Estate agents could be overlooking potential instructions and revenue already sitting within their CRM systems. New research suggests many agency leaders believe their historic databases are underused.
A survey conducted by Kerfuffle found that 82.4% of agency leaders believe their existing databases contain untapped revenue.
More than a quarter – 26.5% – said they know potential revenue exists within their data but struggle to find it.
The findings highlight a longstanding challenge for estate agencies. Branches can accumulate thousands of records covering vendors, landlords, buyers, tenants, valuations and previous transactions.
However, as databases grow, agents can find older information difficult to search and use effectively. Records can also become outdated, duplicated or poorly structured.
That can leave agents spending money generating new leads while existing contacts and historic valuation opportunities remain untouched.
CRM migration remains a concern
The issue becomes particularly important when agencies change CRM providers.
According to the Kerfuffle research, 58.8% of agency bosses fear losing or burying vital historical information when migrating systems.
For established agencies, the volume of information involved can be substantial.
Greenhouse OS, which provides CRM technology to estate agencies, recently migrated more than 1.2 million records for a Hertfordshire agency. The seven-branch business 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.
The figures demonstrate the scale of data that established agencies can hold. They also highlight the challenge involved in transferring that information between systems.
AI increases the value of historic agency data
The growing adoption of artificial intelligence across estate agency is putting greater emphasis on CRM data.
AI systems can analyse historic property and customer information to identify patterns and potential opportunities. However, their effectiveness depends heavily on the quality of the underlying information.
Ian Preston, CEO of Greenhouse OS, believes one potential application is using historic data to personalise customer communications at scale.
He 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. That information can help agents identify previous contacts who may be approaching another property decision.
Technology can also automate parts of that process. CRM and AI systems can identify and prioritise old contacts for follow-up.
For agents, the question is no longer simply how much information their CRM holds. Increasingly, it is whether the business can make effective use of that data.
