Estate agents underutilise CRM databases, survey finds
Estate agencies may be overlooking potential business opportunities within their existing customer relationship management systems, according to new research examining how property firms use historic data.
A survey by Kerfuffle found that 82.4% of agency leaders believe their existing databases contain untapped revenue potential. More than a quarter of respondents – 26.5% – said they know potential revenue exists within their data but struggle to access it effectively.
The findings point to a challenge facing property agencies as they accumulate thousands of records covering vendors, landlords, buyers, tenants, valuations and previous transactions. As databases expand, older information can become difficult to search and use, with records becoming outdated, duplicated or poorly structured.
Migration concerns
The issue becomes more acute when agencies change CRM providers. According to the research, 58.8% of agency bosses expressed concern about losing or burying historical information when migrating systems.
Recent migrations illustrate the scale of data involved. Greenhouse OS, a CRM technology provider, recently transferred more than 1.2 million records for a seven-branch Hertfordshire agency that has been trading for more than 45 years. A separate migration for a three-branch Essex agency involved 748,831 records accumulated over 20 years.
AI applications in property data
The growing adoption of artificial intelligence in property services is placing greater emphasis on the quality of CRM data. AI systems can analyse historic property and customer information to identify patterns and opportunities, though their effectiveness depends on the underlying data quality.
Ian Preston, CEO of Greenhouse OS, said: “The biggest single application of AI in estate agency right now is hyper-personalisation, making something delivered on a mass scale feel like it was created just for one person. But to power that, you need rich history.”
Historic records can include previous valuations, transactions, landlord relationships and buyer enquiries. Technology can identify and prioritise old contacts for follow-up, potentially automating parts of that process.
The research suggests that as estate agencies continue to evolve their operations, the question is shifting from how much information their CRM systems hold to whether businesses can make effective use of that data.
