets when inventory is tight and qualified buyers are hard to find, they use their CRM more frequently to work their spheres, instead of less. The ways in which top producers are using their CRM is also significant, especially compared to lower-production agents. The top producers in the survey do use CRM tools such as email newsletter management and other features, but they are more intensely focused on one-to-one communications with specific high-value potential and current clients, instead of using the CRM as a sort of "blasting" tool. In other words, the agents closing the most deals today are prioritizing using their CRM to make direct phone calls and text messages to clients; those messages are focused on explaining where the market is, answering those client questions, and offering to help them make important real estate decisions in an uncertain environment. It's no secret that this real estate market is a tough one. But brokers who can help their agents understand the intricacies of CRM use can help create more top producers within their brokerage, elevating the entire industry.

Thank You, Ms. Helen: The Challenge Between Old and New
My wife's mother passed away in November. We inherited the home that she and my wife's father purchased from their parents. Her grandparents purchased it new in 1951. Someday, it will become our daughter's home. We found that there was a lot of deferred maintenance, and the outside of the house needed to be painted. I began removing the old glazing from the windows at night and on weekends. Along the way, I found a few chipped and cracked panes that needed to be replaced. Inside of a drawer within an old book, I found a roster of repair people and stores that they have curated over the years. In pencil was the name Ms. Helen, Glass, and a phone number. I called Ms. Helen. She answered the phone professionally – friendly, but direct. I placed my order and provided the address. "How are Anne and Sandy?" she asked as she was writing down the address. I told her that Sandy passed in 2002 and that Anne recently joined him in heaven. Apparently, Ms. Helen also went to the same church, too. "Are you sure that you measured these right," she asked. I confirmed. I could hear the calculator machine tap, tap, tapping as she calculated my order. It was a familiar sound that I had not heard in a long time. "It will be $117.28. May I have your credit card number please?" she continued. "You are all set; give us a few days and I will call you when the order is ready." A few days later, she called. The order was ready. I drove up there to pick it up. My receipt was a copy of my order that was handwritten on carbon paper with the calculator receipt stapled and a note "PAID" – and the last four digits of the credit card. I found another broken window as I worked my way around the house. I called and Ms. Helen did not answer. I learned that she went home early. I gave my name and asked for two more windowpanes the same size as my previous order. He took my last name and put me on hold. When he picked up again, he said "We are not computerized here, I had to go pull the file. We will have them for you tomorrow." Followed by the sound of the old calculator, and the request for the credit card again. Somehow, over the decades their systems endured. My experience with the man was not the same as Ms. Helen. Even though Ms. Helen did not know me, she knew our home and our family. There was a relationship, not bound by a CRM, but one that was bound by community. My customer service experience on the re-order may have been slightly faster if they had me in their computer system, but their process was fine. I have been updating the book with the roster of companies and skilled tradespeople so that our daughter will have a list of contacts whenever she needs them. Sure, I have loaded them all into Milestones too, and she has access to the homeowner hub. I am not sure if Ms. Helen will be around when she needs to replace the next window. But I sure hope so. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Engel & Volkers Unveils New CRM
Engel & Völkers announced the launch of the E&V CRM, a custom CRM experience for its Americas network created in partnership with, and powered by, Chime. The all-in-one, mobile-compatible solution is designed to automate lead generation, provide powerful lead nurturing tools and drive conversions via an intuitive mobile app and desktop interface backed by insights and reporting enabling real estate professionals to make data-driven decisions to support the growth of their business. "In real estate, relationships are everything," said Katelyn Castellano, senior vice president of marketing, Engel & Völkers Americas. "For today's real estate professional, a CRM built on smart, intuitive technology is an essential aspect of business. In developing the E&V CRM with Chime, we've created a solution that's easy to use from any device in order to help our network turn contacts into life-long clients—all backed by actionable data to help make informed business decisions on a regular basis." The E&V CRM helps real estate professionals accelerate leads from capture to conversion through automated lead capture and routing, contact management, lead scoring and analysis, branded nurturing campaigns, and lead integration with its shop and advisor-level websites, real estate portals, social media channels, and more. The platform also leverages AI to identify behavior trends and automate tasks enabling advisors to effortlessly foster relationships with the right clients at the right time. "The E&V CRM streamlines our business behind the scenes, allowing us to make smart decisions and take the right actions at key moments to best nurture leads and create client relationships," said Curt Stinson, license partner, Engel & Völkers Tucson. "Along the journey of attracting, engaging, and converting prospects, the E&V CRM offers full pipeline management. We are equipped with data that allows us to better organize and prioritize opportunities, engage with leads on a regular basis with relevant content based on where they are in the home buying or selling process, and ultimately, turn leads into long-standing clients." "As the real estate market continues to evolve, Engel & Völkers understands that the ability to generate and nurture long-term client relationships is critical to a profitable growth strategy. We have worked collaboratively with Engel & Völkers to adapt our AI-powered platform to meet the unique needs of its Americas network," notes Joe Daee, vice president of enterprise sales for Chime. "Featuring a powerful set of innovations that are easy to use and extend beyond typical CRM capabilities, our solution offers Engel & Völkers real estate professionals the ability to boost advisor productivity, drive profitability, and attract top talent to the firm as they continue to grow and expand." The E&V CRM is a provided benefit to the Engel & Völkers Americas network through the Engel & Völkers marketing and technology fund. For more information, click here.

CRM Crash Course for Real Estate Brokers
Real estate always has been and always will be a people-first industry. From the people who buy and sell (or rent!) their homes, to the people who work tirelessly to help those buyers and sellers—everyone has a stake in real estate. So it's no wonder that the interactions between people have always been so essential to the industry. But as people shift to a digital age, those interactions are changing—and managing them the old-fashioned way has lost a lot of the value it used to hold. According to studies from the National Association of REALTORS®, 97% of homebuyers used the internet in their house hunts in 2020, and the pandemic has only increased reliance on technology for real estate. To keep up, real estate professionals have shifted to methods like email and social media, with 95% of agents using email and 57% using social media. Despite the high usage, however, only 27% of agents use customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to help handle these time-consuming communication methods. Many still use spreadsheets, email, and even pen and paper to manage client engagement. Let's explore what CRM does for real estate professionals and brokerages, how it improves your client experience, and what to look for in a solution. What's a real estate CRM? Customer relationship management software is designed to give users an organized hub where they can manage leads, clients, deals, marketing, networking—and in some cases, the list goes on. This is especially useful in the real estate industry because of its reliance on social connections. A real estate CRM becomes a business management strategy, where you can run your entire client experience efficiently and productively. What does a real estate CRM do for you? We met with Red Oak Realty—one of the largest independent brokerages in the East Bay in California—to explore the value a CRM should bring to a real estate business. In their search, the team at Red Oak Realty had been looking for a solution that would help them provide for agents, clients, and the community—and help share information on neighborhoods and properties. That's a tall order—and in many cases, involves multiple solutions. By focusing on their business needs and looking for solutions that allowed them to do what they needed to do, Red Oak Realty has been able to turn website visitors into closed deals. "In today's fast-moving market, it's all about streamlining processes. We've put a focus on accessible tools that help agents better serve their clients," says Vanessa Bergmark, Owner and CEO, Red Oak Realty. So what should brokerages look for in a real estate CRM? It should make work easier. Ideally, a CRM solution will make it simpler for brokers and agents to manage communication. It should be organized, easy to navigate, and convenient to access. On its own, this organization and ease of access is a massive time (and stress!) reducer. But CRM solutions are typically also designed to help cut redundant and time-consuming tasks from your to-do list. It should automate key aspects of your outreach and nurturing, and help you set up intuitive paths that clients can follow to get the information, help, and resources they need. This frees you and your agents up to focus on bigger-picture tasks. It should help you track progress. CRM solutions are all about managing data, so it makes sense that they would help your brokerage collect and analyze that data. A good real estate CRM will help you track and monitor the movement, pace, and progress of deals—which helps you identify what's working, what's not, and what you can do to improve. Some platforms can even use predictive analysis to project your leads' next move, which means you can stay one step ahead. It should help you turn prospects into clients. Nurturing new leads is the bread and butter of finding and closing deals—and it's the entire purpose of a real estate CRM. Most will include automated lead nurture to help you cut down on the manual work involved in outreach, and to improve the client's experience through working with you. Ideally, your CRM should walk your prospects through every step of the conversion process, from the moment they fill out a form to the day a deal closes and even into post-transaction outreach. It should make managing listings simpler. This is where a real estate CRM stands out from a run-of-the-mill CRM. As a real estate professional, you need to be able to manage listings and contacts at the same time—so MLS integrations that help you access key information in your CRM are a non-negotiable. In some cases, you'll even have options to create listings from incoming seller leads and promote those listings directly on social media. What to consider before buying a CRM for your brokerage If you're sold on the idea of a CRM, but not sure where to start, try asking yourself these questions. Does my brokerage have specific needs or features that I need to look for? Do we want an end-to-end platform, or do I need to consider how it works with existing systems? Do my agents have insights or opinions on CRM software that I should consider? What will training look like with our CRM of choice? Can I see how the system works through a demo before we commit? Now that you have the basics of real estate CRM under your belt, it's time to think about the difference it could make for your agents and your business. How much time could you save? What would clients think of the experience? And how could it influence productivity? To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.

