Question: Revamping a Commercial Brokerage
Hey gang - long-time lurker, first-time post.

I am going to help bring my family's commercial RE brokerage into the 21st century next year, and would love to know what this community believes are essential tools to invest in. Any recommendations are appreciated. Some areas on my mind that I would love some opinions on...

CRM: They currently use an ancient version of ACT. I'm a fan of Salesforce.

Mail Campaigns: Mailchimp is what I know, but are there better/cheaper options?

Market Research/Inventory: He pays to list on loopnet, but does not pay up for co-star. As far as I know, his market research is just from working his area for 30 years. What do all of you use?

Social Media/Content: Would love to know what people consider to be essential channels in this space (linkedin?)

I'm sure I am missing areas that I should be researching, so please share any recommendations you may have. Thank you in advance!
[{"id": "dr7knd5", "text": "I am doing the same thing and look forward to seeing the answers to this", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dr7mx92", "text": "Where does the firm earn most of the fees from? Leasing, management, investment sales, land? Different resources for different income streams. ", "replies": [{"id": "dr7ulvq", "text": "Fees come from representing tenants and listings/leases. Primarily office space, but the company isn't specialized. Assuming I can help grow the company I'd hope to add a management component to our product offering over the next couple of years.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dr8bdwj", "text": "My company uses Apto for our CRM, which is based on Salesforce. I like it a lot, but there seems to be a small learning curve if you don't use it all the time like I do. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dr8gmwq", "text": "Ran my own shop for years.  CoStar is far from perfect but it saves a ton of time.  Run reports, add your market insights and service your clients.  The tenant tool is horrible, save your money.   APTO is as good as the time you invest.  Use it now with a national firm I sold out to.  At the end of the day the client hires the individual.  Just make sure you can compete with the big boys.  ", "replies": [{"id": "dr8lhxo", "text": "Thanks for the advice. Are there things that the national firm does/offers that you wish you knew about when you ran your smaller firm?", "replies": [{"id": "drocemz", "text": "Not particularly other than the network and ability to reach out to team members in other cities.  Used the CCIm network the same way when I was running my shop.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dr8pbjx", "text": "To be fair. I run a \"modern\" brokerage with no crm, no social media, no email blasts. It totally depends on what you do. Raising your monthlies by a few thousand may not result in higher returns. For me, I've cut back pretty hard as my income increased because I've found that lead generation is the only thing worth investing in. \nMy method is very specific though, so I can't tell you to run a firm just like mine, I just hate the idea of anything which runs inefficiently. \nI'm on a subway now so I can't read any other comments here. And I'm sure people have some amazing ideas, and truths which may abutt my view. But when my son comes to modernise my then 30 year old shop (if he chooses to join me), I'd have him start by modernizing the existing structure before implementing new expenses. That means: make sure the stationary is mordern, the office equipment is efficient, the ways of running the opperation are efficient, the team is efficient. Signage should be updated and modernized, email footers, computers, cell phones. Etc.  All need to be bought into this decade. \n\nOnce you're done with that. One at a time. \n\nI hate email blasts. I think they give wat too much information away and don't generate calls. Especially if the product is formulaic or feels like a commodity. \n\nSocial media will bring leads. But we just never needed it. I don't know what side of the commercial market you're in. \n\nCostar are like the mob. If you are reliant on them, youre in trouble. They're incredibly over priced, obnoxious, rigid in their contract structures and should be destroyed. Try to go without them if you can. It depends in your market. You can't in some.", "replies": [{"id": "dr8r2yr", "text": "Thank you for the response - I appreciate your approach and certainly want to avoid making things complicated. What would you say are your most important sources for lead generation?\n\nAs for Costar, do you also avoid them by just sticking to loopnet, or are their other services available?", "replies": [{"id": "dr8t1xv", "text": "Costar: it depends what market you're in.\nif youre in a primary market \"manhattan office space, San Fran, LA\" i'm not going to be able to compete with them in terms of ease of use. If i'm in a secondary market, the old fashioned way gets you better results. \n\nlead generation: also depends on what sector. I couldn't take my model 50 miles from my office, i've tried. whatever is working for you. ramp it up. rely on third parties only when you feel you have maxed out your current system. if it aint broke... don't go broke!\n", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "draozt7", "text": "CompStak for comps!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "draq4iz", "text": "Do you focus more on leasing or investment sales?", "replies": [{"id": "drat03t", "text": "it seems to be a 50/50 split between the two. Are there different systems/tools for them?", "replies": [{"id": "drazz9t", "text": "Yes, I'd say so.\n\nFor investment sales, it's a two-sided market, but both sides are the same: investors.\n\nFor leasing, it's a two-sided market, but one side is made up of tenants, who are not real estate companies, just users of real estate.\n\nThat's a prominent enough difference to think about some specialization. Not that you shouldn't have one central CRM, but strategies like marketing your listings might take a different path.\n\nA couple of solid tools for marketing Investment Sales listings: Brevitas.com, CREXi.com", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]