TOP PRODUCER 8i Coaching and Training

TOP PRODUCER Hints and Suggestions

As REALTORS, we use computers. From time-to-time, there are hints and suggestions which make our lives with computers easier. The following are a series of items which you might find useful. While many may not be applicable to your situation, others may be useful. Browse through the suggestions and make your own decisions.

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Hints for TOP PRODUCER 8i

Printing Large Format Documents

Since I don't have a large format printer, I generally ignore using anything other than 8.5" by 11" documents. But, there are times when you want larger formatted pieces. Possibly an eye-catching flyer on the front of your office depicting that new listing. While there are various large formats used by printers, the more common sizes are known as either Tabloid / Ledger / ANSI B (11" by 17"), ANSI C (17" by 22"), ANSI D (22" by 34"), and ANSI E (34" by 44").

Fortunately, you can design these larger formats within TOP PRODUCER 8i merely by changing the page size prior to editing either within the Letter Library or the Flyer Library.

Choose the page size tool from your editor, select the Custom Size button, and define your width & height in inches to match the ANSI specifications.

Since we can save our documents as .pdf formatted files, we have an easy way to ship them off to a third party printer. Most quick copy shops (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max, Kinko's, etc.) as well as commercial printers, should be able to handle your job.

If you are unfamiliar with changing the page size, the following two screens may be helpful.

New Contact Record Changes

We've been waiting for this to arrive. The new Associates Icon permits you to immediately have access to Associates and Family information by clicking an icon on the client's Contact Record header. Very similar to the capabilities of TOP PRODUCER 7i.

Resizing your photos within TOP PRODUCER

Often, the photos which we have taken are not the appropriate size for your needs. But, if you have not figured out how to resize them, they do you no good. Hopefully, the following graphic will help in learning how to quickly resize your graphics.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8

and TOP PRODUCER 7i

You already know that TOP PRODUCER 7i requires Microsoft's Java to run. If you are using TOP PRODUCER 8i, you'll be using SUN Microsystems' Java. Now that Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8.0, you might be considering upgrading your browser. If you do, you will run into a slight problem. Smooth out this difficulty by following these instructions:

Open Internet Explorer 8

Click on tools

Click on internet options

Click on advanced tab

Scroll to Security Section. Should be a check on box entitled "Enable Memory Protection" in the Security Section. Uncheck that selection.

Click on apply

Click on ok

Close out of IE 8 and restart your computer

and TOP PRODUCER 8i

There is a workaround that will enable the menus in Top Producer 8i to work with Internet Explorer 8. When you have Internet Explorer 8 open,

click Tools (or press Alt-T),

choose Compatibility View Settings,

add "topproducer8i.com" to the list. Note that you’re only entering in topproducer8i.com, nothing before or after.

Setting up your OUT OF OFFICE auto reply to e-mails

Yes, we may all have differing opinions as to what might be an appropriate OUT OF OFFICE auto response message. But, don't you want to potential clients to think that you want to get back with them quickly. Don't imply anything to the contrary, unless you really desire that they also seek help elsewhere.

Last month, Susan Crawford of Keller Williams used this thoughtful message in her TOP PRODUCER 8i auto reply (Preferences / Email / Out of Office). Possibly it will give you some ideas.

" Happy February!!! Thank you so much for your message! I am currently out of the office attending my company's "Family Reunion" (otherwise known as annual convention) in Florida. I am using this time to become an even better REALTOR to service your needs and to learn more about the state of our real estate economy. Please note that while I am usually very quick to respond to email, because of being in meetings and classes all day and into the evening hours over the next few days, I will respond to your message just as quickly as possible. Please bear with me during this time and I look forward to talking to you very soon!! "

Additionally, look at your message from time to time. If you have put in a topical OUT OF OFFICE message (referencing a holiday/time of year/ specific event), please insure that you modify it once it has aged. I'm constantly amazed at the number of agents who are still away from the office two to three months after the time-frame they mention in their vacation message. Correspondents might get the impression that we don't actually work from an untimely auto reply.

Dividing workload when you add team members

If you are attempting to divide up your client list by agent , there is no means of performing a mass update on the "assigned to" field as it does not show up as an option.

What you might consider doing is performing a search, selecting all your own clients by checking the box to the left of the name, then doing a mass update and assigning a new contact type to the group of "Your Own clients". Then, perform similar mass updates for "Second Agent's clients", etc. In the future, as you get new clients, you should certainly make use of the "assigned to" field as new leads come into the Lead Manager. This would take care of dividing up the database among the three agents.

Over time, you can certainly change the "assigned to" field, but it must be done on a record by record basis. You will find this option under the Lead tab of the Contact Record. While changing all the individual records is probably the best option, changing a Contact Type might be most expedient in the short term. Once the Contact Type of "Your Own clients" / "Second Agent's clients" / etc. are assigned, it is easy to select all those records, and using the Previous / Next option at the bottom of the page, scroll through all your records, opening the Lead tab, changing the "Assigned To" field, saving the Contact Record, and then moving to the Next record, repetitively performing the same process.

