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Mumbling Out Loud

CMS? Do you have one?

By: Ron Tarvin
Tuesday, March 06, 2007 5:01 PM

Do you have a CMS?  Contact Management System or DATABASE as you might more commonly call it.  There are tons of them out there and some are more complete than others.

Point2Agent gives a decent way to stay in touch with online clients that hit our site, but is it really enough?

My thought is that while it is nice, it's not nearly powerful enough to manage the data base required to be a producer of say $1 Million GCI/year.  Probably not even half that.

SO, after viewing some online training videos from Keller Williams University today, I've decided to give my CMS a little more time and effort.  There isn't one large producing team in our office that does not use a CMS and ultimately that should tell me something. 

The CMS that I am most familiar with is the web based version of Top Producer. 

The advantages?  It does SO much!  From organizing your mailouts, to downloading postcards to Kinko's, to scheduling your daily activities, to providing CMAs complete with pictures and data pulled from our MLS, it does just about EVERYTHING.

The Disadvantages?  It does TOO MUCH!  It has a very steep learning curve and even those agents that have their business revolve around their Top Producer, do not usually make use of EVERYTHING it can do.

 

So what other CMS do you use, what are the advantages and disadvantages?  Is it online or resident on your computer?  Can it interface with your cellphone/PDA or is it strictly CPU based? It is a one time cost or is it a monthly subscription fee?

Feel free to jump in and have a say on any of them as I'm sure there are a lot of agents thinking about jumping into the fray and getting their own CMS!

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Comments

Kevin Orak
Member Since '06

Kevin Orak said:

I am also in the market for a CMS - I have a database of about 300 people - growing by the day - 59 listings, 3 contracts on the books - I do have an assistant. Have used TP and Agent Outlook - did not like either. Believe it or not I am using outlook and excel - will definitely need to find something . . . Will check back to see what others have used & liked!

March 6, 2007 5:21 PM
Dale Place
Member Since '06

Dale Place said:

Have you tried Agent Office?  I have sued it and find it farily friendly and robust...?

March 6, 2007 5:24 PM
Lonn Dugan
Member Since '05

Lonn Dugan said:

I use Top Producer (TP).  

TP does AN AWFUL LOT - like calendar and task management for individual agents or teams, and programmed mailings to target groups like FSBOs or expireds, COI or SOI mailings. You don't have to remember who gets what mailing.  You just PRINT TODAY'S LETTERS..... or TODAY'S POSTCARDS....  If you want A FSBO to get a letter every 5 days, after you put them in the system, then you make an ACTION PLAN for that and it happens.  

It is also invaluable in coordinating Seller Services and Closing Services.  When I put in a new listing, my 100 point marketing program is scheduled, day by day for the life of the listing.  When I create a closing, each step is scheduled in advance...  The steps come up in TODAY'S TODO's as needed....

If ever a seller challenges me to show them what I have done, I get a VERY NICE marketing report with action steps, dates performed, showing dates, and the works.....  It is very impressive.  Have never had this fail to satisfy a seller client who wanted to know what the heck I was doing for them....  VERY VALUABLE...      

HOWEVER, TP is weak in some areas...

For one thing, I wish I could schedule a showing while away from the compture, using my treo and have it go to the listing service report when I sync.  Syncs will update client contact changes and such just fine, but....  not showing info...  Showings should sync to marketing service reports, but instead they sync to the client contact record.  I have to cut and paste to put the showing where it goes.  Sheesh.  

TP also insists on creating a new record for each agent I list as a showing agent for my listings, unless I first look them up in the contact database, which step is more complicated than it needs to be.  IT should just look up the agent, as I type their last name, and autofill once it gets enough info, just like my treo cell phone....  it should NOT duplicate them if I just type the name in on the fly.  

For another, it misses a few beats on adding listings... It does not automatically add new listings to an ACTIVE LISTINGS group than can be mailed or emailed.  You have to manually create such a group and then manually remove a listing from the group when you sell or expire it.  I would like to pre-program it to automatically re-assign contacts to groups when a listing ends, like n ACTIVE LISTING becomes a LISTING-SOLD but no... this has to all be done manually.

Don't get me wrong.  TP is VERY, VERY POWERFUL.  But it does miss a few beats - especially in automated listing management and client group management.

Anybody have a CMS they are completely IN LOVE with?  

March 6, 2007 5:29 PM
Becky Troutt
Member Since '05

Becky Troutt said:

I have to agree that Top Producer is AWESOME!

We used to have it....till my broker decided to create her own :( and I HATE the one we have now!  

I love, love, love Top Producer!  I have used several, and Top Producer was the best!  

March 6, 2007 5:57 PM
Nyassa Bossette-Price
Member Since '06

Nyassa Bossette-Price said:

I am currently using Top Producer and Symplifi from Topaz Software. Top Producer helps me mange more detailed info on my listings, clients, heck everything, but it doesn't do a great job of tracking my numbers in a way that keeps me on top of my toes, so I decided to give Symplifi a try. Symplifi reports my numbers to me in an impactful way that keeps me inspired to keep producing. I think that, in the end I will use Symplfi over Top Producer because I am trying to build my business quickly and effectively. I was using TP because I was with Keller Williams and they use TP for all of their marketing materials, which is pretty impressive, but I found Sharper Agent, which provides lots more marketing material templates. So I am moving to use Symplifi and Sharper Agent.

Just my .02. :-)

March 6, 2007 6:31 PM
Sue Berger
Member Since '05

Sue Berger said:

I've just recently implemented Sharper Agent and find it to be very user friendly and there is a 30 day free trial which can be canceled before the end of the 30 days if your not satisfied with it.

March 6, 2007 8:02 PM

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