Are you using or considering Outlook 2007?

Robert...you are correct - Top Producer does have an email drip campaign.  You can accomplish a drip campaign with Outlook as well - if you are doing a small campaign it's fairly simple to use quick parts to insert your email text and then schedule the date for it to go out.  There are also companies that provide add-ins for less than $40.  Let me know if you are interested in obtaining that info.

Eau...wow!  My first question is if you have a laptop why on earth do you have two other computers.  I've used only a laptop for 8 years and have never missed a desktop pc.  You are creating unnecssary extra work and expense for yourself - no wonder you want to figure out a way to sync all this.

The two simplest methods for you to accomplish what you want...and all you are syncing is what you mentioned

1. a simple PDA or smart phone may do the trick for you.
2. You could also Export your email-calendar info put it on a jump drive and then plug it into a USB port on each computer and import the files

Another option is you can use a service like GoToMyPC and transfer files.

I appreciate everyone's comments thus far.  There are many database options for agents..here's a partial list:

• Act
• Active Agent for Outlook
• Agent 360
• Agent Office
• Eurekaware
• Respond
• Top Producer
• The Wise Agent

Oh, I'm sure there are more.  Take some time and figure out what you need your database to do for you and what you are willing to pay for it...in time, upkeep and monthly fees, once you figure that out then you can make a decision.  Please, don't base your decision on what some trainer is telling you...but base it on your needs, your requirements and your research.  It's not a database program that will make you successful...as some might want you to believe.

Anthony...you must be using Outlook 2003 if you haven't upgraded to 2007 yet (there wasn't a 2006 version).  2003 is a good version...in fact the only reason I switched was because of the number of requests I was receiving for training on 2007 outnumbered the requests for 2003 training.

Good luck with whatever version you decide to use.

SCOTT
...frankly I haven't found a great solution.  Of course there are some simple things you can do...but there may be some limitations.  For example, if you are syncing between two machines a PDA will work fine - although you may need to buy an add-in to update "subfolders" (i.e. under Contacts maybe you have another folder for "Business Sphere" and another for your "Farm").  Personally I would just have those as Categories and not seperate contact folders.

Another option is to export your data on a regular basis and then Import it onto the other machine.  This is a bit cumbersome but works and can be done rather quickly depending on whether or not you are also exporting your calendar, task, and email along with your contacts.

ROBERT
...Add-ins -I haven't found a good "drip campaign" add in for Outlook.  Email me and tell me a bit more about the campaign - how many emails, how many people, over what duration, etc. and it may be that Outlook will work just fine for you.

Happy Sales

PS Technology should help your business, not hinder it.

Eileen...
I'm going to break your question up into a couple and address each one.

1. An easy way to save a client folder of emails.  I have an email folder called "Clients" in that I have other folders listed by client names.  Some of the emails that I feel are important I drag from my Inbox into their folder.

2. Back the folder up elsewhere - I'm assuming you mean off the computer so it's protected.  You can Export any folder in Outlook - including a particular clients email folder.  It can be saved it in a variety of formats depending on how you want the email content formatted to go with the closed escrow file.

3. Include it (?) with a closed escrow file - not sure what you mean here.  Printed or as a Outlook folder?

Hope that helps.  If you need more direction shoot me an email or give me a call.

Theresa...if you love the new 2007 office suite...and you've found the mail merge easier...What are you looking for Respond or RealeSeller to do for you?  Let me know and perhaps I can provide you with some information that will help you make a decision.

John...sounds like you are gearing up for some serious business...awesome!

1000 outbound emails a day isnt' bad...many limit you to 250 a day and when you exceed that they freeze your account (yes I had this happen once about 2 years ago with Comcast).  Once I discovered my emails not going out I had to contact comcast and explain to them what occurred and that everyone I was emailing had subscribed to receive my emails.  Since then I've used Constant Contact to do large mailings.

Aloha,

Jeff