Real Estate and Recipes: Quantum’s CRM Formula

Those recipes hanging on the refrigerator for peach bread pudding and Grandma’s potato salad aren’t from an old family recipe book. Nope – they’re from your real estate agent. And he wouldn’t mind one bit if you passed them along because it’s his way of staying…InTouch. InTouch is a CRM program enabling 50,000 realtors nationwide to stay in touch with their clients. It is being offered by QuantumDirect, a direct mail services company serving independent real estate agents.

“Marketing statistics say that you have to make a lot of impressions on people and they need to le see your name or message before they remember it,” says Brandon Cornett, advertising manager for Austin, TX-based Quantum. “These CRM tools which foster constant communications help realtors stay in front of their audience.” Users of the InTouch program enroll their clients and execute their mailings by logging onto QuantumMail.com. The cost is $18.50 per person for the program that includes 12 mailings. Jumbo post cards are sent to their client list on a cycle chosen by the realtor. The timing of the mailings, determined by the realtor is over two to three years. If the two-year cycle is chosen, mailings are sent at two-month intervals. For three years, three-month intervals are used. Postcard messages are also chosen by the realtor. Usually they’re built upon the initial mailing message that thanks the homeowner for letting the realtor help them find a new home. The subsequent messages include a variety of services the realtor is making himself available to help the homeowner with. Follow-up messages include offers to help with the purchase of real estate investment property, or to provide referrals for services such as inspection or plumbing. Or they might consist of a note to say happy holidays. But the most important message is that the realtor is there for the client.

Realtors can also chose from a variety of designs for the post cards. These designs vary from company logos and personal photos to recipes or even home buying tips—the kind of information recipients tend to retain and use or pass along.

Each time a card gets mailed on the realtor’s behalf, the realtor receives an e-mail notice with an exact copy of the card and the client’s name and phone number so he can contact them personally.

The InTouch program can also be used in multi-agent realties. The advantage here is that company owners can set up accounts for their agents to use while retaining complete control over the messages that are sent. Initially, there was one program offering for those companies. It consisted of a small quantity, direct mail campaign to a neighborhood introducing a realtor and announcing the realtors listing. “As transient as people are in our country today, about 20 percent move every 5 years, the person that the realtor assisted in buying a home may be in market again or may know of someone in market for referrals,” says CEO Steve Damman. Or, they just may like peach bread pudding.