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Contact Management

I keep looking for the best contact management software or service. I currently have Top Producer, which I have actually cancelled four times and then reinstated it each time, all because I really couldn't find anything better. I was thinking about trying the new ACT 2008, but I think it might take too long to set it up specifically for Real Estate.

Cathy Glass, Realtor®

Posted by Cathy Glass, Realtor® Knoxville Tennessee on 11/01/2007 06:49 AM

Comments (27)

contact management, top producer, act 2008, contacts

27 Comments on Contact Management

NOV

2007

Cathy,

You might try dropping into the Outlook Users Group.

Many Outlook users offering a lot of information on how to harness Outlook.

It is a very affordable solution, since most of us have it already.

Hi Cathy, I have been using Top Producer for many years. I love how I can keep track of my listings and sales. Plus the reports I can generate. I also use their web site program, which I have received compliments on. Recently I purchased the Outlook Connector program so now all my email leads that come thru Top Producer and my Web Site are directed to my Outlook for easy viewing in one location. I also have not found any other program that works so well.

You might also consider Real Estate Success Tracker (REST) at www.getrestnow.com

Cathy,There is a good discussiongoing on today at

http://activerain.com/blogsview/256995/Help-What-is-your

nice to meet you!

Ginger

NOV

2007

Cathy, I'm in the process of getting my systems in place, and trying to decide between waiting for my broker to purchase ACT, and just going ahead with Top Producer 7i. I'm leaning toward getting Top Producer and wanted to get more feedback from you.

There must be a really good reason why you keep going back to Top Producer...Your comments???

Thanks, Gina

NOV

2007

HI Cathy,

Another alternative is RealFutureCRM, a new Internet program that is available for free, with more features available in paid versions. The free Standard Edition is a good comparison to ACT!, Goldmine and Outlook, but is real estate specific in design. It is lighter than Top Producer -- intentionally -- but has all of the basic required features and is very responsive. More info is at http://www.realfuturecrm.com

There is also a discussion on Active Rain at http://activerain.com/blogsview/257279/FREE-contact-management-system

A confession: I am associated with the company that developed and sells RealFutureCRM, so it is possible that I may not be entirely unbiased...

NOV

2007

I keep coming back to Top Produce because it seems to have everything an agent needs to keep good records and develop a referral based business. I don't throughly use it, though. I came across an agent who uses it well, and her communications are awesome. One thing it has that I can't effectively do anywhere else it print labels. I know, I should be able to do that through Word, but I just don't get it.

I'm going to look into the one Richard Kalman suggested, RealFutureCRM. I would still have the problem about printing labels, though.

Thanks Cathy, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and try Top Producer. Glad to hear printing labels will no longer be a problem---that was a stickler for me too.

Thanks, Gina

NOV

2007

Gina -I am just parked for a discussion. I am not on top of my game with contact management - need to get better. I want something very simple. Outlook could be it. This is a good discussion.

Faina- I am getting mixed reviews---so far Top Producer is in the lead...

I signed up for Top Producer 7i yesterday and decided to consistently make the most of all it has to offer for 30 days (if that is possible (:>). After that time I'll review the package. My goal is to get on 'top of my game with contact management.' Getting my systems in place for me is critical at this stage. My follow-up has been terrible.

Outlook is something I've used for years, but just now I'm learning just how useful it really can be. If I'm not happy with Top Producer, Outlook just may be the way to go.

Thanks for your comment. Make it a great day! Gina

NOV

2007

You can actually create your own if you are creative enough using something as simple as Excel and it won't cost you a dime (as long as you have the program on your computer already)!

NOV

2007

Another product worth checking out is RealtyJuggler Real Estate Software from a company called RealOrganized, Inc. I has similar features to Top Producer (although fewer of them) at about 1/3 the price.

JUL

2008

Plan Plus online has a version for Realtors than I am now trying. It is subscription based but only $ 24.99 per month. It may not have as many bells and whistles as TP , but the goal setting and planning aspect is very good.

AUG

2008

I have a Question for anyone that has a TEAM...

I have been using Top Producer 7i - since they came our with 8i I really dont like the way it works.

Here is my problem. Having a Team, Myself, Listing Agent, Buyers Agent - I dont want to let the buyers agents have access to my contacts in case they leave. What I have had to do is buy each person their own TP acct which is costly but not effective if I am trying to send out E-Newsletters to everyone in all databases.

Problem #2 - TP will only allow you to send out 1000 emails a day. With emails to realtors promoting my listings, buyers email campaigns, sellers email campaigns, fsbo email campaigns etc - I hit way over 1000 per day.

IF you have a TEAM - what program are you using and tell me why you like it ?

AUG

2008

Robert,

Try taking a look at RealFutureCRM. A quick disclaimer--I do work for them.

That being said; we do have a team function and the team function prevents other users from seeing what is not assigned to them. This creates a true team based security system that allows the account owner to see evrything but not the agents. Also, your admin has the ability to update records on the behalf of agents and there is NO limit to the amount of emails we allow you to send.

AUG

2008

Many years ago when I was the IT manager of a large company, I was forced to use Outlook, and of course then forced others to us it.. and it was during those years I learned to really really dislike it. So every time someone asks my what contact manager to use ... and they suggest the O word, I make it ultra clear to stay away ... especially Outlook Express the evil younger brother.