Effective Nurture Campaigns: The Key to Successfully Converting More Leads
Real estate runs on buyer and seller leads: sellers to list with your brokerage, and buyers to represent in their quest to find the perfect home. But it can take months, if not years, after you convert a lead for it to incubate and result in a transaction. This means a lot of time where your agents risk letting leads go cold. A long list of cold leads is every broker's worst nightmare. It's far easier to keep a lead warm than it is to revive a cold one. To keep this from happening, brokers need tools that help agents stay in touch with their leads. A great way to do this is through lead nurture emails. How does lead nurturing work? Your leads can interact with your brokerage in multiple ways: Visiting your website Viewing listings Searching for and saving properties they like Contacting your office directly Signing up for your newsletter Subscribing to your blog What's next? The answer: lead nurturing. Lead nurturing involves setting up touchpoints with these leads so they can stay in contact and interact with you and your brokerage. The hope is that when it comes time to take action, you'll be at the top of their minds thanks to the resources, tips, information, and expertise you provided in the meantime. In short, nurturing a lead means building a relationship of trust over time and guiding them towards deciding to work with you. What are lead nurture emails? Lead nurture emails are messages you send to leads who have agreed to be contacted to help move them through your sales funnel and towards listing with you or closing a deal. Good lead nurture emails are warm, encouraging, and make readers want to continue interacting with your brokerage and agents. What is a lead nurture campaign? When you send multiple nurture emails as part of a conscious plan to guide leads towards certain actions, this sequence of emails is called a lead nurture campaign. You can create a variety of different campaigns and assign leads based on their persona to make sure you're following lead nurturing best practices. Let's discuss these best practices below. Real estate lead nurture best practices Nurturing leads takes time. The winning formula involves a combination of consistency, expertise, and most of all… trust. You'll be surprised just how effective email campaigns can be when you do them right and follow these best practices. 1. Write catchy subject lines and greetings For lead nurture emails to work, your leads actually have to open (and read) them. To tempt your readers to click, keep subject lines concise and enticing, with emotional adjectives and action verbs. Reward the people who click with a warm and catchy greeting before diving right into the good stuff (the reason you're writing). Similarly, don't start your email with something like, "Dear Buyer Lead." It's important to be warm, fun, and always address leads by name. 2. Personalize your messages Your lead nurture messages need to feel personal and unique to be most effective, so your emails and campaigns should be tailored to your leads' personas. This means having separate content for buyers vs. sellers, investors vs. first-time homebuyers, blog subscribers vs. open house attendees, referrals vs. previous clients, or any other meaningful differences that are important to you and your team (for example, a special luxury category for high-end brokerages). The persona will tell you what you should write so that your content is as relevant as possible for your readers. 3. Use consistent branding and voice Part of building trust is teaching your clients what they can expect from your brokerage. This means consistent branding (names, colors, logos) and voice. Clients who come to trust you are likelier to refer you to their networks, too. 4. Share useful content Your leads have questions. You get to provide the answers. If each email you send answers a question or provides useful information, your leads will learn to open what you send and reach out to you with additional questions. This creates even more touchpoints for you to be helpful and win their businesses and loyalty. 5. Demonstrate your expertise Remember, you're the real estate industry expert. Your leads are relying on you to guide them through every step of the biggest transaction of their lives. So, position yourself as an expert and show them what you know. Just as you should be answering their questions, you probably also know a few questions they haven't even thought to ask yet. By providing this information before they know they need it, you'll be saving them time and earning their trust. 6. Focus on one topic per message We're bombarded day in and day out with messages from our jobs, our loved ones, and our phones. Leads don't have time to read a lengthy history of the real estate industry or an in-depth analysis of the politics of your MLS board. But they do have a few minutes to learn more about the transaction they're embarking on and how you can help. If you have a topic that really needs 1,000 words to cover it, write a blog post instead and invite them to read it, or ask them to give you a call. 7. Keep everything short and sweet According to HubSpot, the ideal email length is between 50 and 125 words. That's about the length of this paragraph! In short, keep it short! Your leads should be able to open your email and know immediately to keep reading it (and that it'll only take a minute or two of their day). If they open your message and see paragraph after paragraph, they'll simply delete it. That doesn't mean longer emails aren't useful and don't add value, but briefer is better. Use bullet points, a nice image, and clear, straightforward language. You can also encourage them to read more about the topic of your message on your blog. 8. Create a logical flow between emails The point of lead nurturing is to guide and encourage. That means starting at A, continuing to B, and ending at C. Don't start with C, backtrack to A, and then mention that you (oops) forgot B. For example, you wouldn't ask a blog subscriber to sign up for your blog (again), then give them tips on a successful close before sending them an email about the importance of preapproval. Let your emails flow naturally, and guide your readers towards the action you want them to take, based on what they already did to enter your sales funnel in the first place. 9. Test, track, edit, repeat How do you know if your campaigns are working? By tracking them, of course! You can create multiple campaigns with the same end goal, try them out, and see which one performs better. Sometimes very subtle changes in wording, timing, and tone can have a big impact on clickthroughs and unsubscribes. If your emails are never opened, try a catchier subject line. If more than 5% of leads unsubscribe, check your personas and how relevant your content is to them. Keep editing and tweaking all the time for maximum results. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

Real Estate Webmasters and LuxuryRealEstate.com Partner to Bring an Exclusive Platform to LRE Teams and Brokerages
Real Estate Webmasters (REW) and LuxuryRealEstate.com (Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate) have just announced a massive partnership aimed at bringing the best real estate websites, agency design, CRM, and lead generation exclusively to LRE members. This new program, which includes a limited edition custom version of REW's award-winning Renaissance platform and specialized lead generation specific to luxury, will be officially unveiled and made available to LRE® members at their 25th Annual Fall Conference held in Seattle Sept. 19-22. However, Meghan Barry has hinted that a few select members may be given special access early. "We are so excited to be bringing this limited edition custom platform exclusively to LuxuryRealEstate.com members," says Morgan Carey, CEO at Real Estate Webmasters, Inc. "Not only will members benefit from our hyper-targeted lead generation programs specific to luxury, but there is no agency or company anywhere in the prop-tech space with as much experience or as long of a track record working with luxury teams and brokers as Real Estate Webmasters." REW's track record and past client roster are well known and include A-listers like Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran, Million Dollar Listing New York's Fredrik Eklund, and Beverly Hills Powerhouse brokerage The Agency founded by Mauricio Umansky. "Real Estate Webmasters is the best-in-class choice for custom real estate websites, leading the industry for decades. Their sites are beautiful and functional, delivering the lead generation a top brokerage requires and the customer experience a luxury consumer demands. With a sizable overlap in our customer bases, our partnership is a logical move for both companies. We are excited to expand the benefits offered to the members of Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate," says Meghan Barry, President of Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate. A truly unique luxury program What makes this program unique is that everything from the design of this new platform, to the creation of what REW calls "white glove onboarding," is custom-tailored to the luxury market. Real Estate Webmasters knows exactly what it takes to succeed in the luxury space and they have a roster of 1,000+ brokers to brainstorm, test, network, and gain feedback from. It's this network, combined with LuxuryRealEstate.com's dominant presence in global luxury, that enables this partnership to reach its full potential. For more information on this unique program (exclusive to LuxuryRealEstate.com members). visit realestatewebmasters.com/lux.

