Are you tired of being stuck in endless daily tasks that are keeping you from living in your zone of genius?
I’ve been there.
The first time I built a seven-figure business, I was doing everything.
Even though I had found financial stability, I was constantly stressed…and so unhappy.
All it would take was one phone call for me to break down in tears.
That was when I realized something had to change.
I shifted my priorities and began to focus on creating a business that was both sustainable and scalable.
And a huge part of that was leveraging the right real estate tools.
Think of all the listings you manage, transactions, client communications, market trends analysis…
Real estate agents are constantly bombarded by relentless demands and endless pressure.
The key to making sure you’re able to meet those demands? It’s having the right real estate tools and systems in place so you and your team can work smarter, not harder.
So, let’s get right into it. These are the 7 real estate tools you need to be using to grow a scalable and sustainable business.
Client Relationship Management System
A client relationship management system (CRM) is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a tool that helps businesses collect, organize, and understand customer information.
With a CRM, no lead gets forgotten, and every client gets the attention that they deserve.
As a real estate tool, CRMs are a centralized hub for client information and interactions.
You can create and send forms to collect data, create proposals and agreements, and send emails.
And as clients move along your pipeline, you can organize and record deals and transactions as they happen.
Another big part of CRMs is how they help streamline daily and repetitive tasks.
Things like scheduling appointments or sending follow-up emails fill your to-do list daily.
Now, they can be automated so you stay focused on high-level tasks while your systems do the work for you.
Our favorite CRM is Follow Up Boss, a CRM made specifically for real estate agents and teams.
With Follow Up Boss, you can choose from hundreds of different integrations. This way, you can create a flexible system that’s personalized to your business model.
Project Management System
Managing multiple real estate projects can be exhausting.
And as real estate agents, you’re on the go all the time.
It can be tempting to rely on email or texts to communicate and coordinate on important projects.
But emails and texts can get messy – especially when it comes to key project details.
Deadlines get missed, and things fall through the cracks.
A project management tool creates one centralized place for all project communication.
At The Listings Lab, we love using Airtable as our project management tool.
Because of Airtable’s robust features, we’re able to:
- Streamline task management.
- Organize projects by owner.
- Break projects down step by step.
- Track time.
- Create both task and project deadlines.
- Assign tasks to team members.
- Collaborate with our team through comments.
- Upload and share important resources and documents.
- Integrate and customize with third-party apps.
And that’s just the beginning!
Automations are another major feature Airtable offers. Once created, the majority of the project will just flow without you having to edit each part of it.
If you’re not a fan of Airtable or think it might have too many features for your needs, you might want to consider Clickup, Notion, Asana, or Trello. These project management tools offer a simple solution for agents wanting to organize their real estate business!
Database Tool
As a seven-figure real estate business, you need a database tool.
A database allows you and your team to organize and store all of your important data with ease.
Airtable is our go-to for creating databases for the business. It can handle large amounts of information and offers powerful automations.
With Airtable, you’re getting more than just a glorified spreadsheet.
It’s a flexible and intuitive tool that allows you to store large amounts of information.
Airtable collects information from forms or other tools through automations and integrations.
All of which goes into customizing a workspace that fits your specific needs, including:
- Tracking property listings
- Tracking client interaction.
- Creating team member bases.
- Calculating finances.
- Organizing content.
- Collaborating with team members.
Airtable’s visual interface and customizable views make it simple to sort, filter, and conceptualize data.
Teams can then view this data through grid, Kanban, or gallery views. This allows them to read and sort valuable insights into their operations in a way that makes sense to them.
A main feature we love about Airtable is how it offers a user-friendly solution for streamlining our workflows.
Workflows allow you to maximize productivity and create a scalable and automated system.
For example, we use Airtable’s automations the most when we’re hiring team members.
With automations, we create a full system that manages scheduling, sends out emails (including rejections), and more!
This leaves our team free to focus on interviewing and assessing the right candidates for the job.
Because we love Airtable so much, we even offer Airtable temples included in our 7-Figure Agent Collective Program. These templates give members a head start in building their own sustainable systems.
Automation Tool
If there’s one thing that I fully believe in, it’s leveraging the power of automation.
There’s no reason to pay someone $20-30 an hour when you can pay for an automation tool for $150 a year instead.
Always look to see if you can automate a task first before outsourcing it to someone else.
This is a key strategy we teach our agents to create efficient and scalable systems,
To do that, you need a tool like Zapier.
There are thousands of tools and systems that you can connect Zapier with. Because of that, it’s quickly become the most complete automation tool on the market.
Think of Zapier as the translator between two programs. It allows different software to talk to each other.
Each program (like Follow Up Boss and Airtable) has its own purposes and features.
Zapier acts as the go-between the two. It uses if/then conditions to create links and connections so you can build a perfect system for your needs.
It’s a game-changer that takes your automation game to the next level.
Team Communication Tool
Having a team means nothing if you don’t have an efficient way of communicating with each other.
Email is great for communicating with clients or important team matters like contracts or requesting time off. But for regular day-to-day conversations, emails can get long and confusing.
Especially when the reply all feature comes into play.
A team communication tool like Discord or Slack takes the confusion out of your daily conversations.
You can chat with members of your team – either in direct messages or in group chats – as easily as texting.
At The Listings Lab, we’re obsessed with using Discord for team communication. You can even send GIFs, voice notes, share files, and make audio/video calls.
It’s time to level up your communication from just texting and emailing. Having a central hub for team communication is going to make life SO much easier.
Email Marketing Software
Email is the easiest way to create relationships at scale with thousands of potential clients.
However, to use emails efficiently, you need an email marketing software.
Email marketing software is an essential real estate tool to help you stay connected with clients and nurture leads.
With these tools, you can craft targeted email campaigns to achieve your marketing goals.
For example, as part of The Listing Lab, we teach agents how to create a signature system that helps solve a problem for your specific demographic.
Then, we show you how to turn that framework into a branded PDF. This PDF becomes your real estate lead magnet featured on your website and your online ads.
A lead magnet is something of value that you offer to your audience in exchange for their name and email.
Once you collect these details, your email marketing tool automatically delivers your lead magnet and adds these new leads to an email sequence. This sequence takes your leads on a psychological journey, warming them up to your services.
Email marketing software is a tool that helps you build powerful relationships, even without relying on one-on-one interactions.
➡️ READ MORE: Real Estate Sales Funnel: 9 Things Every Agent Should Include To Convert Prospects Into Clients
Social Media Scheduling Tool
Have you ever had that moment of panic when you realize it’s 4 p.m. and you still haven’t posted for the day?
A social media scheduling tool solves that problem.
They allow you to plan and schedule your posts across your social media channels in advance. This way, you’re no longer scrambling to post something every day.
They let you stay active online without having to constantly think about how and when you need to post.
With their built-in analytics features, you can also see what’s working in your strategy – and what’s not.
Then, you can make adjustments to your marketing plan and improve your posts to better resonate with your ideal client.
As a bonus, they analyze when your audience is most active so you can be sure your posts get the highest reach!
Our favorite tool for social media scheduling is Later. For a free option, you can use Meta Business Suite to schedule posts on Facebook and Instagram.
Using these 7 real estate tools is a game-changer when it comes to creating a scalable and sustainable business. They let you streamline and automate the low-level tasks, freeing up your energy for what truly matters – working in your zone of genius!
For more resources about real estate tools and systems and running an efficient, streamlined business, be sure to check out these posts:
