Eric Bumgarner, CCIM is a Senior Director at Colliers International in Northeast Florida. His brokerage activities include both seller/landlord representation and buyer/tenant representation; where he completes sales and leases in the specialty of industrial land and buildings for local, regional and international companies. Eric has closed over $110 million in transactions totaling approximately 3.1 million square feet.
In addition, Eric has been awarded the CoStar Power Broker Award in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Learn how Eric uses ClientLook CRM in his busy commercial real estate business.
Can you tell me a little bit about your business? What do you specialize in and what does your day-to-day schedule look like?
I lead a top producing brokerage team at Colliers International in Jacksonville, Florida. My team specializes in industrial assets where we handle all different types of transactions; from landlord rep, tenant rep, investment sales and new development. My team, which consists of myself, two other agents, a marketing coordinator and an assistant, handles a large pipeline of industrial real estate production.
Every morning I arrive at the office at 4:30am. Part of my success has come from working harder than everyone else, and I get the most productive work done in the morning when the rest of the office is quiet (and when my competition is sound asleep). From about 4:30am to 9:00am I focus on getting caught up on work from the day before, emails, research, business development, strategy planning and everything in between. Usually after 9:00am hits, the day is filled with non-stop phone calls, meetings, property showings, and the expected fire drills that require my attention.
Why did you start using ClientLook and why did you choose ClientLook?
I started using ClientLook about a year ago because I realized that I needed to be more organized and handle my data management more efficiently. One of the keys to success in this industry is having better information than your competitors, and ClientLook helps me with that. ClientLook was recommend to me by my business coach with the Massimo Group. Your CRM came highly recommended! Besides it being highly recommended, I also initially chose the system because I was able to do a free trial and make sure the system worked for me. During the trial period, it came clear to me very quickly that this was exactly the system I had been looking for.
How easy was it to get your data converted into ClientLook?
It was really easy! The biggest challenge was getting all of my data consolidated and organized from multiple sources. The support team at ClientLook was very hands on and helped me merge the information and got all of my fields set up properly. The support team helped me with the import and Greg Hoard was very helpful with making sure that I had everything I needed to get up and running. Greg still stays in contact with me; it’s great to know that he’s there for me if I need any help. I actually wish I could get Greg to come work for me or at least just show up in my office every day, as this guy is our team’s biggest cheerleader. He truly wants you to succeed and makes sure you have everything you need to be successful.
What problems has ClientLook solved for you?
ClientLook has helped me with my organized and archiving data. Every single email that I send – or my team sends – easily goes into ClientLook with the BCC feature. It’s so easy and everything is linked to the appropriate contact or property record. I like that I can quickly pull up the history and have instant knowledge of what’s going on with a contact, property, or deal. The client reporting feature is also a valuable tool. It’s helpful to be able to keep all of my owners up to date.
What CRM solution were you using previously?
Prior to ClientLook, I was using Rethink (Salesforce), but it was just too cumbersome to work with. It wasn’t user-friendly, there were too many fields to fill in, and it required more effort than it was worth. Back then, I would just resort to using Excel spreadsheets, but then I had too many different sources of information. I knew I needed to consolidate, and that’s when I found ClientLook CRM.
Please tell us about your experience with ClientLook:
My overall experience with ClientLook has been awesome. The customer service really stands out and it’s obvious that ClientLook really values their customers and our feedback. I’ve brought up different ideas and suggestions to the ClientLook team, and they are always well received. ClientLook is a great company and everyone goes out of their way to make sure that we have everything we need.
What features do you like the most about ClientLook?
I really like being able to go in and look at any listing or deal, and see what’s going on with very little effort. I can spend two minutes and know what the status of every project is. I also think the iPhone app is awesome! Being able to pull up information when I’m out in the field, call a contact, and instantly add a quick update is very helpful. It’s also great that ClientLook makes it so easy to customize the fields to be in line with how we run our business. We’ve been able to tailor everything to meet our needs.
How would you describe your overall experience with the ClientLook team?
Everybody is awesome! I feel like Greg, the support team, and the Virtual Assistants are an extension of my in-house team. I rely heavily on the ClientLook platform, and the further along I go the more I can’t live without it. I have recommended ClientLook to tons of other commercial real estate brokers because it’s so great.