If you take the time to update all the "assigned to" fields, you might then go back and mass delete the contact types of "Your Own clients" / "Second Agent's clients" / etc. as they no longer serve a purpose.

Building your plans for multiple team members

When applying plans, if a task is to be performed by the "currently logged on agent" rather than a specifically named agent, then the logged on agent will be tasked with accomplishing those activities. Alternatively, if a task is to be performed by a specifically named agent ("XXX Name"), one of the multiple team members, it will always be assigned to XXX no matter who applies the plan. This is especially useful should you have administrative assistants who always perform certain types of functions. You could have the three agents assigning plans which mix the "currently logged on agent" (things which they would perform) and "specifically named assistants" (things only done by an assistant). This gets the tasks in the proper person's ToDo List.

Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, home purchase anniversaries, and your database

The latest update to TOP PRODUCER 8i permits birthdays to be shown within your Activities. Of course, they may either be To-Do's, or Calls, depending upon how they were input. Since you can filter your Activities search, and the Mass Open only those items of immediate concern, you can easily use your NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons to move among the records. If you have scheduled these as calls, you may make them - mark them done - and press NEXT to continue.

But, do you have each of these three type dates within your database? If not, they should be included somewhere within your Contact Record.

Birthdays may be found in numerous ways. You can ask, or you can seek an answer. When dealing with new clients, some agents make a photocopy of the driver's license before taking the client to see the first home (protection for the agent when the copy is left in the office). Others collect the information as part of a 'registration process' where the potential client completes forms which help to narrow down the home search criteria. Each could provide birth dates. Another means is to look up the information on the Internet (which may or may not work). I have used www.BirthDatabase.com with rather good results. In my case, one would have to use my former residence location to find the birth date (unless you already had my middle initial).

You can 'trick' TOP PRODUCER 8i into handling Wedding Anniversaries by treating them as a birthday whose name is "0-Wedding Anniversary". Just like birthdays, you can have the system remind you as the day approaches.

Now, if you have not yet been using www.BirthdayAlarm.com to send Internet based flash cards to clients, this might be the time to 'get on board'. For $13.95 per year, you may send an unlimited number of electronic cards to your clients. Birthday, Anniversary, holiday, etc. are available in over 500 styles. While I might have TOP PRODUCER 8i do all the reminding, I would seriously consider supplementing my personal calls with cards from www.BirthdayAlarm.com . You can write and schedule delivery in advance. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Of course, you might also consider electronic cards from Hallmark ( www.hallmark.com/ecards ). They offer both free and fee cards. Unfortunately, you don't get to schedule them in advance.

Like Wedding Anniversaries, I enter the "0-Home Anniversary" as a birthday name within my system. While I could certainly include this date as part of a follow-up plan, entering it as a birthday keeps it repeating in the system forever, unlike a plan which will eventually have an end date. Of course, I can have the plan send an e-mail automatically, or prompt me to print a letter/postcard, but entering Birthdays, Wedding Anniversaries, and Home Anniversaries as birthdays gives me visibility over all this data in one spot. Note earlier that I mention typing "0-Home Anniversary" and "0-Wedding Anniversary" into the name field. This causes any sort order list to reflect the Home Anniversary, followed by the Wedding Anniversary, followed by the family member names in alphabetical order.

"Today's Business" for Teams

When TOP PRODUCER is used by a team, visibility of tasks is important. The Team Leader wants to know that everyone is executing according to the plan. There are two ways this can be accomplished, one which can cause difficulties for the entire team and another which is both efficient and effective.

I do not recommend that plans be written which assign all tasks to either the Team Leader, or by default to the "currently logged on user". This eliminates visibility of who is actually responsible for the tasks in question. While it would be simple for the Team Leader to log into TOP PRODUCER and see everything which needs to be done that day, all the tasks would actually be assigned to that one person. Why have other team members if they have no responsibility?

The preferred manner is to write plans, assigning tasks to the appropriate team member. Then, when the team members login to TOP PRODUCER, they see their own specific tasks. If they desire to see what someone else is planning on doing, they merely change the "assigned to" window from their name to that of another team member, click "Start search", and then look at all the tasks for that one person. For the Team Leader, the best way to see what is to be accomplished by the team that day is to change the "assigned to" to ALL, click "Start search", and then look at tasks of the combined team which are scheduled.

This same tool permits you to look forward merely by choosing a "Date range" prior to clicking "Start search".