Investing in a Real Estate CRM? Consult These Tips First
It's no secret that a real estate CRM can be a big investment, especially if you're partnering with one of the industry's leading CRM software. We know that partnering with a new CRM is a giant leap. But, performing software-specific due diligence can help you feel confident and excited about the newest addition to your tech stack. Software Shopping 101: How to Analyze a Potential CRM To help make sure that the CRM you choose has all of the features you need to streamline your workflow and drive more success, you should always spend time evaluating the system. One of the most important aspects to focus on is usability. In other words, you can only maximize the returns on your CRM investment if your team is using the system to the fullest. Before making the purchase, you should know which CRM will be the best fit for you and your team. Pro Tip: CRMs are not one-size-fits-all. You'll need to analyze what challenges you're trying to overcome to determine which software will best suit your team. For example, if you are losing too many leads because you're not following up properly, you'll want to shop for a CRM that automates and streamlines lead engagement — allowing your team to follow up quickly and effectively every time. 3 ROI-Boosting Tips for Adopting a New CRM 1. Master Lead Follow-Up If you're not following up with your online leads, you're likely not converting them. According to the CRM + Agent Adoption study from REAL Trends: 92.13% of brokers named follow-up and relationship marketing as the most-used CRM feature. 86.52% of brokers named drip marketing as their most-used CRM feature. 70.79% of brokers named follow-up reminders as their most-used CRM feature. Warming and engaging leads are critical for the long-term success of your CRM. BoomTown's data has revealed that the most successful agents are typically the most responsive agents who provide stellar service to all of their clients. As a result, BoomTown's features improve agent response rates — helping users reach, warm, and convert more leads. 2. Invest Time in Software Training and Agent Support Investing in a CRM does not end once the purchase has been made. If you want to see strong returns from your CRM, you need to continue investing time, energy, and work into the software. When first introduced, your team of agents need to be thoroughly trained to use the CRM. As you continue using the CRM, your agents need continual technical support and additional training sessions to ensure that everyone is familiar and confident with the new system. Further down the line, agents need to be held accountable for using the CRM properly. To see results, the agents on your team should be working with the CRM and integrating it into their daily workflow. Pro Tip: When teaching agents how to use a new system, make sure that you make time for individual training. Ask each agent on your team if they have any questions, or if they are struggling with any aspects of the new system. This allows you to address the specific points of confusion that may be holding your team back. 3. Be Patient Success takes time. When adopting a new CRM, be patient and wait for the results. Once you integrate the CRM into your workflow, you may identify areas of your real estate business that need to be optimized. For example, you may find gaps in the lead warming process and learn that you need additional support. As a result, you may need to create an ISA team or recruit new agents. In these cases, you may need to wait until you've hired and onboarded the new talent to see the whole system work seamlessly. Perfecting the way your CRM works for your business is a work in progress. Give it time, be flexible, and continue monitoring how the software is working for your business. What to Do if Your CRM Isn't Generating Returns If your CRM is not generating returns even after you've followed these three steps, there might be a bigger issue with how your team is using the system. In some cases, your team could be using the wrong system that does not integrate with your business. In this situation, it may be best to re-evaluate your purchase and determine if it's time to switch to a new, more effective platform. Or, your team members may not be using the CRM how they should be. If this is the case, working on agent accountability may be helpful. Your team needs to consistently invest the time and energy into the CRM to achieve a strong ROI. Identify the problem and then seek a solution that will set your business up for success. To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

Keller Williams Partners with RealNex on Exclusive Commercial Real Estate CRM
Keller Williams has entered into a strategic partnership with RealNex, an enterprise technology solutions provider for commercial real estate. Through the partnership, KW Commercial brokers and agents gain access to RealNex Navigator, a CRM-plus solution adapted to serve KW Commercial real estate brokers and agents globally. "We're excited to announce our partnership with RealNex because of the strong value it brings to our commercial real estate agents," said Cynthia Lee, executive leader of strategy and growth, KW Commercial, the commercial real estate division of KW. "The KW Commercial RealNex platform brings together a complete suite of marketing and business tools for our agents to thrive, while also maintaining our culture and brand promises," said Lee. "Our KW Commercial agents now have another true competitive advantage that allows them to best focus on the activities that benefit their bottom lines and growth." The KW Commercial RealNex platform streamlines all aspects of the commercial sales process by allowing brokers and agents to build and nurture relationships, manage leads, launch customizable marketing campaigns and reports, create custom listings websites, match buyers with properties and tenants with space, protect critical documents, and more. KW Commercial's RealNex functions on desktop or mobile, allowing agents to update the CRM on the go and in real time. From listing to close and beyond, the platform ensures each KW Commercial agent can increase both efficiency and ease at every step. "We are pleased that KW Commercial recognizes the tremendous capabilities and value proposition of RealNex Navigator™," said Mark Kingston, executive chairman, RealNex. "KW and RealNex share a common mission of providing technology and tools that enable commercial real estate professionals to achieve the highest levels of success while delivering world-class service to their clients." "In the coming months, we will further expand the value of our offering to the KW Commercial team with the introduction of our International Version, Auction Platform, Virtual Reality Platform and RealNex Data Solutions," said Kingston. "Bringing superior advantage to KW Commercial and RealNex clients worldwide is what we are all about. We succeed when our clients succeed." More information on the benefits and features of KW Commercial's RealNex platform are available upon request.

Technology: The Cutting-Edge
It was about 35 years ago when Jeff Pust was a young man, newly married and starting a career in real estate, working on mortgages and appraisals. He transitioned into sales, and 15 years ago, along with his wife, took over Van Dorm Realty from his in-laws. Today, the Olympia, Washington-based firm has over 120 agents and has remained an independent brokerage. "We're a large independent, which is rather unique," says broker/owner Pust. "The way we provide tools for our brokers is also unique for an independent, as we invest a great deal in technology. We are recruited heavily by franchises, but we have all the tools they have." That's where Constellation1 comes into play. Van Dorm Realty utilizes the software tech company for its CRM, websites, marketing services and back-office management. "We became a Constellation client when they acquired a tech firm we worked with a number of years ago. Since then, they have morphed into Constellation1. We have stayed with them the whole time and found success working with them," Pust says. "They have grown from providing our website to CRM and all types of other contact management systems they have, and now we're working in their accounting module." In 2021, the firm became a Constellation1 Commissions customer, which helped integrate all of Van Dorm Realty's back office tools and have them work together. The firm even used it with a different provider's transaction management platform, and it worked perfectly. It's just another way Constellation1 partners with its customers to provide what's best for the brokerage. "The reason we went with Constellation1 Commissions is to simplify our bookkeeping," Pust says. "We have this transaction management system, and we needed a way to link that information to our accounting system, making us more efficient and providing more tools to our brokers in a way they can track their income, and perhaps set goals for themselves." Still in its infancy launch stage, Pust notes that so far, it's doing exactly what he hoped, and he foresees it saving the firm a tremendous amount of time. The firm has about 25 brokers who use Paradym by Constellation1, a digital marketing tool, to help them with their social media platforms. The tool assists those who aren't as adept at the process of managing a social presence, which has been a big plus for those taking advantage of it. Another reason Van Dorm Realty has stayed with Constellation1 for so long is because of its commitment to providing the best service possible. "We've always been able to call them and talk about what we're seeing with our competition and ask if they can make it happen for us. And they've always been able to find a way to accommodate our requests," Pust says. "We have a lot of tech firms up here in the Northwest, especially in real estate, and Constellation1 has been able to keep up with the cutting-edge changes, keeping us cutting-edge as well." With more than three decades in the business, Pust has seen real estate transition from brokers coming into the office to working from anywhere, a change made more impactful by the pandemic. For that reason, innovative technology has been a big part of the firm's strategy. "Our mission along the way has been, 'How do we provide systems where brokers can get that same level of service and attention and not have to come into the office but stay just as efficient?' Constellation1 has been a great partner in helping that transition be a success. They help me be competitive in the tech part of the business," says Pust. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