The only good thing about Outlook ... hmmm... you can easily export your contacts elsewhere. Just to show you that I'm not the only one who feels this way... Here's Wanderingstan's 67 reasons Outlook sucks

NOV

2008

I'm still looking......just tried the RealFutureCRM and am awaiting some answers toa couple of questions. Nay other good RM out there? I'm looking for web based or web 2.0 versions. Thanks!

Ford - I emailed you a response to your questions as well as posted the answer in the blog in which they were asked. I would like to let you, as well as everyone else know that we encourage our customers to not hesitate calling us when they encounter a question or an issue. We understand the importance of a CRM to your business and don't take that lightly and as a result we are glad to assist our customers.

To see the answers, Go HERE.

Thank you!

DEC

Cathy, It appears that I have arrived to your post more than a year since you created it and it still has relevance. Top Producer 8i had so much promise, but the reality was I hated it more than the 7i version which I grew quite adept at. To Top Producer's credit, they have great support and have a very, very powerful product. But I grew up with better DOS based data bases in the early 80's as far as ease of use.

The fact that every blog on this topic I jump to has a couple of comments saying that they keep leaving TP and coming back shows that we are all wanting more than we are getting from it. Coming back and toughing it out isn't why we purchase tools meant to make our jobs easier.

It now seems that TP is more interested in selling training than making their product instinctive or user friendly.

There must be somebody out there that can put a friendly face on a data base/contact management program for agents. If and when I find it, and I will find it, I will let everybody know.

Mike Nastri

JAN

Hi Cathy-

I think everyone struggles with finding a CMS system. I have used TP for 3+ years and have found how to use what I like and ignore the stuff I do not. I have spent the last 6+ months writing an ebook on how to integrate great systems with TP if you are still a user. You can check out my site for more information and how to use TP successfully

www.AgentBreakthrough.com

Thanks

Travis Olson

Travis, Wow! I looked at your book ad. You did an excellent job. To write an ebook seems like a wonderful way to make some extra money, too.

MAR

FYI - My Real Estate Contact Management and CRM Comparison Matrix is finished! This Matrix allows you to easily compare almost 30 Real Estate Contact Management and CRM software products across 350 features, while learning about all the possible features with a 15,000+ word glossary.

JUL

Great discussion! I have been a TP user for several years and still do not use it like I should. This tells me that there are things that do not capture my attention enough to utilize it the way I should be. Gary, I will check out your matrix as well. Thanks for the post!

SEP

I am just quitting off ACT for REal Estate after 3 years, it is like Agent 2000, and Top Producer, the main system was developed prior to email and email is backended into the system and not automated for campaigns on a truly automated basis for large volume work. They (ACT)does not fix bugs until they upgrade at several hundred dollars a copy and you have to buy one copy for everyone on your team. I think Top Producer is the worse system out there, I was with them for 7 years. The new "Business Contact Manager" program which Microsoft developed with Outlook 2007 Small Buisness Edition is truly an automated solution. I am just firing it up, with the new interface, I no longer need Respond since Respond was for campaigns and campaigns is built into the system. The thing about Respond was it was a single agent product, not built for groups. I cannot run my business alone and with virtual assistants, I needed the ability for them to acces my database for sending birthday cards and home anniversary cards, etc. Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager will automate the email part of that and save me time and postage. I am just bringing it up this week, will let you know how it goes.

Mary, Let me know how it goes. I tried it, but for some reason, it didn't work right for me. Something about the SQL Server???

SEP

It's such a tedious task to transfer leads/contacts manually into your Contact Manager. What do you do when you have a huge list of contacts/leads and you want to transfer them into your Contact Manager (Outlook, Excel, ACT!, REA, SalesForce.com, Top Producer, etc)? The only way to transfer the contacts/leads are by manually "Copy-Pasting" them in the contact manager.

You must be thinking, why hasn't anyone introduced a tool to automatically capture and transfer the leads/contacts in the contact manager?

GOOD NEWS!!! There is a tool available in the market and it does much more than just transfer contacts into your contact manager. It can even pull contact lists from any Internet source - name, email, address, fax, phone, website, etc.

ListGrabber is the most popular tool used by Top Real Estate Agents to increase their productivity and sales. Having a tool like ListGrabber can make the work life of an Real Estate professional easy.

ListGrabber is used by agents of RE/MAX, Century21, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams and many others.

Check out this Blog:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1169865/listgrabber-lead-capture-tool-for-real-estate-professionals

Download the free trial from the Blog Post or Click here for the trial download

I am sure you will love this product.

Regards,

Joel Fernandes

NOV

Hi Cathy,

Those of you still searching for a contact management system that's easy to use might want to check out IXACT Contact - www.ixactcontact.com.

IXACT Contact is an easy-to-use Web-based contact management system that helps you build lasting relationships with past clients, hot prospects and important referral sources. IXACT Contact makes it easy to maintain full contact profiles and provides automatic prompts when it's time to get in touch. With IXACT Contact, you can convert more leads into listings and attract more referrals and repeat business.

IXACT Contact comes with a 5-week FREE Trial. If you do decide to check it out, please let me know what you think. What do you like about the system, and how do you think it could be improved?

Best Regards,

Rich

Disclaimer - I work for IXACT Contact.

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