What is CRM software? Key definitions and features

In this article, we’ll discuss all things CRM software. This includes vital CRM terminology and the ways it can benefit your business. We’ll also look the use of CRM software by the Real Estate industry globally.

Table of Contents:

  1. What is CRM software?
  2. Benefits of CRM software
  3. Key CRM definitions
  4. CRM and Real Estate
  5. Conclusion

What is CRM software?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM software helps you manage customer relationships more efficiently. It centralizes lead and customer interactions, sales and marketing activities, and data in one location.  It also helps businesses drive growth and boost sales and profitability. It enhances operational workflows too and improves customer engagement and retention.

Benefits of CRM software

There are several ways that a CRM can benefit businesses across industries. Off-the-shelf CRM products are readily available that provide some value but often lack features or functionalities required by different sectors. This makes customized CRM solutions built for specific industries attractive options, for e.g. Qobrix Real Estate software made for real estate professionals and property developers. No matter the CRM software you select, there are key benefits that the product should deliver.

These include (but are not limited to):

Better lead management

CRM software should make the process of adding and moving leads and opportunities through your sales pipeline easy. It must reflect, in real time, where in the sales process they are at. And it should present this in a way that fits the needs of your business.

Boosts productivity and sales

The software can help you improve efficiencies, productivity, sales and customer retention. It does this through its ability to streamline activities, processes and procedures; automate tasks, and provide important business insights.

Enhanced analytics

One of the most important benefits of a CRM is that it can be a source of vital business intelligence. Qobrix for e.g. can deliver an entire overview of all operational processes and procedures and sales & marketing activities. You can customize dashboards to present sales, finance or marketing data the way you want. You can also generate a variety of reports that highlight where your business is at in real time. This gives you the ability to improve internal workflows as well as customer acquisition and retention.

Shared access to knowledge base

Centralising customer data in the CRM gives your sales team quick and easy access to everything they need in one location. This boosts your team’s efficiency, freeing up more of their time to focus on critical activities rather than be looking for information. A smart CRM like Qobrix even offers advanced permissions allowing you to set the level of access each user has to this information.

Find out more about the benefits of a CRM in this article.

CRM Definitions

The CRM world comes with it an expansive list of terminology and jargon that you might be unfamiliar with. Below we’ll define some of the more common terms.

Campaigns inbound and outbound promotional activities to improve visibility and awareness of product or brand (e.g. email campaigns, Google ads, exhibitions, events, SEO, social media)
Contacts individuals or organisations with whom a company does or might do business with
Converted lead validation of the lead to become an opportunity
CRM software  software that helps you better manage customer relationships to boost sales, efficiencies and productivity
Dashboards a feature through which reports on all sales, marketing and operational activities can be generated, providing important business insights
Hot lead  a contact who appears certain about purchasing your product or service
Lead  a sales opportunity (individual or organisation) that hasn’t been qualified yet
Lead conversion process every step you complete to eventually qualify a lead
Lead conversion rate the number of successfully qualified leads vs the number of leads generated/pursued over a specific period of time
Lead generation  activities conducted to find prospective customers and their contact details
Lead management finding and managing leads through every stage of the sales funnel, with the intent of making a sale
Lead qualification  the criteria you use to establish whether a lead is worth pursuing
Opportunity  a lead that has been converted into a potential customer
Pipeline management the activities undertaken by a sales person to move a lead through the sales funnel (also known as conversion or purchasing funnel)
Sales funnel  a visual representation of where a lead is at (what stage) in the buyer’s journey. It gives companies an overview of how sales are performing.

CRM software and Real Estate

The real estate industry has its own complex operational workflows that require a smart CRM to address every touchpoint.

Real estate professionals have a lot to deal with day to day. Whether this is:

    • managing their property listings
    • dealing with large volumes of information
    • engaging with leads and opportunities
    • running between viewings or other scheduled tasks or activities
    • generating marketing collateral for customers or partners
    • data entry
    • nurturing customer relationships

their workload is massive which makes productivity key.

CRM software has a massive potential to simplify these challenges in a way that turns a whirlwind of a day into something more manageable and productive. Which makes your choice of CRM extremely important. You need a CRM solution that is built to handle what real estate agencies and property developers need.

But what are some of the key features of an innovative Real Estate CRM solution?

    1. Makes managing property listings easy
    2. Centralises data and information in one location with quick access
    3. Generates reports and presents the data in the way you require
    4. Helps you move leads through the sales pipeline easily
    5. Simplifies adding, tracking or amending any record, be this properties, tasks, activities, contacts, viewings, etc.
    6. Optimises data entry as well as the search for data
    7. Offers easy integration with 3rd party real estate platforms and marketplaces
    8. Allows you to generate branded marketing collateral at the click of a button
    9. Can be scaled as your business grows.

Qobrix Real Estate CRM software offers these functionalities and so much more. Register for a 15-day FREE TRIAL of the system and discover how Qobrix can power your real estate business.

Conclusion

It’s clear that CRM software offers many benefits to your business. Do your research and find a CRM product that satisfies the quintessential needs of your industry. If you’re in real estate, Qobrix is definitely the way to go.