Is your database healthy? Here are the signs you should look for

When was the last time you reviewed the accuracy of the information within your agency’s database?

Perhaps your CRM is littered with duplicate properties and contacts with no efficient way of determining what’s actually useful or relevant?

If the answer to the question above is something along the lines of never or it overwhelms you to think about it, you’re definitely not alone!

The bad news is that having unreliable information and not being able to track your prospects and clients effectively will hurt the success of your agency in the long term.

What is database cleansing and why is it important?

Database cleansing is the process of ensuring that the contact details and client information within your database is accurate, and still provides value to your agency.

Is your team is prospecting for new opportunities, or contacting your owner database positioning themselves as a core area expert? If so, they need to have the correct information in order to give themselves the best chance of success, and to ensure the right people are contacted.

A clean database helps your entire business work seamlessly to achieve your agency’s goals. From business development, agents, office support and property managers, having a database that has accurate information allows your agency to make key decisions in an effective and timely manner.

Some benefits of a healthy database include:

• An increase in time management efficiency
• Increasing and nurturing stronger customer relationships
• Accurate data-driven insights that your marketing team can use to target new prospects
• Reduction in errors such as incorrect mobiles, invalid emails or staff who have moved companies
• Having accurate data will allow your agency to make more effective and efficient business practices in a timely manner

If you’ve ever had the struggle of reaching out to a prospect only to receive an email stating that person no longer works at the company, or their mobile has changed, or their email address is invalid, then a database detox could be exactly what your agency needs.

How often should I detox my database?

This all depends on the size of your agency and the amount of new data you’re collecting. For a larger agency who may be very prospect driven and who obtains a large amount of new data frequently, cleansing your database is recommended approximately every six months.

This ensures that you have the most up to date information available for everyone in your team to make the most strategic and effective decisions. A simple way to stay on top of your data cleaning is to set calendar reminders every few months to ensure all hands are on deck to help!

For boutique agencies who may add additional information to their database less frequently, cleansing your data once a year could be a great option to ensure that your prospects and current clients information is accurate.

In saying this, there is no strict ‘rule’ of when your database should be detoxed. If at any stage you feel as though your data is not as accurate as it could be, or if your agency has recently undergone a change such as implementing new software, this would be a great time to evaluate the quality of your database and create new habits for success.

How does a clean database benefit my whole agency?

Winning more listings, having happier clients and achieving a greater ROI on your marketing efforts are just a few!

Having a clean database will ultimately improve the overall productivity and success rate of many teams within your agency, including sales, marketing and account managers through to management. It allows you to have a source of truth for your agency that is available to your entire team at any given time.

This allows for a better customer experience for your clients or prospects, as all staff within the business are working off updated and accurate information and can therefore offer more effective and tailored solutions to your client or prospects questions.

This all sounds great, but where do I start?

Detoxing your database has never been easier and when coupled with a powerful, purpose built CRM such as Reapit Sales, you’ll have updated, relevant and reliable information together in one central database for your whole agency to view at any time. You can say goodbye to duplicates with Reapit Sales, as it’s the only CRM in the market that doesn’t allow duplication of information.

If this is your first time cleansing your database, it may be a little more time consuming than usual. However once this has been done, anytime you cleanse your data from here will be a breeze!

To make things even easier, we’ve developed a Data Detox Report which is designed to help you understand where the problems are within your database by providing tips on how to cleanse your database, examples of how a clean database benefits your whole agency, and a checklist to help get you started.

Nurturing your prospects and winning listings is about to get a whole lot easier. Download our Data Detox eBook today!