I put Tina through the ringer. She didn’t realize that when she asked for my help with selecting a contact management system, that I was going to make her do the investigation and evaluation. We all want someone to say “this is the one.” buy it. And you know what? Many, and I mean many sales agents do just that. Buy it, without investigating. It is a Baby Boomer mentality? Could be.
So what did she decide on. We realized she needed more than product to make it all happen. Sigh. The ultimate program just doesn’t exist . . . yet.
So a contact management program that keeps track of contacts, notes and transactions. Would be nice if it was integrated with her MLS but not totally necessary. She wanted kind support people, the ones who call back. She wants a sync with her blackberry so she has access to her contacts and calendar.
Then she got stuck, web based? simple to use? Or resident on her computer. So she narrowed it down to Wise Agent and AgentOffice. Wise Agent, is web based, simple to use, very affordable, has all the features she wanted and has GREAT customer support. A big kudos to them for that.
AgentOffice is computer based, syncs with her blackberry, once price and easy to use. It also works with a transaction management platform her MLS uses.
What else did she decide on?
- Listingbook – this is going to replace the IDX search on her website. It has buyer tours, a CMA program, seller reports, and does a showing report and compares her listings to the competition.
- A blog to start communicating better with her community and clientele. It will be attached her website.
- Outlook exchange – so she can wireless sync her email and calendar.
- Imprev – for marketing pieces.
Tina is getting set up on her blog with one of our live tech coaches and is getting everything organized. Thanks Tina for letting me help you make a decision that works for your business. She can find Tina on Twitter at @tinamcmanus or her website, www.YourNorthShoreHome.com.
Chad McBain
August 9, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Just read your comment and signed up to wiseagents free trial and so far I am impressed. Easy to use and the help section is great with it’s video tutorials. Thanks for the info. I will keep you posted.
Joe Loomer
August 10, 2009 at 11:07 am
Been a Top Producer fan for years, but this 8i is driving me nuts…. Thanks for a tip on a possible follow-on system if I decide to ditch TP.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Ian Greenleigh
August 10, 2009 at 11:11 am
Sounds like you two are uber-consumers! Kudos on flexing your buying power and figuring out your needs BEFORE looking for solutions. Too many get it backwards in that regard.
Marie Kratsios
August 10, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Hi Amy, glad to hear that Tina made a decision. I was very interested in the idea of using Listingbook instead of IDX on a website. Saw it on someone’s site the other day and made a mental note to look further into it. You just reminded me and validated the idea. Thanks.
Tina McManus
August 12, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Just signed up for DocuSign. A bottleneck for me has been the inability of my clients to sign electronically. I send virtually everything in PDF – but then, here’s the drill: my client gets the doc, has to print it out – then sign, scan & email or fax back to me. Not all of my clients have a fax or scanner which makes it even worse. So…DocuSign has a 30 day guarantee. So far, so good – BUT – what if the lender wants a “wet” signature? What if the “other side” of the transaction objects to electronic signatures? Went over the program w/my broker today & got his OK – since the disclosure form carries our office name. Had a couple of glitches, but email support was excellent! Got right back with a solution. If you’ve been reading the blog – you know I’m HUGE on customer support. Oh yeah – and of course the “learning curve”. If anyone has experience w/this program – I’d appreciate your thoughts.
Atlanta Real Estate
September 3, 2009 at 11:26 pm
I don’t know about all that other tools mentioned, but a DocuSign type product would be extrmely nice. Let us know how that works out.
A clean solution for the secure electronic signing of PDF docs would be great.
For all the other stuff, I use ACT! I have to manually put in my leads but thats the end of the manual stuff.
Rob