Looking for an alternative to BoomTown? Here's what you really need to know.

So, you're looking for an alternative to BoomTown.

• Maybe that's because you like the ads and landing pages, but you're not sure about tracking.
• Maybe you like the product, but you're not sure about the price.
• Maybe you read every.single.review. on G2 Crowd and you're still confused.
  

Whatever the reason, we get it. 

The list of real estate CRMs is loooong. And building your real estate business on clunky, ill-fitting technology is enough to drive anyone crazy.

This is an important decision. You need to get it right.

We're going to help you out with that. And yes, we are a real estate CRM and technically, that makes us a competitor to BoomTown...which makes us a little biased.

But we're going to put that to one side for a sec so we can help you make the decision that's best for you.

How to find the *real* top competitors to BoomTown

G2 Crowd says this:

*Full list here.

FinancesOnline says this:

*Full list here.

SoftwareSuggest says this:

*Full list here.

And of course, the Facebook peanut gallery says a whole bunch of stuff:

"Go with BoomTown! It's the one all the TOP agents use."

"Honestly, 'X Other CRM' is the best for the money."

"Why not just use Facebook instead?"

Does any of this really help?

The truth is, you can't always trust the software comparison sites—some of them are pay-to-play, others are only in it for the SEO.

And Facebook Groups? We all know that's a crapshoot.

Rather than giving you a list of competitors you could literally get anywhere else, we're going to show you how to make the best decision yourself.

Starting with a few pointed questions.

Not sure if BoomTown is right for you? 4 crucial questions to ask

In real estate, the hype is real. 

There's always a cool new tool, tech toy or strategy to try.

And there are always a million agents willing to hop on somebody else's bandwagon.

But no two real estate businesses are the same. No matter how awesome, before you stretch your budget for any new system or tool, you've got to get real and ask yourself if it makes sense for you.

These four questions will help give you that answer:

1. What are your best lead sources?
2. What is your current team structure?
3. How do you expect that structure to change in the next two to five years?
4. What type of business are you running?
   

That last one is a doozy, right?

In our experience, most real estate businesses fall into one of the following three types: 

1. Lifestyle - you roll as a solo agent and maybe have an admin or two depending on how far you want to go, your average price point, and how much you hate paperwork.
2. Hybrid - you work with other producing agents and have too much inbound business to handle alone—usually from referrals and sphere, or early investments in internet leads.
3. Growth - you run a large team and a high-performance culture. You need to remove as much workflow overhead as possible so your team can focus on what they do best.
   

So, which one are you?

Assuming you know what type of business you're running—or at least, are going to be running in the near future—you'll be able to make a confident decision about whether or not BoomTown is the best tool for you.

BoomTown features and pricing: Is it a fit?

Listen, we'll be honest. 

The folks at BoomTown have developed a great product and a great community.

So, rather than follow the herd and list the different CRMs feature-by-feature (because let's be real, you know where to find BoomTown's features and pricing if you need it), we're going to talk about the five core factors to look for in any CRM.

#1. Free to choose your lead source

If you're looking for a CRM that comes with an easy-to-build website as part of the package, awesome.

But keep in mind, your lead gen strategies are probably going to evolve and when they do, the last thing you want is to be locked into a lead source you're not using anymore. This is especially important as your team scales and your marketing overhead increases.

Look for a CRM that can handle leads from any lead source to protect your margins no matter where your marketing strategy takes you.

#2. Plenty of options for website integrations

Newsflash: the website you have today probably isn't the same website you'll have five years from now.

Choose a flexible CRM so that you can opt for the best-of-breed website based on the unique way your business is evolving. An out-of-the-box website is fine in the beginning, just make sure it's easy enough to change course if and when the time comes.

#3. Directly integrated to Gmail/Outlook

Here's the thing about email.

When you send an email, you want it to look like an email from a friend or colleague—not some weird email clearly sent from a system designed to track them.

In fact, crappy formatting is the #1 complaint about mobile emails.

Do your leads a favor and make sure your CRM allows you to send emails that protect your brand and make it easy for them to reply.

#4. Native dialer 

Logging in to a third party site to make call is a pain in the *ahem* on a good day.

Imagine trying to do it on a day where you have multiple appointments and follow ups to take care of.

Choose a CRM with a built-in dialer so you can go straight from call to call without having to switch programs or leave yourself open to distraction. And of course, make sure your CRM was built for Android and iOS so you can stay productive on the go.

#5. Easy team collaboration

Finally, your choice of CRM should have a lot to do with how you structure your team.

Whether you have just 1 agent or several agents plus a team of ISAs, choose a system that makes it a breeze to keep everyone in the loop and deliver a seamless client experience from A to Z.

Look for features like @mentions and conversation history so your team members never have to answer the same question twice.

What's the ROI on BoomTown?

This question is EVERYWHERE.

And here's the thing....

You can spin your wheels asking questions like:

Which CRMs have the best ROI?

This one looks good, but how do I know the actual ROI?

Is BoomTown worth it?

But the truth is nobody ever got rich because they chose the right CRM.

Results follow focus.

When we asked Austin-based team lead Eric Bramlett how he regularly hits $100m+ with a team of just 11 agents, here's what he had to say:

“I cut out all distractions and made production my #1 priority. I became obsessive about lead gen, follow up and tracking.”

Today, Eric's paid ad budget ranges between $30,000 and $40,000 per month—and it’s always ROI-positive.

So, yes. When it comes down to lead ROI, the questions you should be asking are: what's the cost per lead? And more importantly, what's the actual ROI on those leads?

But when choosing a CRM the question you should be asking is:

How will this system fuel my focus and help me close more leads faster?

Most agents who pay for leads have no clue what they what their actual ROI is because they don’t track anything.

And if real ROI is what you're after, you should probably look for a CRM that's independently owned and adaptable to any lead source⁠—one that can track your progress, and tell you like it is.