Get More ROI from Your CRM
For many real estate agents, their CRM is the epicenter of their entire business. It's not only the database that holds every single lead and client, but also the tool that empowers agents to follow up, power digital advertising, automate marketing campaigns, and remember their to-dos. But at the end of the day, technology is only as strong as the one who uses it. And since most powerful CRMs are a considerable investment, we put together some ways that agents can extract as much value as possible. 1. Build on a Long-Term Lead Pipeline Many agents scale back on their ad spend and lead generation efforts when buyer demand is high. However, consistently fueling your pipeline is critical for long-term, sustained growth and success. Now is the time for savvy agents to lean into their lead generation efforts, build that database, and prepare for the market to shift. Real estate markets are always changing and when the landscape shifts, you need to have the tech and teams in place to make sure you're ready to seize opportunity. "A lot of agents are pulling back on their online buyer acquisition spend, but we doubled ours because we're in this for the long game," says Mary Maloney, HomeTown Realty Powered by eXp. "We look at the relational side of the business, not just the transactional side. And when you're in it for the long game, the market is going to shift. So, if you're front-loading your database with the client, that will be ahead of the next market shift. When the market does shift, you're going to have amazing business." 2. Empower your client experience When competition is stiff, and technology is automating services left and right – what makes you stand apart from the rest? Providing a VIP, white-glove client experience will leave a lasting impression. It is important to never forget that you are in the service industry! The experience your clients have will make or break your sphere of influence, and amazing experiences can build the foundation for a lasting, thriving business. Leverage tour CRM to anticipate their needs: Work with a CRM that empowers agents with both a mobile app for agents and a consumer-facing app Set up every lead with eAlerts (automated emails that will send hand-picked listings based on their search history) Utilize Smart Drip campaigns to automate personalized messages using insights from your CRM Be ready with information and OVER-communicate. Especially during a time when the market is in flux and buyers and sellers may be on the fence Have a clear process from the beginning and set expectations along the way. The worst experience is when you're unsure of next steps and you feel in the dark. 3. Prioritize Lead Engagement Ninety percent of agents give up on a lead after four touches. Meanwhile, 70% of those leads will purchase a home within the year, just with another agent, according to NAR. Ask yourself: What process do you have in place for following up? Are you or your agents responding to their own leads? What is the response time? Are you being notified by your CRM? These are important questions, but most agents ignore them. Why? Most agents would agree: following up is pretty boring and can be extremely difficult. However, as most agents would also agree, it is absolutely necessary for your practice. To make it easier on yourself, you need to streamline. The simpler you can make this process, the better equipped you'll be to convert more leads into clients and continuously go after these potential new clients. With the right system, long-term nurture plans will help grow your database, both in size and value, over time. Having eAlerts provides leads who register, but aren't ready to buy or sell, notifications that act as an automated drip campaign. A good CRM creates an environment that works towards your lead's schedule. So when they are finally ready to take the leap and make purchases, you'll be the first agent that's top of mind. 4. Work Smarter with Predictive insights Your CRM should be tracking every action a lead takes on your site, and surfacing insights your agents can act on like "back on site after a month" or "just favorited a property." Even "currently on site." These alerts let you know they're ready, and they're active, and you have a reason to reach out. It's critical to have information about your leads at your fingertips. This means utilizing powerful software and the latest technology to make your prospecting so much more effective. 5. Stay Dollar-Productive Hitting that GCI goal means taking control of your time. It's easy to get caught in the whirlwind, but real results come from working on your business instead of in it. On average, BoomTown customers report that they are empowered to spend 50% more time on dollar-productive activities. Hot leads are prioritized, systems are optimized for accountability, and agents are freed up from admin work. It comes down to prioritizing your time based on your most dollar-productive activities, leveraging the value of your database, and diversifying and growing your lead sources. Most real estate professionals are experts in their field, but that doesn't mean they're experts at digital marketing, or necessarily need to flex their expertise to nurture buyers and sellers who are far-out in the buying or selling process. 6. Accountability and Transparency It's crucial to arm yourself with the tools that'll both gather that data (lead behavior, ad performance, communication metrics), and translate it into insights and reports that work for you. This is how you optimize your business and systemize your success. And this is true tech partnership—a predictive CRM that prioritizes your work and makes it seamless to launch campaigns and understand performance. For example, there are several data points and KPIs that'll determine if your conversion rates will be on point. In BoomTown's CRM, the Vitals Dashboard is one of our most-used features. Like a report card for a team or brokerage, it gives brokers instant insight into agents' performance and benchmarks it against other users with similar team size and tenure. The report measures: Active opportunities Under contract opportunities Closed opportunities New leads New leads that have been contacted New leads that have not been contacted Response times An agent leaderboard and an agent-specific version let agents track and monitor their own performance, and brokers can take action in real-time to reassign leads, send a bulk text or email, or send a reminder to the agent. When the data is easy to digest, it's easy to course-correct and make sure you're optimized for success. 7. Integration tools Your CRM can't do it all. Nothing can! That's why it's important to work with a real estate CRM that plays well with others—meaning that it can integrate with a variety of other tools that you need. Your business has unique needs You deserve to use the tools you like (and ditch the ones you don't) And there is no one-size-fits-all solution To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

How a NextHome Broker Built a $177 Million Business
They say the best CRM is the one you actually use. And for Thomas Shumpert, Broker/Owner of NextHome Specialists, this fact was paramount as he grew his business. As he identified the need for a CRM, he knew he had to find something that not only his agents would use (and love), but also that he could utilize as a central hub to run his entire business. Strategically, he identified some non-negotiables from day one of his search for the right technology partner: Robust platform with a high level of capabilities and features Customer service and support Scalability Is Your CRM Ahead of the Curve? With over 12 years of innovation, BoomTown paves the way for agent-driven real estate technology. And with other tech companies and franchises jumping into the space, there's a lot to choose from. Many agents and brokers, like Thomas, who are part of a franchise, leverage their internal technology in addition to BoomTown. Speaking volumes to how pivotal BoomTown is to their success. "NextHome created a CRM from the ground up, which was a major undertaking -- and they did a phenomenal job," says Thomas. "But when you're building anything, you aspire to be other things, and that other thing is BoomTown, which I consider the best CRM on the market. A lot of the tools that NextHome offers us as brokers and agents are compatible with BoomTown!" Compatibility is key for any successful tech stack, which is why Thomas leverages BoomTown's expansive network of integration partners. "We utilize BombBomb, Spacio. All those things are interactive with BoomTown. And so the technology has grown with us and helped us provide more tools for our agents and then better follow-up with our clients." A question Thomas gets a lot from fellow brokers and agents is, "Is BoomTown worth the cost?" For any small business, it's always a matter of investment and ROI. Which is why it's so important to leverage technology that you will actually use. "The investment is nothing at this point once I realized what BoomTown could do and how it could help me manage a team, and really scale my business," says Thomas. "If you're not going to utilize tools and you're not going to really use them to their capacity, then you definitely want to go with a free CRM. But if you want to take it to the next level and you know how to utilize CRMs, you know drip campaigns, you know the importance of staying in front of your folks, then you definitely want something that's more robust and can handle that growth and help you get there. And BoomTown has all the systems in place, so it makes it really, really easy." Unparalleled Support Real estate is a dynamic, constantly evolving industry. With market shifts left and right, new technology, and changing consumer demands, it's never been more critical to have a technology partner that will empower your business at every turn. Thomas is a forward-thinking entrepreneur. He wants to build a "shockproof" business with a reliable pipeline and sustainable growth. It was important for him to work with a true technology partner, not just a platform. "A non-negotiable is customer service. We pay you guys, definitely, what you're worth, but your customer service is, hands down, probably one of the biggest reasons we've stayed and grown and bought more platforms because we never doubt that we're going to be answered quickly with all the technological support we need. And that kind of customer service is what we try to offer, and it's nice to work with someone like BoomTown who offers it as well." Working with BoomTown, Thomas has a roadmap for success. He has access to nine specialized teams of experts as well as internal communities of peers to strategize and mastermind how to get ahead. Don't Just Grow, Scale Rapid growth comes with its own set of challenges. So creating steady, sustainable growth is what sets apart the long-term winners in real estate. Thomas has leveraged BoomTown to help him scale, starting on a smaller platform that suited his needs and then growing to more robust packages over time. So you only pay for what you need, not what you don't. Thomas runs an expansion team, with five offices in South Carolina, one office in Florida, and 66 agents. That's a lot to manage! With BoomTown, his agents are able to customize their ad spend (helpful for unique markets!) and Thomas has a birds-eye view of how everyone is performing through accountability dashboards within the platform. "I was able to scale an office that's eight hours away from me by giving them a BoomTown platform that I can manage and watch from here [in South Carolina]. We also spend a lot of money with Zillow, and I think the success for us in Zillow has been using BoomTown to work those Zillow leads. We funnel all of our lead sources in there; all of our past clients, really capturing the clients that we have and working in that sphere of influence, and the lead gen we pay for. We would not have been so successful if we hadn't put it through the BoomTown system, in my opinion." Growth doesn't come overnight, thankfully! Slow and steady growth with a trusted success partner is often what separates the good from the great. And Thomas Shumpert, NextHome Specialists is certainly proving to be one of the greats! To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

