We’ve all heard the joke about stopping an engineer on the street to ask what time it is, only to be told how to build a watch. What’s not a joke is how the real estate tech industry has done that with regard to marketing tech, specifically real estate CRM.
No matter the market cycle, it’s all about which agent can get to the listing first and win that client over. Here’s the kicker: you’re sitting on a gold mine already. Your agents’ spheres of influence, their contact databases, hold immense value. This is where a CRM should save the day. But let’s face it – CRM adoption and usage in this industry is absolutely dismal. Why? Because it’s too hard for the average agent. They just want to be told the time, not how to build the watch. CRMs have evolved (devolved?) to become overly complex, and everything the agent wants to do with it results in a nightmare of configuration and endless clicking. We all have that dread inside us when we read “some assembly required” on the instructions for a consumer product, and yet that’s what most real estate CRMs ask agents to do.
It’s time to stop asking agents to “build the watch” when all they need is to be told the time. Let’s talk about why traditional CRMs are underwhelming, what brokers need to focus on to gain adoption, and how rethinking marketing platforms can profoundly shift your business for the better.
The Problem with Real Estate CRMs
Ask any brokerage leader about CRM adoption, and the sighs say it all. And it’s not because agents don’t understand the importance of technology—it’s because most real estate CRMs are over-engineered and confusing. Agents want to nurture relationships and manage leads, not master a maze of features. Instead of seamlessly aiding their workflow, CRMs are often seen as something else they need to maintain.
When adoption stalls, you’re left wondering why the tool isn’t having its intended impact. Spoiler alert—it’s because the tech expects agents to do too much. And it’s because a CRM, while critically important, isn’t a savior on its own. The true value of a CRM is the marketing automation that’s wrapped around a customer database that’s easy to maintain. Period. In other words, the value is beyond the CRM.
Automate, Simplify, and Deliver What Matters
What can the tech industry do about this? Automate. Hide complexity. Make the machine do the hard work in the background. You don’t need more tech tools; you need smarter ones.
The true purpose of a real estate CRM and coinciding marketing tools is simple—organize and centralize contact data while automating marketing efforts.
The right CRM, paired with easy-to-use marketing automation should focus on:
- Marketing automation that works in the background – Eliminate manual effort. From automated email marketing to scheduled campaigns, agents should be able to stay in flow with their contacts effortlessly.
- Streamlined data management – Your CRM shouldn’t require deep expertise to use. Intuitive workflows and integrated data are critical.
- Actionable insights – Automation is powerful when it offers quick visibility and insights that make agents more effective.
- Propensity scoring – AI should help tell agents who to reach out to when, helping them take actions that produce results.
The real estate market may ebb and flow, but market share is always in play and up for grabs. Proactively staying top of mind with your sphere through effective database marketing can directly increase listings and grow your agents’ businesses. Real innovation happens when brokerages shift their mindset and look beyond the real estate CRM.
That’s what we believe the industry wants and needs, and it’s what we’re building. Our products have always focused on ease of use and a less-is-more approach, but we’re doubling down on that.
The Next Chapter for Real Estate CRM Technology
Thanks to advancements in AI and marketing automation, tools like the ones we’re building at MoxiWorks are changing how brokers think about CRM systems. With AI powering automated campaigns and personalization at scale, brokers and agents can focus on what they do best while technology handles the rest. I’m excited about this next chapter, not only for MoxiWorks but for our industry. If the last few years have taught us anything about real estate, it’s that relationships matter most, and technology should be there to help agents with that and otherwise stay out of the way. Every agent is sitting on a gold mine in the form of their sphere of influence, but most haven’t unlocked that potential. That’s about to change.
Our first gen products laid the foundation, but now we’re taking it further. Now, we have the benefit of AI, our proven automated marketing campaigns, and the world class ActivePipe technology to work with. We also have 12 years of experience working with brokerages and their agents on how to automate and simplify things.
But the market’s down, you say? True, but it’s always about market share regardless of the market. Simply doing automated marketing for an agent with their database will increase their share of listings, which are and always have been the lifeblood of this industry. Already today, we see that agents using our tools to market generate almost 50% more listings. Imagine what the impact will be when even more agents benefit that way. It’s all about thinking beyond the CRM and making sure you have the right complimentary automated marketing systems in place, and the impact will be undeniable.
Explore ActivePipe, your CRM’s favorite sidekick, and help your agents find and win more listings
