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Real Estate Webmasters CRM is a lead cultivation and client management solution.
Platforms: Browser; mobile-forward
Ideal for: Customers of Real Estate Webmasters, hands-on brokers, teams and mid-level agents
Top selling points:
- “Training Wheels” coaching tool
- Broker oversight features
- Mobile experience
- Website-integration ready
- One-click record edits and updates
Top concerns
Being a product of Real Estate Webmasters suggests the customer relationship management (CRM) is at its best when paired with a REW site; how it integrates with other websites might deter others from considering it.
What you should know
At the top of our demo with Real Estate Webmasters (REW), CEO Morgan Carey offered praise for other industry players, such as Follow Up Boss and BoomTown, acknowledging those products serve agents very well.
Carey can afford to be that transparent because he has a hefty stable of website customers who can benefit greatly from jumping on board with his company’s new CRM, which, when combined, can give users an acorn-to-oak tree marketing and sales solution with comparatively little additional investment: no getting to know a new company, easy lead routing, established support, streamlined account management, etc.
REW has all the tools common to a modern CRM: action plans, calendars, activity tracking, drip campaigns and call logging. Carey was quick to move through that stuff.
What stands out among that feature set is the minimalist-click theme that permeates the site’s user experience. Almost nothing throughout the solution requires more than one click to update, which makes for an especially ideal mobile solution.
The software also takes advantage of menu slide-outs to hide and reveal in-depth lead and task data. A pretty sharp bit of user interface work in this feature is revealed in a bright-red “alert” version of the task panel, which communicates overdue follow-up tasks. There’s no mistaking when you’re behind. Green and grey indicate active and upcoming actions respectively.
Records in the CRM are staged as “Lead,” “Contact” and “Client,” as opposed to simply deeming every person who clicks a property a quality lead, a mistake far too many agents and CRMs are guilty of making.
The lead scoring algorithm is unique in that it’s agent specific, not general to the quality of lead upon its ingestion into the system from the source.
For example, using a radio button selection form, agents can program their scoring metric according to number of properties viewed, phone number accuracy, return website visits, average price, homes viewed within a designated price range and other such parameters.
What this scoring system design does, like other aspects of the REW CRM, is hold the agent accountable for his or her performance within the solution. It creates a greater sense of ownership to the process. In contrast, lead rankings determined by the software or the broker could be viewed as unrealistic or Orwellian.
There are broker oversight capabilities (this is a CRM for brokers), such as automated lead shut-off due to inaction, that aid in keeping agents on track, but the sharpest feature in this capacity will be revealed at Inman Connect Las Vevas in a few weeks.
The “Training Wheels” module is a color-coded, two-sided pie graph that helps agents understand how to best leverage the CRM’s tools for each record in the database.
Sections of the agent side of the chart fill in as he or she makes a call, sends an email, sends a listing or encourages a property search. The software offers tips on how to write an effective email and when to call, for example.
However, the “Training Wheel” isn’t complete until the lead side is filled-in, as well, based on their responses to the agent’s side. Each action has a time-stamp, meaning it resets after time should that lead not turn into a listing or sale.
This is a very creative, built-in coaching tactic that teaches follow-up discipline and encourages software adoption, a major factor in determining a CRM’s ROI for a brokerage.
The “Trending Search” tracker can let buyer’s agents know when a finicky buyer starts poking around listings they swore were out of range. This serves as an effective method for monitoring activity and provides impetus for contact when notable changes appear.
Carey’s team has added a transaction management module, a slick action plan designer with dependent, automated follow-ups, and all property records are linked to a user’s preferred MLS account. There is also a clear commitment to usability and user session experience.
This is a very promising CRM with more to it than this column can cover. And, the launch of this product pushes REW well-beyond the classification of a website developer and right into the scrum of the CRM playing field.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
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