Remark is an industry-specific digital integrator. Since 2007 we have been helping companies to be as efficient as possible in the digital environment by automating the processes of marketing, sales and internal interaction between employees. Our main expertise is in real estate, but years of experience and competencies allow us to work with companies in all industries.
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CRM work automation
Where to start and how to automate reports
- When a company works in a CRM system as if it’s in Excel, there’s no benefit to the company.
Automation vs. Excel
CRM-systems are created to make work with data as automated and convenient as possible. But this result is not always achieved.
Many real estate developers' systems are well illustrated by a joke: CRM is an inconvenient Excel.
But the difference between CRM and Excel or Google spreadsheets is clear:
Many real estate developers' systems are well illustrated by a joke: CRM is an inconvenient Excel.
But the difference between CRM and Excel or Google spreadsheets is clear:
- 1A CRM system gives you the ability to work with data automatically. Excel won’t ask for the right information on its own.
- 2A CRM system gives you the ability to automate business processes. No one has ever managed to make Excel automatically assign a new task to a responsible employee.
Where do I start with automation in CRM?
It would seem that process automation in CRM is designed to work with customers, for other tasks there are systems for automating internal processes, document management and so on. But the classical approach to automation is very complex, and CRM-system offers a simpler option. So, the business process is tied to the sales funnel. Then at a certain stage of interaction with the client there is a deal, which automatically moves through the funnel.
Business processes are based on clear and simple logic. If something changes, it is easy to add or remove some steps.
The starting point of automation depends on the size of the company, the number of employees and their roles. You should start in any case with the simplest and most frequently repeated task. At this stage, real estate developers often make the same mistake: a simple task seems too easy, and therefore a more complex one is taken for automation. As a result, the process cannot be automated in a week or a month.
Examples of standard tasks to start automating a business process:
Business processes are based on clear and simple logic. If something changes, it is easy to add or remove some steps.
The starting point of automation depends on the size of the company, the number of employees and their roles. You should start in any case with the simplest and most frequently repeated task. At this stage, real estate developers often make the same mistake: a simple task seems too easy, and therefore a more complex one is taken for automation. As a result, the process cannot be automated in a week or a month.
Examples of standard tasks to start automating a business process:
- 1sending a document template;
- 2sending a notification about an overdue deadline;
- 3preparing the contract for the deal.
That is, start with standard, simple, often repeated actions. And then move on to more complex tasks.
It is important to understand how many people are involved in the process. If automating this task will facilitate the work of only one person, it is not worth wasting your time. If it saves time and effort for many employees and reduces the error rate, it is a reason to automate.
It is important to understand how many people are involved in the process. If automating this task will facilitate the work of only one person, it is not worth wasting your time. If it saves time and effort for many employees and reduces the error rate, it is a reason to automate.
Turnkey CRM automation
We can help with the digitalization of your business processes
Automated reporting
The key task of a CRM system is to provide correct data for reports with the ability to analyze them. However, real estate developer data may well exist in two realities: in CRM and, for example, excel. Ideally, managers enter all the necessary information into the CRM system, which digitizes the information received. The problem arises when employees forget to enter something, to move through the stages of the funnel, to check a box. As a result, the CRM system creates an incorrect report.
The easiest way to ensure the correctness of the data — their regular manual verification. If you don’t do this, you may end up with a duplicate tracking system.
For example, data in the CRM system exists only nominally, and managers exchange Excel spreadsheets via WhatsApp. A simple solution is to generate a daily report in the CRM, with the help of which the manager can make corrections if the systems statistics differ from his vision of the situation.
The second problem is the selection of tools for convenient interpretation. In the classic kanban it is inconvenient to look at some data. You have to constantly adjust filters. To avoid unnecessary repetitive actions, it is convenient to use dashboards.
This is more like strategic reporting, where various indicators are summarized and grouped, and the necessary data are filtered. To avoid collecting them manually, it is better to use CRM tools. They are realized in different ways in the systems. In amoCRM there is an opportunity to create a desktop where indicators will be collected for regular monitoring. In Bitrix 24, you can get a ready-made report with the necessary metrics.
