What exactly is a CRM?  

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. Many industries track leads with a CRM system. Entering leads into a CRM helps you track who to keep up with and how often. It also helps you track  and identify when you last touched your lead. 
Efficient tracking is important because you want to make the best use of your time resource in this game.  When you spend too much time managing your data, you are not out in the field doing the things that bring in dollars. You want to spend your time on profit producing activities. You want to spend your time building and nurturing relationships. Choosing the right CRM and learning how to use it takes you from being  “busy” to being productive.

There is more than one style of CRM. Most people use a traditional CRM. 

Traditional CRMs operate much like an online contact book or excel type platform. Some simply track your contact and their information, whereas others have all the bells and whistles and add ons. You need a digital/traditional CRM to effectively track and manage your leads and who is interested in your business and services. 

Why I use my Visual CRM

A Visual CRM allows you to track your leads in a way that helps you better identify which leads you have at play. As an agent who’s been doing this for a long time, trust me when I say it is hard to stay connected to an excel type sheet. You get tired of looking at a list of letters. It’s also difficult to see patterns in the data to analyze it. When you have your data displayed visually on a map, you get a real view of all your leads and wins. 

As I said before, you won’t start with a big map like mine. There are three levels to building a Visual CRM. Start with the simplest one possible when you are new to the real estate game. As I said earlier, you can look on your city website to find a map with lot sizes. Next, you can upgrade and make a reusable, laminated page. That might cost about $5. Once you have really built up your game to a level like mine, you can get an entire wall map printed. This costs a lot. Depending on its materials and size, a map like mine can cost hundreds or even thousands.  I like to call a map like mine, Visual CRM 3.0. It’s a MAJOR game upgrade. BUT it’s worth every penny when you are advanced in your game. I have been playing this game a long time and this huge map has definitely been worth it. Actually, it has been critical to my current level of success. And it has paid me back again and again.