Ryan Wilson: Closing Nearly $100M in Sales
Next-Level Success In 2021, good real estate tools are a dime a dozen. But for growth-driven agents and brokers like Ryan Wilson, it comes down to separating the good from the great. Broker/Owner of Edge Realty in Rhode Island, Ryan Wilson had settled into a groove with his thriving boutique real estate agency, serving Rhode Island's competitive luxury waterfront market and finding success doing it. But as the family-owned operation grew from a team of four to what would eventually be 30 agents, Ryan had the foresight to know that he needed his technology to level-up as well. Early on, after dabbling with some solutions with basic-level functionality (Contactually and Top Producer), Ryan moved to Sierra Interactive to experience a wider variety of features and capabilities. Then, as his team began their expansion, he landed on BoomTown as the right tool to drive that growth, while empowering and unifying his entire team within one central system. Tools to Empower Agents BoomTown was built to empower real estate businesses from the ground up, with tools to help entry-level single agents thrive as well as robust enterprise solutions for broker-owners and multi-city expansion teams. For Ryan, it was important to have a solution that helps his agents close more deals while giving him the transparency, data, and metrics necessary to manage and support a team. With BoomTown's Accountability Dashboard, Ryan can see if his agents are following up with their leads, plugging them into SmartDrip automated marketing campaigns, and reaching out when new "hot" leads register on their site or show interest in a property. (All of the activities that help convert online leads into closed deals!) To take it even further, with the BoomTown Vitals Dashboard, Ryan can see how his business's performance on the BoomTown system compares to other BoomTown users… because a little friendly competition never hurt anyone, right? "We needed something with a little bit more capability as far as the tracking and recording and reporting on what our other agents were doing within our framework. We reached out to a few brokerages throughout the country that were using BoomTown at the time and it just seemed like a much better fit for us to expand out." Empowering Agents to be Proactive and Productive Actionable Insights: Lead activity is tracked within the real estate CRM system to give agents predictive insights on top opportunities most likely to engage in conversation. Hot Sheet with MLS Updates: Agents can keep tabs on hot listings and get every update right in the CRM. Smart Prospecting Tools: Match your best listings with the most fitting and interested homebuyers with Best-Fit Leads. The Opportunity "NOW" Wall shows you leads to focus on and when to reach out to contacts. Mobile App and Consumer App: Never miss a beat and keep up with new leads and conversations on the go. Plus, the consumer app will keep your leads coming back. Success Assurance: A Lead Concierge Service handles lead engagement for you, following up and qualifying leads 24/7 and passing them off to the agents when they're conversation-ready. Expert Onboarding and Training We often say, "A tool is only as good as the hands that wield it." Meaning, we can provide the most robust, complex, powerful technology ever, and it simply doesn't matter if it's not easy (and enjoyable) to use. That's why BoomTown has 100+ team members dedicated solely to client success, onboarding, training, and support. For a broker with 30 agents to manage, being able to trust BoomTown with the training and technical support was a gamechanger for Ryan. "The fundamental training classes are super useful especially when we're onboard and new agents or have introduced new agents into the Boomtown and everything because that's something that takes a huge workload off of us from the very beginning. From a brokerage standpoint—from a management standpoint and maintaining the ease of being able to communicate with the support team is extremely advantageous." A Data-Driven Process The biggest differentiator that Ryan experienced between BoomTown and the other solutions he tested was the data-driven lead insights. Tools that are necessary for next-level growth. "I remember the first time of going into BoomTown just feeling like, 'Woah.' The amount of information that they're able to capture for any single prospect, the amount of tracking that they're able to then relay over to you. It's amazing. Compared to what we had before, so." When it comes to converting leads from your database, it's all about being in the right place at the right time. And if you don't have a fortune-teller on your staff, you're not going to be able to do that without the support of technology. Seeing when a lead registers on your website is one thing, but what if you could see more granular details and patterns like: What neighborhoods they're searching in Did they calculate a loan? Did they favorite the property? Did they send the property to someone else? "That is one of the biggest features I find helpful, is when you get somebody that pops up in your NOW wall and it says they looked at this property from three different locations. What that tells me is that they liked that property enough to text that property over to their husband or wife, or email it to somebody else, or they calculated the loan on it. So 'hyper interest' in the properties was the biggest feature difference that I found to be very useful." Ryan Wilson runs his real estate business with his eye on the long-term prize: healthy, sustainable growth. Which is why when it came down to deciding on a long-term technology partner, he didn't want to settle for just good but instead invest in the best. And after coming in at just under $100 million in closed sales in 2020, we'd say the ROI is paying off. To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

Getting Time Back, with Tech
Caitlyn Mulligan, Team Leader of RE/MAX Revolution, values one thing above all else: time. She knows that all too often in real estate, agents get swept up into the chaos and end up spinning their wheels without making much progress. It's why there's such a high turnover rate for new agents. And after overcoming a major health event in her personal life, she gained even more clarity and determination to build a business that would allow her to live the life she wants (and deserves). But she is determined to accomplish two things: Be financially successful. Have time to enjoy her life. And she's balancing it all with BoomTown. Dollar Productivity You hear a lot about productivity, but what does it mean to be "dollar productive"? It means focusing on activities that are the best for your bottom line. By focusing on the dollar productive activities, you can avoid spending time on things that don't bring much value to you or your business and instead invest your time and effort where it is needed most. "My routine has totally changed. I actually have MORE time to myself because I'm not doing the tedious tasks." Caitlyn didn't get into real estate to send email alerts or hand-build marketing campaigns from scratch. She got into real estate because she wanted to help people find their dream home.So, she sought out the technology that would allow her to focus on just that. Operation Delegate and Automate With BoomTown, Caitlyn was able to automate: eAlerts, sending properties to leads based on their search criteria Long-term lead nurture through Smart Drip Campaigns Pipeline management Lead qualification and concierge services with Success Assurance Powerful Database of Leads + Easy-to-Use CRM In real estate, agents and brokers often plateau a few years in. At that point, what separates the average agents from the top producers is building a framework for your business that allows you to passively generate, qualify, and nurture leads. As your database grows, the pool of leads that have been nurtured over time grows as well. The consistent pipeline becomes the gift that keeps on giving. For Caitlyn, having a database of organized leads is something she can't live without. "I'm generating new business and I can easily reach everyone in my database. It's all on my phone – the instant someone registers." Predictive lead insights are what make conversions skyrocket and keep agents productive. Don't know the next step? Don't worry, BoomTown does. The system will tell you exactly where to focus, what leads are hot right now, and exactly when to reach out. Or, better yet, BoomTown's lead concierge service will reach out for you, 24/7, in as little as 90 seconds. This assures that your leads are being engaged as soon as possible while allowing you to focus on other, more pressing tasks. (Remember when we mentioned dollar productivity?) Visibility into lead activity is what really changed the game for Caitlyn. "I love how I can see where my clients are looking and where they continue to look. I can see how many times they're looking at a property, which helps me gauge their interest or home styles." Beyond the lead generation and automation tools, Caitlyn appreciates the ease-of-use with BoomTown. After trying another, she experienced first-hand the stark contrast between the 12+ years of innovation behind BoomTown and other solutions that simply don't compete. "The other system? I hated it. I won't put my clients into it. The user face isn't as easy and I can't see where my leads are looking! I love my BoomTown features." Weighing the Value At the end of the day, it's all about getting value out of your system. Caitlyn wants to accomplish two things in real estate: be financially successful and have time to enjoy her life. Looking for a new real estate technology partner? Follow Caitlyn's lead and don't settle for less than the best. Consumer-facing websites designed to attract and convert leads Full-circle pipeline management Expert lead generation Lead qualification and concierge services Predictive CRM Success management and legendary support services An ecosystem of integration partners "If you're on the fence about BoomTown… do it. Don't let the cost scare you. It will 100% pay off if you use it!" Discover what's possible with BoomTown! Request a demo. To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

DocuSign's Newest Sample App, MyRealEstate, Now Available
DocuSign has shared their newest sample app, MyRealEstate, which models customer relationship management for real estate brokers and agents. This app offers these functions: 1. Create a lead. A lead contains your customer contact information and can fill the role of buyer or seller. To create a lead, you must provide a name, email, and phone number. 2. Create transactions. Transactions must be attached to a lead. They contain information about the property to be bought or sold, and contact information for the agents, buyers, and sellers involved in the transaction. To create a transaction, you must provide the name of the property, the role (buyer/seller) of the associated lead, and the address. The app constructs the transaction by creating a room using the DocuSign Rooms API. 3. View and update transactions. After creating one or more transactions, you can view either the last transaction created for a lead by clicking view transaction, or all transactions you have created in your office on the transactions page. From the transaction view, you can edit the transaction details such as price, square footage, contact details, and more. These are updated in the DocuSign room using the Rooms API. MyRealEstate is built using a Node Express server on the back end and React on the front end. It is hosted on Linux servers that run the Node web server. Make sure to check out the MyRealEstate sample app or try out the source code for yourself on GitHub to start exploring how you can integrate the DocuSign Rooms API in a real estate context. To view the original article, visit the DocuSign blog.

New Lead Routing Strategies Point to Increased Conversion Rates
Lead routing has always been difficult to manage for real estate brokers. They have tried and failed at many strategies, including call centers. Beckoned by the industry's call for innovation, today artificial intelligence and machine learning is introducing external data coupling and improving lead conversion rates. On firm listings, almost every broker sends leads on company listings to the listing agent unless that agent opts-out. The rest of leads on other firm listings are distributed using automated lead routing rules.

The 6 Key Features Your Brokerage CRM Needs
As the saying goes in real estate, the three most important things are location, location, location. But for brokers and agents, it's actually leads, leads, leads. Brokerages everywhere are dealing with tighter margins, so agents can't miss a single opportunity: more leads equal more listings. There's nothing more important for your brokerage than a robust lead funnel and the ability to track, assign, and follow-up on every single lead. Investing in new technology, like brokerage CRM tools, helps agents action every lead fast to win more business. The faster they follow up, the more likely the lead will convert. According to Gartner, a lead is ten times more likely to convert if they are responded to in less than five minutes.

