When it comes to considering a CRM move, there are a lot of options available now, and it is often pretty tricky to compare apples with apples. To help in your search for a new CRM partner that matches your needs, we’ve pulled together our top 9 questions you should be asking:
- Will your software help me stay top of mind and provide value?
- Does your software focus on building lasting relationships?
- Will leads from our website and third party lead sources be captured automatically?
- Will your software help us grow?
- Can I access and use the software using a mobile so my team can do business anywhere?
- How does your software integrate our existing Proptech solutions?
- Is your software easy to learn and use?
- Will your software protect my data?
- Will this software help us stay compliant?
Of course, we can’t miss this opportunity to share our Rex answers. Rex Software is a CRM tool that comes packed with all the tools to drive your sales business. When great data is combined with best-practice processes, your agency business is sure to lead the competition and win more deals.
Will Rex help me stay top of mind and provide value?
This is an obvious starting question for any CRM supplier because you want to be the first (and hopefully only) agency called when someone starts thinking about selling. The challenge is staying front of mind over an extended period of time and continuing to provide value to potential vendors at every stage of the seller’s journey.
To give this one a massive tick we baked our unique “Tracks’ feature into Rex. These unique checklists of tasks and activities can be created to align with your agency brand and service promise. Plus with our new automation of emails and SMS, many of the jobs required to stay in touch can happen while you sleep.
By adding a suitable Track to every contact in your database, you can ensure that timely content and relevant messaging from your agency is in front of your contacts on a consistent basis. The written and visual content, together with scheduled phone contact, means that you are presenting yourself as the expert, and becoming their unrivalled agent of choice.
Does Rex focus on building lasting relationships?
Often a CRM will just be a data depository of vendors and sellers contact details. Estate agency CRMs then add in the functionality to support portal uploads. The big win comes when the software is focused on delivering communication and feedback with clients, over extended periods of time.
While the results of market activity this year are still to come in, we’re still pretty confident that here in the UK, the likelihood of someone buying a property, and then going on to sell that property with the same agency, is about 12% - roughly 1 in 8. What that means is 7 out of 8 of those recent sales will look to other agencies when the time comes to find their next property.
That’s a pretty sobering stat. While we don’t have the data to support the reason’s behind this number, it’s likely to be a clear cut case of agency amnesia - they simply don’t remember you, and that’s probably because you haven’t communicated with them.
Visibility of neglected accounts is something you want from your CRM. But more importantly, avoiding the concept of these neglected accounts altogether should be the key to your next CRM decision. With Rex features like Custom Fields and Tracks, agencies are able to set up ‘always-on’ communications, like anniversary SMS, seasonal newsletters (spring garden maintenance tips anyone?) and market summary emails.
All the evidence shows that consistent, on-brand communications to your database will keep you top of mind and ensure that when the time is right, you are the first agency contacted for a valuation.
Will Rex capture leads from my website and third party lead sources automatically?
Leads are the lifeblood of an estate agency. Whether they are new potential buyers looking at specifically your properties online, or property owners looking to get an updated valuation, losing track of these contacts before they hit your CRM is can be devastating for your business.
With the data from a lead being directed efficiently and automatically captured from all potential points of content, you can respond faster and be confident that nothing has been lost in manual data entry.
Rex solves that important agency requirement with a Leads Inbox that converts all incoming emails into contact records. The lead will automatically link to the listing they are about whilst simultaneously linking it to an existing contact or buyer applicant record in Rex, or creating a new buyer applicant record for you if they’re not in Rex.
On top of this, Rex also integrates with Zapier, allowing data capture from a whole range of other sources, such as Facebook Leads, Instagram Leads, etc.
Read more about our Top Zap ebook.
Will Rex Software help us grow?
Growth is the name of the game in selling property. Beating the competition and securing more valuations, more listings, more sales, and higher sales prices is part of any agency’s DNA - whether you’re a sole trader, a boutique agency or one of the UK’s largest independent groups.
With your database of contacts and properties at the centre of your agency’s growth strategy, it's important that the surrounding tech infrastructure is focused on empowering your staff to achieve more. Whatever the size of your business, and your aspirations, Rex Software will support you and enable you to grow in size, output and revenue.
In a survey with our existing clients, we asked
“How many additional sales do you think Rex makes you per year" The answers were pretty impressive. The biggest majority (more than 2 out of 3) indicated that Rex was helping achieve 4-6 additional sales.
7% of respondents thought Rex made them 1-3 extra sales per year,
68% said that Rex allowed them to make 4-6 extra sales per year.
