How to Organize Client Information in Lists and Databases

In commercial real estate brokerage, your client information needs to be accurate, up-to-date, and organized. The level of organization you apply to the process will help you find the right people and property opportunities as listings evolve and take shape. Get your client information and prospecting model organized.

The foundation of all your client contacts will be some database software program.  You have some choices here to work with, particularly regarding cost, software complexity, and information storage.  Use the database program that you are comfortable with and can you see yourself using conveniently and regularly every day. 

Ensure you can access your contact information from any location and anytime.  With the spare time you may get between appointments, you can make calls and grow your contact activities.  Ensure you can connect with all the details in your list from your office, laptop, mobile phone, and tablet computer.

Prospect List Organization

Here are some ideas to help you with organising your client list and prospecting information:

1. Rationalize the property zones that you work within. Simplify the zones into precincts of activity.  Every client and prospect you talk to can be categorized into zones of focus and property requirements.  The zones will be streets, suburbs, and parts of the city.  When creating the focus zones, look at the city and the suburbs from the aspect of popularity and enquiry.
2. Group property requirements into property types. Some clients and prospects will only focus on office, industrial, or retail property types.  Add to that the elements of property size and improvement types.  Create a matrix of description groupings that apply to your property types.
3. Order your enquiry into budget capabilities and sizes when it comes to prices or rents. Exactly how much money can the prospect or client devote to a lease or purchase situation?  Ask yourself about the ‘realism’ of that budget in the location or the property type for your region today.  If the budget is realistic, then you have something to work with.
4. Think about timing for each enquiry. When will the person need to act on a sale or lease?  You can categorise your property enquiries into groups such as ‘urgent’ and ‘ordinary’ timing.   It goes without saying that most of your service focus should be on ‘urgent’ and highly motivated enquiry.  The greater the numbers of people that you know, the easier it is to work with ‘urgency’ in your real estate business.
5. Sort out the people you know and connect with into ‘levels of opportunity’ or ‘intensity’. When do they need to act on a purchase, sale, lease, or relocation?  That is where ‘opportunity’ and ‘contact intensity’ come together for you.  That then creates priorities in the level of contact as you seek to help them in a timely way. Ask about timing as a property decision for them.

How would you capture this information?  How can you remember to ask the right questions of the people that you connect with?  It’s quite simple.

You need a standard enquiry form that you carry with you and can complete easily at any time.  The form does not need to be bigger than an A5 size, and the fields of data can be created based on your property focus, and the buildings or locations that you work with.  At the end of the working day, you can take every property enquiry form and enter it into your client and enquiry list.  It is a simple process.