The 'Four Pillars' of Brokerage Technology Tools
It's no secret that real estate brokerage business models are continually evolving, and tech innovation is happening at warped speed. In the fast-paced and highly competitive real estate industry, it can serve as a helpful reminder for brokers to focus on the "four pillars" of brokerage technology tools. Let's break down the "four pillars" of technology tools for your brokerage: 1. Drive Revenue With the industry's leading recruiting module, we make it easier than ever to target the agents you want to recruit and build rapport and meaningful relationships faster. With contact record details protected in the agent databases, agent adoption is greater and leads to more engagement with more of their spheres of influence, resulting in more business transactions. Additionally, our industry leading lead generation volume and conversion rates catapults new business opportunities leading to increased returns on investment. 2. Increase Capacity An advanced CRM productivity solution such as Elevate BOSS™ allows agents to stay on track with tasks associated with each stage of the pipeline for buyers, sellers, and renters. Daily coaching emails (morning reports) designed to focus the agent on the highest and best use of their time while reminding them about the customers that need attention now is a sure-fire way to maximize effective selling time and increase production capacity. 3. Save Time Currently, the typical agent manages 10 different and disparate technology vendors. The Elevate platform combines an agent's core services into one solution, providing best-in-class IDX websites, CRM, CMA, email and text message marketing, document storage, pipeline management, activity coaching, social media marketing and lead generation, plus much more. Time lost is time wasted, and agents need to maximize their time on the activities that matter most, driving the behavior that produces the most desired financial outcome. 4. Save Money The typical brokerage manages more than 15 different vendors, incurring costs exponentially higher than what can be available in one, consolidated, simplified solution. By providing IDX websites, advanced productivity CRMs, email and text marketing, recruiting module, document storage, CMA creation wizard, blogs, automated content, social media marketing, online lead generation, lead routing and lead scrubbing concierge services, there is NO OTHER platform in real estate that combines all of this functionality into one, singular solution. With an unrivaled price point, Elevate BOSS™ saves you money and time while improving production capacity and driving revenue to increase your "company dollar." Are you ready to meet the BOSS? Elevate BOSS™ helps brokerages concentrate on what matters most. Consider your current technology tools, products, and services and compare them to what Elevate BOSS™ provides. Are your current solutions meeting all your needs? If you are unsure, spend a few minutes with the Elevate Brokerage Development team to discuss your business challenges and determine if our solution can benefit your brokerage. < Schedule Your Gap Analysis Now >

How to Convert Your CRM Database into Commissions
The following is an excerpt from RE Technology's latest Success Guide: The best strategy for growing your business today is to leverage your CRM. Everyone that you know should be a customer record in your CRM. Developing a database of customer contacts with complete information including telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses is fundamental for your success, as a well-groomed database in your CRM becomes a significant asset. The more you communicate effectively with your customers, the greater the likelihood of converting those contacts into relationships that lead to future transactions.

What Makes a Great CRM?
The following is an excerpt from RE Technology's latest Success Guide: When looking for a CRM for the first time, we recommend developing a checklist of features and a ranking system for each of those features. Try this criterion: Feature Importance to Me Ease of Use Here's a brief walkthrough of how you might rank a feature.

Real Estate CRM Basics
What Is a CRM? CRM stands for customer relationship management and is used to describe a category of tools used by businesses to manage interaction with current and potential customers. There are many types of CRMs, but they generally share the same common goals to benefit any kind of business:

3 Ways Independent Brokerages Can Win the War Against the 'Big Boys'
As more and more of the larger franchise organizations acquire and roll out proprietary CRM technology, it's become increasingly difficult for small to mid-sized independents to maintain their competitive edge. Recently, 20+ year real estate veteran Frank Chimento sat down with Bondilyn Jolly of Elevate and 3sixtyfive.agency to discuss the frustrations and challenges that the independent broker faces, and the limitations that "bolt-on" technology presents when attempting to aggressively recruit and retain agents, all while remaining profitable in a time of shrinking margins. Stream the conversation below and continue reading on for three challenges (and solutions) to how independents are leveling the playing field between themselves and big box brands. Challenge #1: Agent Adoption of Technology End-to-end technology that offers lead generation, nurturing and conversion tools for agents is costly, and many independent brokers struggle to offer highly adoptable options, leaving their agents struggling to fill the void. Many times, brokers have to offer a series of "bolt-on" solutions, incurring additional costs and vendor frustrations, only to recognize little agent adoption. Solution: When a broker is able to offer one, simple-to-use solution to their agents, it allows those agents to streamline the most critical parts of their day-to-day, while also offering true insight into what's working and what isn't. Agents are sales people, so technology, software and marketing can be intimidating. Any broker that can address this intimidation by offering a comprehensive offering, complemented by an intuitive onboarding and support experience, has an advantage over their competitors. Challenge #2: Agent Concerns about Privacy of Data Who owns an agent's data is a hot topic, especially when the technology is owned by a large corporation (e.g., Compass acquiring Contactually caused a freak-out—and mass exodus—for agents using Contactually that were NOT part of the Compass organization). Agents work hard to build their pipeline and don't want their broker or their franchise organization claiming ownership in the 'fine print.' Solution: If brokers want to provide a solution that agents will adopt, they should offer full transparency into the data that they access and ensure that agent's proprietary information is protected. Not only will this foster stronger, trusting relationships between the broker and agent, but it drives higher adoption because the agent knows that if they leave their brokerage at a later point, their data goes with them. Challenge #3: Agent Perception of Value When agents are forced to use multiple "bolt-on" technologies that don't connect together, it can be challenging to understand the value of their investment, leading to "buyer's remorse" and churn. On average, agents have to manage between 10-12 different technology tools, which is more costly, confusing, and time-consuming. Solution: Agents need insight into the ROI of their marketing and technology tools in an easily consumable way. A broker that can offer a solution with one dashboard providing at-a-glance metrics AND that connects all of an agent's day-to-day activities is going to win—even against the "big boys" that tend to be slower to develop due to the bureaucratic structure of their organizations. Is there a solution out there that drives high agent adoption, addresses privacy concerns, and provides valuable insight—all while being affordable for small to mid-sized brokerages to invest in for their agents? Yes, and that solution is found in Elevate, one of the hottest new CRM technologies to hit the market. Designed by agents and brokers FOR agents and brokers, Elevate levels the playing field between independents and big box brands. Affordable. Adoptable. Intuitive. Protected. ——————— Interesting in learning more about this topic? Join RE Technology's upcoming webinar: "Tired of Large Brokerages or New Brands Stealing Your Thunder? Learn how Small to Mid-Sized Independents are Fighting Back."with Bondilyn, Frank and Justin Falb, broker.  

Another Brokerage Unveils an iBuyer Platform: Nashville's Parks Realty Launches Parks Go
It seems iBuyers are expanding into new markets nearly every week. And if iBuyers are not in your market, don't assume they won't be; with the massive capital they've collected, they soon may be knocking on your market's door. For brokerages, the iBuyer movement presents an opportunity. All over the country, local brokerages are starting to seize this new opportunity.

IXACT Contact Launches Broker Portal, Recruiter Enhancements
IXACT Contact announced the addition of significant new features to their Brokerage Program. The first is the Broker Portal, which represents the next step in the evolution of IXACT Contact from a best-in-class CRM for individual agents and teams to a broker-level solution. The Broker Portal makes it easy to administer an organization-wide CRM and further leverage IXACT Contact in order to attract and retain the best agents and teams. The Broker Portal lets brokerages create and publish consistent branding and marketing collateral for their agents by taking advantage of the following features: A fully customized version of the Monthly e-Newsletter Custom graphical email and letter templates Custom Marketing Activity Plans (including drip email) Custom Listing and Closing Activity Plans Pre-loaded company logo and agent customizable standardized branding The Broker Portal also includes the following agent roster management features: A searchable list of all agents with CRM accounts Visibility to key data points on each agent including account status, created date, last login and number of contacts The ability to deactivate and reactivate accounts This first release of the Broker Portal is just the beginning, as IXACT will continue to add new features based on feedback they get from their broker partners. IXACT Recruiter Enhancements Their recruiting CRM, IXACT Recruiter, is another key part of IXACT Contact's Brokerage Program. Along with the release of the Broker Portal, IXACT Contact announced some important new features that will help you do more with IXACT Recruiter. The new Goal Setting feature takes you through a series of simple questions in order to set your annual prospecting and hiring goals. And the customizable Dashboard now includes a new Prospecting Activities widget that summarizes your prospecting activities and allows you to see how you are performing against your goals. The contacts Advanced Search function now includes a number of new ways to search your contact database, including 'keyword' searches on your contacts' history and notes, as well as the ability to easily search for those contacts that are missing key data points like email address and phone number. If your organization is a member of IXACT Contact's Brokerage Program and you're interested in the Broker Portal or IXACT Recruiter, or you want to learn more about the program, please reach out to [email protected].

