3.4 Filtering Contacts: Segmenting for Targeted Outreach

Purpose:

Filtering allows you to precisely narrow down your contact list to show only those individuals who meet specific criteria you define. This is absolutely essential in real estate for tasks like sending targeted marketing campaigns (e.g., emailing new condo listings only to contacts interested in condos), managing follow-ups for specific lead types (e.g., viewing all "Hot Seller Leads" assigned to a particular agent), or analyzing segments of your database (e.g., identifying past clients in a specific zip code).

How to Apply Filters using More Filters:

  1. Open the Filter Panel: Click the More Filters button, typically located near the Search Bar. A panel will slide open (usually from the right side) where you can build your filter conditions.
  2. Add Your First Filter: Click the + Add Filter button within the panel.
  3. Select the Field to Filter By: Choose the data point you want to use for filtering from the dropdown list. Common options relevant for real estate include:
    • Contact Details: Name, Email, Phone, City, State, Zip Code, Country, Contact Type (e.g., Lead, Client, Agent, Vendor), Owner / Assigned User (filter by specific agent), Date Added, Last Activity.
    • Custom Fields (Extremely Powerful for Real Estate!): Filter based on the specific data you track in your custom fields, such as: Property Type Interest, Buyer Timeline, Seller Timeline, Price Range Min/Max, Bedrooms Required, Pre-Approved Status, Listing Status, Lead Source, Neighborhood Preference.
    • Tags: Filter based on whether a contact Has tag or Does not have tag. Select the specific tag(s) from your list.
    • Activity: Filter based on actions the contact has taken: Form Submitted (select specific form name), Survey Submitted (select survey), Trigger Link Clicked (select specific link), Email Events (e.g., Opened or Clicked a specific email within a date range), Page Visited (contact visited a specific listing page URL), Call Status (e.g., filter for contacts with a Missed Call status).
    • Opportunity: Filter contacts based on their associated deals: In Pipeline (e.g., show contacts with any deal in the Listing Pipeline), In Pipeline Stage (e.g., show contacts with a deal currently in the Under Contract stage), Opportunity Status (Won, Lost, Abandoned), Opportunity Value (e.g., deals over $10,000 estimated commission).
    • Other options might include Membership/Offer, Affiliate Status, Workflow Status, etc.
  4. Select the Operator: Choose how you want to compare the field to the value (e.g., is, is not, contains, does not contain, is greater than (>), is less than (<), is between, in the last X days, is empty, is not empty, is any of, is none of). The available operators depend on the field type selected (text, number, date, dropdown).
  5. Enter or Select the Value: Provide the specific value to filter against. This might involve:
    • Typing text (e.g., for City is "Anytown").
    • Entering a number or date (e.g., Price Range Max < 500000, Date Added in last 30 days).
    • Selecting from a predefined list (e.g., choosing a specific Tag, Dropdown Option, User (agent), Pipeline, Stage, Form name).
  6. Combine Multiple Filters (Optional): To create more specific segments, click + Add Filter again to add more conditions.
    • AND Logic (Default): Filters are typically combined using AND, meaning the contact must meet all the specified conditions to be included in the results (narrows the list).
    • OR Logic: Look for an option to change the relationship between filters to OR, meaning the contact must meet at least one of the conditions (broadens the list).
    • Grouping: Some interfaces allow grouping filters with parentheses () for more complex logic (e.g., (Tag is Buyer Lead AND City is Anytown) OR (Tag is Seller Lead AND City is Otherville)).
  7. Apply the Filters: Click the Apply button. The contact list will update immediately to show only the contacts matching your defined criteria. The active filters are usually displayed above the contact list; you can often click the X on a filter there to quickly remove it.

Real Estate Filter Examples:

  • Find hot buyer leads under $500k in a specific city:
    • Tags includes Hot Buyer AND
    • Custom Field: Price Range Max < 500000 AND
    • City is Anytown
  • Find past clients you haven't contacted recently:
    • Contact Type is Past Client AND
    • Last Activity is before [Date 6 months ago] (or use relative date option if available, e.g., not in last 180 days)
  • Find contacts with showings currently scheduled in the Buyer Pipeline:
    • Opportunity: In Pipeline Stage is Buyer Pipeline - Showing Scheduled

Mastering filters is key to unlocking the power of your CRM for targeted communication and efficient workflow management.