How to meaningfully grow your client database

Everyone knows how important using a database is to be successful in real estate these days. Utilising a database effectively is key to productively managing relationships and continually adding new clients to your prospecting pipeline.

It’s all well and good to add every new lead you come across into your database, but unless you go that step further and make detailed and relevant entries it’s likely to be a waste of time.

But what if you’re just starting out and you’re struggling to foster a quality client database? Or perhaps your database isn’t as easy use day to day as you’d like?

There are many ways to expand your database, but here are some of the best ways to ensure you’re growing your database in the most meaningful and useful way possible.

Clean up your data

Sometimes you need to get rid of all the unnecessary clutter before you can utilise a tool effectively. Before you can use your database properly and even think about expanding it you need to clean up your data to avoid confusion and improve productivity.

Start by exporting all your contacts into an excel spreadsheet. Then sort them by different fields (name, address and so on). You’ll quickly spot and be able to delete any duplicate and incomplete contacts (those missing email addresses, phone numbers and follow up notes etc.). This is a great start to making your database more manageable and meaningful.

Also, don’t be afraid to remove old contacts that never went anywhere and are no longer relevant to your business processes. It’s only natural that these will accumulate over time so it’s good to get into the habit of a clean out every few months or so.

Quality over quantity

It can be tempting to add every person you meet at your opens into your CRM, but you’ll get so much more out of your database, not to mention it will be much more manageable, if you just focus on adding the hot buyers, owners and potential sellers you meet at inspections. Try these five questions to quickly qualify leads to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

This way you can focus and tailor your marketing efforts to each different cohort that are most likely to convert into a client in the short term. For example, update potential sellers with sales results in their area to keep them up to date with what their property is worth and motivate them to seriously consider selling.

Stay in touch with hot buyers (those that are requesting contracts, have pre-approval, are bidding at auctions and making offers) by sending them your newest relevant listings or special personalised invites to VIP inspection previews.

Utilise personal & professional networks

This may seem counter-intuitive to the point above, but adding people from your professional and personal networks to your database can be greatly beneficial for your business. Add Facebook friends, LinkedIn contacts and even relatives to your monthly newsletter mail list and/or recently sold market updates.

They may not stand out to you as the hottest of leads, but fostering long-term relationships with these groups will position you as a ‘real estate expert’ in their minds. Your personal connection also sets you up for referral business and to receive any real estate related questions they may have over their lifetime, setting you apart from their local agents.

Get creative

Think about out of the ordinary channels you can use to supplement your database with quality leads that many agents are neglecting and avoiding. Go old school and pound the pavement for an afternoon of local door knocking and letter box dropping.

Introduce yourself to sellers on popular ‘for sale by owner’ websites and marketplaces. Let them know if they change their mind or don’t achieve the result they wanted, you’re ready to offer your expertise and assistance. You never know where you might strike gold!

By undertaking these four ways to maintain and grow your database, you’ll soon notice a change in the quality of leads in your pipeline and the ease with which you nurture client relationships.

For more ways to up your database game check out the best CRMs for agents and the features of a good database.