RE/MAX Launches the booj Platform, a Custom-Built Technology Solution for RE/MAX Agents
Less than two years after acquiring the award-winning web development and software firm booj, RE/MAX, LLC today announced the launch of the booj Platform, an integrated suite of digital products that will empower high-producing agents, teams and brokers to proactively establish, manage and grow client relationships. Developed by booj engineers in collaboration with thousands of RE/MAX affiliates, the booj Platform is focused on delivering a better customer experience by streamlining the work of agents, from lead generation to post-close nurturing and beyond. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is at the core of the booj Platform, deeply integrating additional features, including:

Let's Argue About CRM and Lost Business
For every 500 customer records in a CRM, there are about 25 transactions, 50 sides. Here is how you know how many transactions happen across your customers each year. Look at Your Transaction Records vs. Public Record At WAV Group, we talk a lot about "Data as an Asset." One of the projects that we run for brokerage companies is to harvest insights from their transaction data. We can take a list of your closed transactions and run them against public records data to see if that property has transacted since your last transaction. Originally, we did this for brokers to validate customer records and trigger marketing for other services like homeowners' insurance or mortgage refinancing. The odd part of the research was the realization that brokers and agents are missing out on a lot of repeat business, not to mention a lot of insurance, mortgages, and titles. NAR has done the most research on explaining this loss: the number one reason that is that agents did not stay in touch. Ouch! Better invest in a CRM. Look at Your CRM Records vs. Public Record Ever wondered how many customers across agent CRMs have done business with a competitor? It is horrible to learn that a past client has transacted with a competitor. It is inspiring to know how many customers in your CRM have transacted with a competitor. Guess what? Contrasting customer records in your CRM against public records and company transaction records can get you the answer. You can look at this data in a couple of different ways. You can see lost opportunities as a failure, or you can be thoughtful and excited about how you can leverage your CRM to make sure that you never miss a transaction opportunity again. Most Agents Have 380 Customers Most real estate agents have about 380 customers in their CRM. Remember, quantity can be a very poor way to measure things. Out of those 380 records, many may be stale or incomplete. On the opposite of the spectrum, some agents have 10,000 records but know very few of them in any meaningful way. The best measurement in a CRM is quality relationships and quality engagements. It is not likely that your brother or your best friend is going to buy or list a property without you knowing about it. Run Your Analytics Once a year, it is a really good idea to create a lost sales report for your company, offices, teams, and agents. It is amazing to watch how agents will become more highly vested in using the CRM if they understand the number of lost opportunities that happen when they don't. Office managers can coach agents on skills to expand their customer records and deepen relationships with the people already in their CRM. Small, incremental improvements in the lower half of your agent production will create dramatic payoffs in office and company performance. Complications You need to have the right culture in your company to operate these big data strategies effectively. Your agents need to trust you with their data. You need their permission to go into their database to develop insights. Sign an agreement with your agents that you will not reuse or repurpose the data in any way. Tell them that they only need to provide you with an address list if you need to. You are just looking at changes in the title. Show them the number of trades they missed in the last two years. Show them the number of customers in their database who have lived in the same home for more than five years (that is the hottest target list for future transactions). Want Help? Contact Victor Lund or David Gumpper to help with projects focused on data as an asset. We can work with your CRM vendor to develop this program. Imagine what would happen in your business if you invest as much money and effort into keeping your customers as you do in finding new ones. Do you think your performance would be better helping agents do business with some stranger messing around on a website, or people that they already know? To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

The Consumer Journey Is More Like Chutes and Ladders
A tremendous amount of energy and money has been invested into moving consumers from a digital experience into an agent relationship. Consumer research performed by the National Association of REALTORS regularly indicates that consumers start their process of buying or selling online before connecting with a Realtor. I do not think anyone denies it. Journey Example

New WAV Group Study Reveals CRM Usage Is Key to Driving Sustainable Broker Profitability
WAV Group recently fielded its WAV Group 2019 CRM Effectiveness Study. The study distributed to 71,581 brokers across the country, clearly demonstrated that Client Relationship Management (CRM) solutions are becoming mainstream. Key Takeaways

Technology Needs to Be Easy-to-Use
Agents are busy all the time. When I started as an agent, I tried to do it all from being the photographer, the social media manager, the stager. You name it, I took it on. So when I launched a new real estate brand in a highly competitive market like Orange County (Calif.), I wanted to only invest in technology for our agents that freed up their time and made their lives easier. To make their lives easier, I sought out tools that are easy to use.

Crye-Leike Integrates CRM, Transaction Management, and Accounting
Crye-Leike is the sixth largest real estate company in America, and third largest independent behind HomeServices of America and Howard Hanna. The firm processes over 30,000 transactions a year across their 3200 agents in 125 offices spanning nine states. Beyond residential real estate, they operate businesses that provide services in commercial real estate, mortgage, title insurance, property and personal insurance, property management, and relocation. A few years ago, the company embarked on a program to select a transaction management solution and tie it into their accounting system and CRM system. The result is among the most sophisticated and effective solutons deployed anywhere in the nation.

How Tech Can Make Your Agents More Human AND Productive
If you're a real estate broker, one of the most important parts of your job is helping your agents develop strong relationships with their clients. Because when your agents understand their clients, their clients are more likely to have a great home buying experience. Happy clients are more likely to become brand ambassadors who bring more business (including referrals and repeat business) to your brokerage through word-of-mouth. They also help you build your brand, among agents, brokers, and prospects.

How to Get High CRM Adoption at Your Brokerage
Key Takeaways High adoption is critical to achieving high ROI on your CRM investment. Low CRM adoption is usually caused by a lack of prioritization, technology fatigue, password overload, and difficult-to-use CRMs. You can get high CRM adoption by choosing a CRM that's well-designed and easy to use, and: Focusing on early adopters. Setting a good example by using the CRM yourself. Making sure your agents are continuously supported through training and education—the best CRMs prioritize education and training for agents.

Real Estate CRM Tools to Personalize, Process and Nurture Leads
Real estate is often a highly personal business. The emotions that come with finding the perfect property forge strong relationships between real estate pros and clients--but maintaining those relationships after closing day can seem daunting. Nurturing prospects is also a crucial part of keeping your business healthy and growing, but in the chaos of closing deals, those valuable contacts can slip between the cracks. Real estate customer relationship management software helps maintain and deepen those connections using the following tools.

How to Use a CRM to Get More Real Estate Leads
If you're in real estate, you're likely harvesting leads for your listings from all over. There are tons of third-party portals, social media accounts, and even referrals from family and friends that you need to keep track of, follow up on, and convert. In 2018, if you're not using a customer relationship management system, or CRM, to stay organized and in touch with your leads from beginning to end, you're letting valuable sales slip through the cracks. CRMs do everything from automatically generating welcome emails for new leads to helping you prioritize which leads are nearest to closing.

Survey: Is Your CRM Working for You?
Welcome to the 2018 Broker CRM Survey Client Relationship Management software is coming of age in real estate. WAV Group Consulting, a leading research firm in real estate, is fielding a broker survey to better understand the role CRM solutions are playing today in helping brokerages become more successful by helping agents become more productive, focused and effective at building and maintaining client relationships. The survey should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your participation and candid feedback. We know your time is valuable and we really appreciate your feedback. WIN a $500 Gift Card! Complete the survey and automatically be entered to win one of four $500 Gift Cards! If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or 805-748-9118. Please click here to begin the survey.    

3 Ways the Right CRM Can Improve Your Brand Identity
When it comes to your business's growth and success, brand identity and customer relationships go hand in hand. After all, the way clients and leads view your brand depends on how you manage your relationship with them. Fortunately, the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can help build your identity by solidifying client relationships and driving referrals to your business. Here are three ways that the right CRM software will improve your brand identity and help your firm rise above the competition to gain the notoriety it deserves.

5 Ways to Make Your Real Estate CRM More Effective
A powerful CRM package can help you to track, manage and scrutinize all your customer interactions. In doing so, you can gain useful insights that could lead to new sales opportunities. You can also improve the level of service you deliver -- but only if you're using the CRM package to its fullest. There are many ways to maximize the efficacy of real estate CRM, but here are five of the most significant.

3 Surefire Ways to Reap the Benefits of Your CRM
#1 way to reap CRM benefits: Move people through your CRM sales flow! The number one thing you can do with your CRM is to do what it was meant for: Convert, convert, convert by moving people through that sales flow. It sounds like a no-brainer, but there are tons of real estate pros out there that don't even use a CRM. Your sphere is everything. Not those cold leads you got from Zillow, not those contacts where you don't even know how they got into your phone. Your repeats, your referrals, those that will all list with you at some point in the next ten years. Moving these gems through the sales flow is a sure bet to getting the job done and that contract signed. #2 way to reap CRM benefits: Automation isn't the enemy. We've been hearing and reading some things that say auto-marketing isn't the way to go. While the sentiment makes sense that auto-marketing is not enough by itself (and that's true), it is still a vital touchpoint and there's really no excuse to not take advantage of it. I mean, it's automatic! By no means are we suggesting "set and forget" auto-marketing is the only marketing you should be doing, but since you only have to sign everyone up one time and it can be extremely effective, it would be ridiculous not to take advantage of this kind of marketing. #3 way to reap CRM benefits: Take lot of notes. A contact database with no context is relatively useless. Even if it's your own database, even if you have a great memory. Chances are, there are contacts in there like we mentioned above, and you have no idea whatsoever who they are. So, when you're adding new people or learn new info or just have a spare minute waiting at the doctor's office, update those notes! You might have a great memory, but we guarantee you won't remember all of their birthdays or their favorite hobbies or drinks right off the top of your head. No one can remember everything. If you want to hear from a pro why this note taking is so important, look no further. Psst – you'll also notice if you click that link that a strong database is a priceless ticket to retirement. And by priceless, we mean it could actually be very lucrative if you've curated it diligently and thoughtfully, so the next owner of your book of business can use it properly. So please, do yourselves a mega ultra-favor and take care of that CRM! Use it the way it was meant to be used, like the third arm you never had. To view the original article, visit the Moxi Works blog.

