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The pitch
Cloze is software that collates and streamlines business relationship content relating to contacts, tasks, dates and messaging.
Platform: Mobile for iOS, Android. Browser-agnostic.
Ideal for: Any agent looking to better communication with clients, vendors and prospects.
Top selling points
- User-centric: Cloze knows its ideal user well, which is reflected in its interface.
- Call logging: Users can connect Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint accounts to log every call within Cloze.
- No data entry: Cloze automatically embeds your contact and relationships, making setup fast and accurate.
Things to consider
If you’re not ready for a new everyday login, Cloze may not be for you. Its value is best found through full adoption.
The close
Cloze is much more than its marketing claims.
Handling relationships is only a starting point. It could better the way you manage your entire real estate business.
However, assigning that much weight to Cloze could jeopardize the enjoyment of using it.
Cloze uses an impressively elegant, icon-driven interface to curate your most pertinent business relationship information.
The software uses a number of connections to your Exchange and Google accounts to pull together a daily rundown of your events, the people who were a part of them, how to reach those people and what happened the last time you touched base.
Your daily Agenda is where it all starts.
If you have a meeting this morning, Cloze reminds you of it and includes a rundown of each document, message and document you’ll need to contribute.
If you leverage its Evernote link, it will collate anything related that you’ve stashed there as well.
Cloze will ask if you’re ready for a meeting and provide you with a simple email to send when you’re not. It also reminds you to ask your prospects if they’re running late.
After the meeting, Cloze readies for you a follow-up message from its extensive list of templates. You can add as many as you like.
Contacts can be connected to their picture, like most mobile phone contact software.
I prefer the bold, colored first initial of the person’s name that Cloze automatically assigns as contacts are imported. Isn’t that how we first think of a contact — by name?
Contacts can be searched according to a relationship tag you create and assign, by last time contacted, or by category, such as “CEOs” or “Previous Buyers.”
Cloze sets up quickly, automatically integrating your contacts and profiles once you provide the access credentials.
The software intelligently organizes multiple email accounts on an interface more intuitive than most native clients.
It wasn’t built specifically for real estate, but the Deals feature is a natural fit to common transaction workflow. It can also be used to manage special events, like open houses or buyer seminars.
Cloze enables the creation and rollout of common task lists that can be used to “systemize” a typical home sale process.
Emails, documents and dates related to each Deal are consolidated within it and presented to users already prioritized.
The software’s open tracking and email monitoring reminds users, for example, that a request for a copy of the inspection report hasn’t been fulfilled.
Social media integration enables posting and replying on Facebook and Twitter, plus scheduling support.
LinkedIn and Facebook have started to clamp down on third-party app integration so they can maintain ad views. However, Cloze isn’t intended to be a social media management tool.
I won’t go so far as to call Cloze a CRM, but for agents who haven’t invested in what their broker is providing, this could easily provide an alternative. In most cases, a smarter one.
If you read about or used Cloze’s email management app upon its initial launch a couple of years ago, know that today’s version is much improved. Dare I say, more robust.
What I see in Cloze is part executive assistant, part project manager and part sales support software.
I also see no reason why it shouldn’t be part of your effort to run a better real estate business.
What do you think? Are you using too many apps?
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.