There’s one key component of real estate CRMs that’s often neglected – reports. The reporting functionality in a CRM is instrumental to better understanding your business and improving in the appropriate areas.  It’s one way to become a better REALTOR® and exponentially grow your business and income, year after year.

An effective real estate CRM will come with a range of pre-designed reports, from a birthday and property purchase anniversary date list to an original source of contact summary report to a referral history report to a total transaction summary where you can view the average percentage of asking price for your listings and the average number of days your listings were on the market.

At a glance, you’ll know who your best clients are (those who refer you the most), how people are hearing about you, when to wish your clients a happy birthday or happy home purchase anniversary (a must for relationship-building), and whether or not you need to make changes to your listing strategy (perhaps you’re not satisfied with the average days on the market of your listings).

When you don’t have this important insight, you can easily go down the wrong path or have trouble fully realizing why your business isn’t performing well in certain areas. Reports give you concrete data you can use to take actions necessary to become a more effective agent.

And there is one more report you can run in a good CRM that doesn’t necessarily provide you with “business insight” per se, but is essential to building a referrals-based business; a Business Directory Report. A Business Directory Report will supply you with a list of all of all the business professionals in your database from interior designers to landscapers to plumbers. At a glance you’ll have all of their contact details, their website, and a description of the services they offer.

This report is instrumental to building loyalty.  Here’s why: one way you can continue to provide value to your clients, long after the transaction is over, is by recommending reputable home professionals. Next time you call up a client (or they call you), see if they need any help finding a great business. Chances are, you can suggest just the right person. And when these professionals see you’re recommending clients their way, you’ll find that they’ll reciprocate and send you referrals.

If you’re looking to invest your time and money wisely, make better business decisions, and maximize your number of listings while minimizing your real estate marketing costs, you need a real estate CRM. Never underestimate the importance of knowing your numbers. As Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy wisely said once, “Anything that is measured and watched improves.”