Doubling Sales Volume Six Years in a Row -- By Following Up
From agent follow-up to leveraging the right tools, broker JP Piccinini, Founder and CEO of JP and Associates REALTORS, shares the secrets that have helped his firm double in size every year for six years. Check out the the interview below to learn more:

Why the Right Brokerage CRM Can Be a Gold Mine
Choose wisely, and your brokerage could see agent productivity increase by 40% A CRM should be the epicenter of your customer and prospect data – and your brokerage. By not having the right one implemented at your brokerage, you cost yourself and your agents the #1 thing that matters most: Money. If profitability and growing market share is not for you, no sweat. However, if you do want to own the competition in every possible competitive category, then keep reading.

4 Vital Questions to Ask When Choosing a CRM Solution
Choosing the best CRM for your organization can be challenging when there are a variety of options and best practices to consider. One of the most crucial decisions you'll have to make is whether to go with an "all-in-one" CRM or "best-in-class" CRM. Finding a CRM system that meets your performance requirements can be complicated and difficult whether you are a small, mid- or large-sized brokerage. There is a lot of pressure to make the right decision because it will affect how the entire company communicates with clients. There are many CRM options available today, but not all CRMs are created equal. In order to make the decision-making process as smooth as possible, you need to ask yourself four fundamental questions:

Types of CRM: What's the Difference?
Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions empower your real estate company with the functionality you need to effectively stay on top of many essential business duties. These systems are foundational for being able to sustainably grow and manage your business. When you're looking at CRM options, you might assume that they all have the same feature set. In reality, CRMs come in several distinct categories that focus on specialized areas. Read on to learn the differences between the different types of these systems.

Reading About CRM? Here Are the Top CRM Books and Blogs
The field of customer relationship management (CRM) is dynamic. Any business that wants to learn more about maximizing their client relationships needs to stay as up to date on new CRM developments by using as many reliable resources as possible. Here are 14 books, blogs, and other publications that can help.

The Secret Broker CRM You Haven't Heard Of (Yet)
There are certain real estate tools that we subconsciously tend to associate only with one segment of our industry—a back office app that's aimed at small brokers, for example, or a vendor that provides websites primarily to agents. So it's a pleasant surprise when we discover that a solution that we thought was only for one group can also serve another. Today, we're looking at one such tool. IXACT Contact, a CRM highlighted in our 2017-18 Technology Guide, has historically been an agent-only solution. For years, the company's customers were real estate agents whose brokers either didn't provide a CRM, or didn't offer a CRM that the agent wanted to use. That's all changed, however. IXACT Contact now offers a brokerage version of their CRM that includes features like:

How to Connect with a Millennial Home Buyer
Saying the words 'Millennials' and 'homeownership' in the same sentence usually has mixed results – especially with experts lamenting them for not jumping into the real estate market in droves. Millennials have been the primary marketing focus of almost every business model in virtually every industry, mainly because they are the largest generation in history and they stand to inherit an estimated $30 trillion in assets in the greatest wealth transfer in history – so it's understandable that they have everyone ready to pounce on their purchasing power. This is a generation unlike any other in the sense that brands still haven't completely figured out what makes them tick and how to market to them – and it's no different for the real estate arena. The challenges Millennials face in real estate

Creating a Custom Email Experience with Mail Merge
Do you send emails en masse to your network of contacts? It's okay, you can tell us—we've all been there! And under the right circumstances, a mass email can often be effective in reaching your network and sharing news or updates as you maintain some of those crucial relationships. If you use a program like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or even Contactually's own ScaleMail, chances are you've utilized mail merge—even if you didn't realize it. Basically, mail merge should be (if it isn't already) your best friend in your email outreach as you look to personalize your emails on a large scale and keep your messages relevant to each individual you're sending them to. While it might require a little work on the front end by getting your contacts organized with different tags and creating a system that's consistent across your whole contact database, it'll pay off big time when you start sending better emails, no matter what software or email system you're using. Here's how to integrate mail merge into your strategy today: What is mail merge? We're glad you asked! Mail merge was originally created as a way of utilizing spreadsheets to import information into your email or even snail mail processes. It gave you a chance to import personalized information, like names and addresses, for large scale mailings. As technology has improved and changed, the idea of mail merge has also changed, but the gist is the same. Think about it as a tagging system for everyone in your contact database. Do you keep notes on your contacts or people in your network? This is where you put them to use! Spouse's and children's names, birthdays, and where folks work are all appropriate ways to tag your contacts for a start with mail merge.

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

Revamp Your Brokerage's Brand by Investing in Technology that Matters
Technology is changing how real estate does business Have you been Keeping Up with the Kardashians recently? Dumb question, neither have we. How about some of the technological trends and advancements taking place within the real estate industry? Advances in technology are changing the game in every industry, especially real estate. In a customer-focused industry that relies heavily on making people happy in order to be successful, it can be difficult for brokerages to keep up with the latest trends. According to the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) 2017 Real Estate in a Digital Age Report, staying up-to-date with changes in technology is one of the biggest challenges firms will face in the next two years. Additionally, keeping in touch with prospects is another challenge many brokerages face. The process of buying and selling a home is changing because of technology—and by adapting to necessary changes and using the right tools and software, your firm can maximize its profit by simplifying this process. What are some of the trends taking place? Improved site design/cleaner interface Routes/lead management Social media and email marketing Blogging Increased engagement using an effective CRM platform Virtual reality Using drones for property listings If your brokerage is behind in the times, you may want to consider introducing some new changes in how you use technology and encourage your team to adopt new methods of using technology to ensure optimal success between both the agent and lead. It's not enough to simply make the investment in updating your tech software, but to truly embrace these changes and utilize all the tools available to improve lead engagement and transaction management. Making the change to go digital allows brokerages to be more efficient, while staying current with the latest technology available in your industry is fundamental to staying ahead of the competition.

Imprev and Moxi Works Integrate to Power BHGRE Rand Realty New Agent Platform
What happens when three highly respected real estate brands – one that excels in automated marketing services, another that is on fire in providing brokerage services with increased productivity and profitability solutions, and a real estate brokerage that is one of the most admired multi-billion dollar sales operations in some of the most competitive markets on the East Coast – come together? The egos get checked at the door and the results are innovation and integration, exactly what's needed to advance a better real estate experience for everyone today. This morning, Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty announced its latest innovation for agents in productivity technology that taps into the excellence of both Moxi Works, which offers one of the hottest CRM solutions for brokerages today, and Imprev, which is powering marketing automation services for many of the most respected brands in real estate today. This means that Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Rand Realty agents have access to the Moxi Engage™ CRM from Moxi Works that is now fully integrated into Imprev's advanced automated marketing platform. That's one powerful combination. In the news release issued today, Matthew Rand, managing partner of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Rand Realty, said, "There's a great technology race in real estate that has brokerages scrambling to add the latest innovations to gain a competitive edge and attract new agents.

How I Manage My Contact List… Kinda
The most important part of networking is showing up. The second most important part is following up. I advocate for people to follow up with new contacts soon after they first meet, so each person is still fresh in each other's minds. I talk a lot about the importance of following up on my blog at NetworkingForNicePeople.com. Following up well should help you keep your contact list organized, but the truth is mine is a hot mess. I have never been able to get into the habit of creating a single Gmail contact for each person I exchange emails with. The steps to add a contact in Gmail are a little clunky and end up taking too much time. And so I neglect keeping my contact list up to snuff. I used to stress about this, but I found a solution you can use too. Contact Management Solution... My solution is to rely heavily on search within my inbox. I am thankful I use Gmail, which of course is owned by Google – everyone's favorite search engine. They know a thing or two about search. Searching within Gmail is actually quite powerful beyond a simple keyword search. Here are a few examples of ways I use email search to manage my contact list. These results may vary based on your email service provider or software, but all should have a decent search function built in so give this a try. Search By Date and Keyword I usually mark my calendar to follow-up with new contacts about six months after a conference. Of course this is excluding the immediate follow-up I referred to earlier. I always use the conference name in my follow up email, "Hi Tim, It was a pleasure meeting you at XYZ Conference..." This is key to making this tip work. Assuming the conference was on December 1, 2016, I will enter the search query: before:2017/01/10 after:2016/12/01 "XYZ Conference." This search reveals messages sent just after the conference.