The CRM space in real estate is confusing. Every software company that has an address-book of names and email addresses calls themselves a ‘CRM’. And nowadays – some brokers are going so far as to think they can build their own – which for an agent to adopt as their primary CRM is a dangerous business decision.

But if anything, please… just don’t confuse our workflows for drip campaigns!

Enter: The Cronut

Have you ever been to a hole-in-the-wall-restaurant that claims to have ‘world famous’ [insert food here]? That’s a title we’d all love to have for our products and services, but rarely is it true.

But not long ago, May 10, 2013 to be exact, a New York City baker, Dominique Ansel opened the door to his bakery with a new pastry. At a glance, one might mistake it for a donut; it’s shaped like an ‘O’, with a hole in the middle.  It’s soft, and visibly sweet. But it isn’t until you really bite into it that you realize that this isn’t just another donut. Inside, the cake is replaced with several thin, buttery layers of croissant-like pastry, sandwiching a rich, creamy, delicious filling. OMG.  It’s not a donut. It’s a Cronut.

The OMG Moment

And ‘OMG’ is what the first and thousands-later cronut customers probably thought to him/herself and probably what they were quick to exclaim to the first person they talked to after experiencing the donut that was so far beyond just another donut.  It didn’t even deserve to be called a donut. Ansel knew this, which is why he was quick to trademark the name ‘Cronut’.

Word spread like crazy, but when a line suddenly appeared outside of the doors of this bakery, that’s when bloggers and media agencies licked their chops at this new amazing story.  The story got out, went viral, and today, 5 years later, travelers from around the world are sure to seek out the Dominique Ansel Bakery so that they too, can say they’ve experienced the world famous Cronut.

World. Famous.

Realvolve is not ‘world famous’.  Let’s be clear about that. In fact no real estate CRM can make that kind of claim. A donut is a treat, where a CRM is a necessity. People don’t typically do cartwheels over CRMs.  

If CRMs Were Donuts

If CRMs were donuts, Realvolve would sit there on the shelf, amongst the glazed, frosted, filled, and twisted variations and customers would look at each one with the same degree of discern.  But as our customers can attest, once you get past the outer CRM appearance, inside you’ll find a delicious, creamy, flaky, buttery difference that simply cannot be replaced by any other real estate CRM.  We call this, our ‘workflows’.

Dive into our workflows, put your fears to rest, and experience your awakening (your OMG moment).

Any agent who has taken the time to explore our workflow capabilities will usually have an OMG moment.  In short, these are three problems and fears that workflows can permanently remove from your life, turning your operation hands-free, and into a well-oiled machine.

Here, Jackie Egan talks a bit about her OMG moment.  For the full length episode, stay tuned: our podcast is quickly approaching our launch!  Sign up for more info.

‘For Reals’ Time Management:

If the average white collar worker spends 4 hours per day checking email, we’re scared to know what that translates to for real estate agents!  On top of networking and building relationships, hosting events, managing client activities, scheduling appointments, it’s no surprise that agents often struggle with time management.

Many people view CRMs as “lead management”, but workflows take automation to a whole new level when users program them to remind themselves or their team of important tasks.  There’s hardly a reminder that can’t be programmed into workflows, which means you get to take all of the energy that you invest into worry, and repurpose it into the kind of thinking that will help you to develop business opportunities that take you to the next level of success.

Which is more fun?  Spending time worrying about tasks you might be missing?  Or spending time thinking about how to keep growing? More time, plus task management means you have more time to do better things.

‘Nothing-falls-through-the-cracks’ Automated (and Authentic) Lead Follow-up (Don’t be a bad actor in real estate!):

A drip campaign is a lot like a brilliant movie idea with amazing potential but wasted because the actors were amateur and the script was too predictable. You lose interest when the acting is too forced. That’s why drip campaigns don’t work for lead follow-up.  Workflows on the other hand, allow you to interject your own personality into not just the messaging, but the entire experience!

So, how long does it take for a lead to convert to a paying customer?  Often it’s weeks or months, and rarely upon your first, immediate response.  What do most agents do after that first response? It’s hard to keep track and do the work required to make the right amount of follow ups.  Other CRMs have drip campaigns, but leads take more than just scheduled nurturing; they also require authenticity.

Better Organization (Like You Never Knew Existed):

The reason automation of tasks is so difficult for real estate agents, is because the many journeys that your clients take throughout the process of selling or buying a home are not static – they’re dynamic.  In other words, the path can change at any given time per any given trigger or response. A home loan might not be approved on the first application; the home inspector might not show up; etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  

Most CRM’s don’t have a good solution for automating dynamic customer experiences.  With a bit of planning out your workflows, your automation can handle any sudden change in direction without losing track.  And our dashboards give you a current snapshot at any given moment so that you always have a good handle on where any of your several clients are in their journey.

Please, we’re not a donut!

The difference between Realvolve and other CRMs is both massive and discreet; from the surface, we might look a lot like the other tasty options. But take a bite and experience the sumptuous complexities inside and you’ll find yourself among the 1000’s of the most effective agents in the world, working effectively, almost hands-free, and engaging in more critical tactics that give them the opportunity to grow to the next level of transaction management, and ultimately make more money with less time.  You know, ‘work smarter, not harder’.

Still not sure that you understand what a workflow is?  Watch this video as Dale explains what workflows do for people, and how these are different from standard drip campaigns.