8% said 10+ sales per year,
17% said 7-10 extra sales per year
8% said 10+ sales per year
Can I access Rex on my mobile?
Pre-COVID the average UK agent spent upwards of 60% of their day out of the office. That’s a huge amount of time where they do not have access to their CRM to access data, or can enter new data.
It also meant agents weren’t productive when they were out of the office in between appointments, waiting for applicants to arrive at a viewing. With COVID mixing things up even more when it comes to working in non-standard ways, mobile access is more important than ever.
And let’s be clear here, we aren’t talking about a clunky login via their mobile web browser that requires all sorts of weird swiping and scrolling to find what you are looking for, or a stripped-down Inspections app.
Rex Mobile is a fully-featured CRM app for estate agents. It’s a comprehensive built-for-purpose tool that enables agents to be fully informed by data on all their listings and lets them process leads, complete reminders, log calls and operate all their day-to-day tasks from their mobile - massively increasing productivity.
How does Rex integrate into our existing Proptech solutions?
An agency CRM specifically built for the process of selling property is a powerful tool in a competitive market, but it’s not a whole-of-agency solution. To really get the full benefits of from your data, and make your job a whole lot easier, your CRM needs to integrate with other tools across your sales and agency management stack.
Life with a closed-off CRM usually means post-it notes with numerous logins floating around your screen to keep in the cumbersome process of jumping between software applications. And while this is inconvenient and highly unproductive, the more dangerous implication comes from the mishandling and manual double (or even triple) entry of data.
Rex Software comes out of the box with a number of integrations including SmartSearch, Docusign, and Land Registry. It is also a Zapier partner which means, via Zapier, you can connect directly with more than 3,000 apps, including Facebook Lead Ads, Slack, Trello, Gmail and Calendly. More important to this conversation, is the fact that Rex is built on an API-based platform which means that the system is fully open and accessible. With a small development resource, you can hook your Rex data up to whatever tools are working best in your agency.
How easy is it for me (and my team) to use Rex?
So, now you've made the decision to change technology providers. The business case stacked up and you’re ready to start seeing those promised results. But weeks after onboarding you see that you still can’t get your staff to even log in.
We all understand what makes a great user experience online - just think of the tools or sites you regularly visit where you just ‘know’ what to do.. You like the way it looks and how it makes you feel. And we also know when a software product is old, updated and cumbersome to use.
That’s why Rex has been designed with usability in mind so that it is simple, easy and intuitive. We take inspiration from everyday applications like Google and Facebook to make Rex feel familiar – even if you’ve never used it before. It’s our view, and the view of our clients, that Rex is easily the most user-friendly system in the industry.
That being said - we believe in prevention more than a cure. All of our clients get access to our industry-leading Learning Management System or LMS, which is how they initially get trained on everything they need to know. The LMS allows everyone in an agency to run through the training at their own pace, which we find provides a solid foundation for users of the product. And we have a top-notch local customer support team, to guide you through those growing pains right through to your ultimate success!
From the time you onboard we want your team to enjoy the experience, and see for themselves the power of Rex to help them reach their targets.
Will Rex protect my data?
Data security is a paramount concern for any agency no matter what size or structure they are operating. Keeping data safe from outside intrusion is one thing, but protecting it from internal invasion is an often overlooked requirement of a new CRM.
Rex has committed major investment to risk management and security so your database cannot be accidentally or intentionally accessed, deleted or corrupted by staff or outsiders. We use the same security precautions as the likes of Twitter, NASA and the US Military, and ensure that all of your data is constantly being backed up so you never lose a thing.
Will Rex software help us stay compliant?
We live in a world where the growing concerns around data privacy are impacting our behaviours as both consumers, and as users of technology. But data is only one of the vital compliance issues for a successful agency. Adherence and support of compliant management and anti-money laundering regulations are all vital for any CRM.
Rex has been fully built for UK regulations around the selling and purchase of property to ensure that your data, and the data of all your clients, is fully protected. Rex also has integrations with leading AML providers such as SmartSearch to ensure that our clients are on top of all their regulatory duties.
So that’s how we’d answer these nine tough questions. Shopping around for a new CRM and agency platform is a big task. Every agency works slightly differently so a platform that is flexible and can be customised for your own requirements is a must. Backed by custom fields and your own communication tracks, Rex will help build your systems and processes for consistent and repeatable customer experiences.
If you want to know about our CRM strategy and how it can be a game-changer for your agency download our ebook.