The easiest way to ensure the correctness of the data — their regular manual verification. If you don’t do this, you may end up with a duplicate tracking system.
For example, data in the CRM system exists only nominally, and managers exchange Excel spreadsheets via WhatsApp. A simple solution is to generate a daily report in the CRM, with the help of which the manager can make corrections if the systems statistics differ from his vision of the situation.
The second problem is the selection of tools for convenient interpretation. In the classic kanban it is inconvenient to look at some data. You have to constantly adjust filters. To avoid unnecessary repetitive actions, it is convenient to use dashboards.
This is more like strategic reporting, where various indicators are summarized and grouped, and the necessary data are filtered. To avoid collecting them manually, it is better to use CRM tools. They are realized in different ways in the systems. In amoCRM there is an opportunity to create a desktop where indicators will be collected for regular monitoring. In Bitrix 24, you can get a ready-made report with the necessary metrics.
Replacement of automatic CRM reports
However, universal CRMs do not yet have advanced report builders. Probably, the systems will not be actively developing in this direction in the near future. Special BI platforms can be used for complex non-standard reports. In real estate, one of the most common is Power BI. It can already be called a kind of industry standard. A simpler tool for the same purposes is Google Date Studio.
A more complex way to solve the problems of non-standard reports — applications. If CRM does not have an option to group data in the required way, and BI-platform does not cope with the task, it remains only to develop a special web-application.
It creates a dashboard that displays conversions with their visualization in the form of tables or graphs. There is no need to substitute and compare something manually, the application will do everything for you. At any time, the dashboard can be supplemented with a new graph or table, so it will never lose relevance.
A more complex way to solve the problems of non-standard reports — applications. If CRM does not have an option to group data in the required way, and BI-platform does not cope with the task, it remains only to develop a special web-application.
It creates a dashboard that displays conversions with their visualization in the form of tables or graphs. There is no need to substitute and compare something manually, the application will do everything for you. At any time, the dashboard can be supplemented with a new graph or table, so it will never lose relevance.
Industry-specific features of automation
Modern universal CRM systems generally reflect the needs of business. There are also solutions on the market that are suitable for real estate developers and allow to cover specific needs. Integration with BI-platforms and the creation of custom applications expand the basic capabilities to maximize efficiency and comfort for real estate developers.
However, in order to "squeeze" the maximum out of the available solutions, it is better to entrust the work on their implementation to integrators. Then your CRM will not become more complex similar to Excel, but will really work.
We successfully implement solutions available on the market, taking into account the specifics of the real estate developer, as well as develop our own products so that real estate developers can use CRM-systems with maximum comfort. Learn more about Remark’s products here.
However, in order to "squeeze" the maximum out of the available solutions, it is better to entrust the work on their implementation to integrators. Then your CRM will not become more complex similar to Excel, but will really work.
We successfully implement solutions available on the market, taking into account the specifics of the real estate developer, as well as develop our own products so that real estate developers can use CRM-systems with maximum comfort. Learn more about Remark’s products here.
The Conclusion
Let’s summarize:
- 1Start with the simplest and most frequently repeated task.
- 2Set up a report where you can reconcile CRM data with real deal data.
- 3Use ready reports that allow you to upload data to dashboards.
- 4Use BI systems for deep data analytics.
- 5Contact integrators for CRM system automation
- 1Start with the simplest and most frequently repeated task.
- 2Set up a report where you can reconcile CRM data with real deal data.
- 3Use ready reports that allow you to upload data to dashboards.
- 4Use BI systems for deep data analytics.
- 5Contact integrators for CRM system automation
- 1Start with the simplest and most frequently repeated task.
- 2Set up a report where you can reconcile CRM data with real deal data.
- 3Use ready reports that allow you to upload data to dashboards.
- 4Use BI systems for deep data analytics.
- 5Contact integrators for CRM system automation
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