Don’t make assumptions, when it comes to evaluating CRM’s

Finding the right CRM (Customer Relationship Management – often called “Contact Management”) solution, is getting more and more difficult all the time. There are literally dozens of choices. It takes hours to evaluate each one, to get only a cursory sense of how closely it matches your needs.

The biggest mistake I see people make on a regular basis, which ends up costing them more time in the long run, is to evaluate too many, too quickly. Because looking at one after another is so time consuming, people tend to discount each one too quickly if they don’t see what they need right away. Some solutions are more intuitive (easier to understand and learn) than others. While that is an attribute, it is not necessarily the only factor to take into consideration. In some cases, some solutions are less intuitive, but contain more of the other attributes you require. Intuitive or not, it’s very easy to ‘assume’ it does not do what you need, simply because you don’t see it. Rather than eliminating one as a possible solution, and moving on to the next one, make a list of the things you want it to do, that you don’t see, and send it to the provider, or me. That way you don’t pass one by, that could actually be your best choice.

Once you find one that feels right, and has many of the attributes you need, spend more time with it, and give it a chance. And remember, if you have a great many needs, it’s very unlikely you will find one solution which will do everything. One thing I hear from many people is that they have to have CMA capability, and the ability to interface with the MLS. Most CRM solutions do not have those capabilities, so most agents use their MLS’ CMA feature, or a third party service such as Lightning CMA;  Toolkit CMA; or Expert CMA.