Property Databases

Cost Benefits of a Database

	Property Databases
	Database Overview
	What does a Database do?
	Why Have a Property Management Database?
	How can a Maqnagement Database help?
	Cost Benefits of Estate Agency Software
	Estate Agency Database Examples
	Commercial Estate Agent Software Packages
	Contact Management Software Package
	Writing your own Estate Management Software
	Outsourcing / Application Service Providers (ASP's)
	Technical Considerations
	Broadcasting, Managing and Storing Property Details

Broadly speaking, there are two main areas of cost savings: quantifiable cost-benefits and non-quantifiable benefits.

Quantifiable costs are usually easier to identify; for example: the time saved by using a system to automate acknowledgement letters. This not only cuts down the time someone might have spent producing the letters but at the same time frees them up to do other tasks.

Or entering property details only once and then transferring this data to the web.

Other quantifiable cost benefits might include: producing letters/labels, producing financial reports, performing database segmentation and thus better targeting (with associated 'non-wastage' of inappropriate approaches), faster entering and administrating of details, and relevant forms, electronic fund transfer for standing orders and direct debits.

Non-quantifiable benefits are harder to put a figure on. For example, the fact that an agent can check the database to find out if an individual contact is also a senior manager in another company they are dealing with, which could lead to further instructions.

Or knowing that another negotiator in the organisation has recently approached a particular person over a valuation, ensuring two people do not approach the same prospect.

Manage your staff in your office or across your branches and their access to your information. This not only improves the security, but negotiators time is far more efficiently, saving you money.

Other non-quantifiable cost benefits might include: analysing past trends, analysing database segments, relationship management and seeing 'who knows who', easy viewing of communication history, client profiling, diary/reminder system ensuring appointments/calls are not forgotten.