The Best CRM program/software

The Best CRM program/software

Residential Real Estate Broker · Payson, AZ · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes

I looked through and couldn't figure out what this topic best fit in so I threw it up in Off-Topic. Mods, feel free to change it if you think it fits better somewhere else.

Hopefully this topic doesn't get too far off course and my description is better than usual.

I'm looking to find the best CRM program/software, that's it.

I know there are a million and one different companies that do a million and one things so I'll try to narrow it down. They'll need at the minimum:

Full contact info abilities. This means name, number, email addy, phone, fax, physical address. Even a twitter, Linkedin or facebook field would be really cool.

Category ability. This means having the ability to put Realtors in a particular category. Say for instance, Phoenix Realtors separate from Mesa or Miami Realtors. Same goes for buyers or different kinds as well which I would assume would be taken care of by the category ability.

Bulk email blast to any category or single email would be great as well with BCC abilities. What would be great would also be the ability to search easily using keywords that you've put in whether it be city, name or if you can't remember exactly who you want but remember something about them that you put in a notes field.

Notes field. This would be great simply because you can easily send this one person a single email and refer to something in your notes to make it more personable.

Auto matching criteria would be great as well. Say for instance, you've got a property that would fit someones criteria. As you were inserting the information from a seller, it would automatically notify you somehow that Billy Bob is looking for that exact type of property. It would know this because you were able to put in some info on Billy Bob's purchase criteria. This would work for all types of buyers.

I hope that's enough to get a feel for what I'm looking for. Obviously FREE is great but quality is best paid for and I know that.

Who what and why do you guys use for your CRM system. If you don't know what I mean, that is "Customer Relations Management"

Tell me who you use, the benefits, how much it costs i.e. 1 time, recuring etc.... and what it doesn't have that you wished it did.

I know some or most would use a simple spreadsheet and/or your basic email contact lists but I'm looking for something above and beyond that with more abilities.

Whoever I feel gives the best recommendation or response, I'll send you a FREE copy of my Sub2 e-book just for participating.

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  • Real Estate Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2008 · 105 posts · 69 votes
    16y

    Salesforce.com has launched their CRM application in the cloud. Force.com as it's called, can do exactly what you want it to do. You may need to work with a programmer (good ones on odesk and elance) to add in some advanced feature but for the most part you will be able to create custom fields (ex. Contact Type: Realtor, Investor, Homebuyer, Mortgage Broker, etc...) to handle your data.

    The Best Part.... It's FREE.

    I also like Microsoft Dynamics CRM because of the similar interface it shares with Microsoft Office but find some features harder to customize unless you have a programming background (Microsoft loves to make thinks difficult).

  • Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    16y

    Nick,

    Good post topic. I'm eager to see what contributions come in from others.

    Here is a site that has some information you might find relevant:
    http://www.elitecrmsoftware.com/open_source_crm.html

    As somebody already posted, you can expect to end up with some customizations to achieve your complete wish list.

  • Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    16y

    VTiger is open source and is what we used to build our CRM system.

  • Specialist · Riverside, CA · Member since 2008 · 382 posts · 72 votes
    16y

    My user friendly CRM off choice.

    http://store.apple.com/us/product/TH390LL/A?fnode=NDY2NDE4Mg&mco=MTA4OTA4ODE&s=topSellers

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Mobile, AL · Member since 2010 · 138 posts · 55 votes
    16y

    If I pay to have an open-source CRM customized (VTiger, Sugar, etc.) does it become my own product?
    Can I then sell access to this product with others?

    I can't find a perfect product for real estate investors.
    And I don't want to spend tons of money.
    But I think that there is a market for a decent product out there.

    Thoughts?

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Mobile, AL · Member since 2010 · 138 posts · 55 votes
    16y
    Originally posted by Bryan Hancock:
    VTiger is open source and is what we used to build our CRM system.


    Bryan, what kind of cost are we talking to customize an open-source product like VTiger?
  • Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    16y
    Originally posted by Brooks Conkle:
    Originally posted by Bryan Hancock:
    VTiger is open source and is what we used to build our CRM system.


    Bryan, what kind of cost are we talking to customize an open-source product like VTiger?


    We have customized ours so the main cost is time and space on a server. It isn't the easiest thing in the world to set up unless you have done it before.

    The ability to auto-populate contracts that you upload is nice once you get it set up properly though. It saves us hours of work on contracts for subject-to purchases and short sales. The other contract types are generally pretty easy to do manually b/c they don't require as many documents.

  • Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    16y

    Last one I used was ACT contact mgmt software. This was years ago and I remember it would pop up windows reminding me of a phone call or meeting with all the contact info there.

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Mobile, AL · Member since 2010 · 138 posts · 55 votes
    15y

    I've since found HighriseHQ to be the simplest thing for what I need to track general real estate contacts, notes, etc.
    It doesn't seem free, but they do have a free option if you look closely.

    But....
    what I've seen that I needed for years is a way to track my buyers needs better -- a literal way to filter them out when I get a great wholesale deal -- so that I can quickly go to a list of 300 buyers and see who would best fit the $30k brick 3/1 house in a specific zip code --- and then e-mail/call those 7 potential buyers.

    I have never seen any type of program that does this and I plan to build one within the next 3 months.

    Does anyone share this same issue?
    I'm quite certain that I've lost out on Thousands in the past year because deals came across my desk that I didn't think I had a buyer for.

    Possibly I did...

  • Wholesaler · Dallas, TX · Member since 2011 · 294 posts · 152 votes
    15y

    I use HighriseHQ and like it for it's simplicity and low cost. Highrise will do everything you requested and, as stated above, there is a 1 month free trial period. Good luck!

  • Real Estate Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2011 · 103 posts · 22 votes
    15y

    Propertybase. It's built on top of Force.com. TopProducer is just actually bad, plain and simple. There are a ton of crap CRMs, and they don't work.

    I mean, Salesforce is just great in and of itself. Then, there's plain old Google Contacts, along with the use of cJournal on the iPhone.

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