In this article
When you are starting out, a Google Sheet is enough to manage leads. But once the sales team grows to a few dozen people working on several projects at once, that sheet quickly turns into a mess: duplicate leads, overwritten rows, and nobody knowing how many times a buyer has been called. That is when it is time to think about a CRM.
Signs you need a CRM
- Two salespeople call the same buyer without knowing it.
- When someone leaves the company, their history with customers leaves with them.
- Managers cannot see how many leads each person holds or their close rate.
- A past buyer comes back asking about a new project, but nobody remembers what they were interested in.
If two or more of these sound familiar, a spreadsheet is no longer enough.
Features that matter in real estate
- Automatic lead capture from your website, landing pages, Facebook ads and Zalo, with no manual entry.
- Lead assignment and reminders: distribute leads to salespeople automatically and remind them to call back on time.
- Sales pipeline tracking: new, contacted, interested, viewing booked, deposit, contract signed.
- Full interaction history: calls, messages, notes and viewings.
- Inventory management by project, if you sell many units.
- Permissions: salespeople see only their own leads, managers see the whole team.
- Reports by lead source, by project and by person.
- A mobile app, because real estate agents spend more time in the field than at a desk.
Questions to ask before you choose
- Does it connect with your website and the ad channels you use?
- Is pricing per user or a flat fee, and how does it grow with the team?
- Where is the data stored, and can you export it if you switch later?
- Does your sales team find it easy to use? Let a few people try it before you decide.
- Is there local language support and a responsive support team?
Do not rush the switch
A CRM only works if the whole team actually uses it. Start with the core features, such as capturing leads, assigning them and updating their status, then expand gradually. Feature-rich software that nobody updates is worse than a spreadsheet that is used consistently.
If you are not ready for a CRM yet, start by managing leads in Google Sheets properly. Websites built by VLand can send leads to Google Sheets from day one and connect to a CRM when you need it. Get in touch with VLand for advice.
