Mobile CRM development for real estate agents

Abstract

Purpose – Real estate agents are professionals who need up-to-date and accurate information about their clients in order to maintain profitable and long-lasting relationships with each of them. A satisfied customer can be very valuable and profitable in the long term. This research focuses on solving the problem of the lack of a mobile Customer Relationship Management (CRM) adapted to the needs of professionals. The importance of solving this problem is related to the importance of optimizing work and resources in a highly abundant information industry. Design/methodology/approach – It was developed of a CRM for mobile devices capable of managing information about the customers and business partners of each user, which provides a set of features well defined by the professionals. These features were collected through 15 face-to-face interviews and validated with six video conference interviews with industry specialists. For the development and evaluation of this artefact was followed the DSR methodology, corresponding each interview to an iteration of this model. Findings – From this research resulted a selection of functionalities considered essential to the real estate agent’s work. These features were successfully implemented in a mobile application that real estate agents appreciate for its simplicity and that they feel adds real value to their daily lives. Using this service, the productivity and performance of real estate agents might be improved. Originality/value – It was verified that the mobile CRM solution developed is a desired solution by real estate agents in terms of customer portfolio management, enhancing the evolution of their relationships and monitoring professional’s performance.