Multiple Email Signatures:

Personally, a most useful 'out-of-the-box' update is the ability to use multiple e-mail signatures. Having a 'personal signature' for e-mails with family, one 'professional signature' for every day business use, and multiple signatures for developments are now readily feasible. This permits you to change the hyperlinks found within a particular signature to better suit the needs of your audience.
HTML Email Stationery:

With two e-mail stationery templates and a newsletter template within TOP PRODUCER 8i, you may no longer require a work-around to get good looking HTML code within your outgoing e-mails. These templates permit you to both brand your message, and place up to six hyperlinks within the stationery, plus others within the message body. Of course, you may modify certain features of the templates to further customize your materials.

Dividing workload when you add team members

If you are attempting to divide up your client list by agent , there is no means of performing a mass update on the "assigned to" field as it does not show up as an option.

Building your plans for multiple team members

Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, home purchase anniversaries, and your database

But, do you have each of these three type dates within your database? If not, they should be included somewhere within your Contact Record.

Of course, you might also consider electronic cards from Hallmark ( www.hallmark.com/ecards ). They offer both free and fee cards. Unfortunately, you don't get to schedule them in advance.

TP 8i - Save Draft & Close

TOP PRODUCER 8i's e-mail manager permits you to create DRAFT e-mails which will be sent at some future time. Two options exist to make this more helpful. The first is Save Draft which permits you to record and intermediate save of your draft e-mail. This is helpful when you want to insure that your thoughts thus far are not lost should there be an interruption in your Internet connection. The Save Draft records what you have done thus far, and permits you to continue to make additions to your draft message. The second is Save Draft and Close, which takes you out of the e-mail message but stores it under the Draft folder within the e-mail manager.

TP 8i - Editing within a Mass E-mail series

When sending e-mails to multiple recipients, you may either draft an e-mail from scratch, or call up a template from within one of the template categories. It is further possible to edit one or more of the series without changing the e-mail seen by all the other recipients. Generally, this is done by clicking the "View Emails" button and moving between the message to each recipient (similar to a Rolodex file). Should you make a change on any one e-mail, you will be asked to SAVE that e-mail before you are permitted to move either forward or backward off the message.

TP 8i - Duplicate Contact Record Merges

When you start a new contact record, with duplicate checking turned on in Preferences, you should now be faced with a new option box when a duplicate contact record is detected. You may either create a new contact record, keeps the old record 'as is', or merges the old and new data into one contact record.

TP 8i - Creating Listings/Closings from your Contact Record

While it is certainly possible to create either a Listing or a Closing from the Listings menu option (Add Listing and Add Closing), you may also create either from the Property tab of your client's Contact Record.

TP 8i - Summaries from the Home page

While you may be more familiar with clicking either Calendar, Activities Summary / Listings, Listings Summary, or Listings, Closings Summary to a full page of details, you may also click the new Go To options from the Home landing page of TOP PRODUCER 8i. One less click of your mouse. This works for your current Activities, Listings, and Closings.

Customer Web Pages

Clients often complain that they don't get appropriate feedback from their REALTOR. It is an age old problem. But, with TOP PRODUCER's Customer Web Pages, it is now self-imposed. If you have not paid attention to Customer Web Pages over the past few years, now is the time to familiarize yourself with the concept. As you process your Listing Plan and Closing Plan, TOP PRODUCER records the completion of your tasks. Should you choose to write a description of the completed task, this goes to the Service Report tab of either your Listing or Closing record. While it possible to provide a written Client Service Report, doing so is labor intensive. Customer Web Pages are the solution.

Once you have created a client's Listing within TOP PRODUCER, I suggest you also create a Customer Web Page. The following tasks should be part of your applied Listing Plan. It should inform you to perform a TODO: "Create a Customer Web Page" and to SEND AN E-MAIL: "Inform Client of Customer Web Page Availability". The latter should be dependent upon the completion of the former. This insures that the page is created prior to your telling the client that it is available (see below paragraphs as to what must be in this e-mail). If your Listing Plan also includes a number of other tasks between these two, you might want to make each task dependent upon completion of the preceding task. This guarantees that your E-MAIL: "Inform Client of Customer Web Page Availability" cannot be sent until you have something to show on the page when the client first views it. If your task SEND AN E-MAIL: "Inform Client of Customer Web Page Availability" is dependent upon the completion of a previous task, and that task is dependent upon the completion of your TODO: "Create a Customer Web Page", you can check the box to send this e-mail automatically. You will have built a chain of TODO's which will automatically release the e-mail for delivery to your client.

Additionally, you can build a library of standard comments which may easily be inserted within the task description when you complete the task. Generally, you will tell each client the same thing when a task is completed. Why not formalize the comment and use it over and over? This makes providing feedback much easier within the Service Report tab.

From the client's Listing screen, choose the menu option View Contact. This will take you back to your client's Contact Record. At the bottom of the page will be a tab for Customer Web Page. The machine defaults to putting in the first three initials of the client's first and last name as the Username. It also generates a Password. I suggest that you change both. First, use the client's entire First and Last Name without spacing (example: DwightKitchens). This later permits you to use the merge codes for <firstname> and <lastname> when you e-mail them instructions for using their Customer Web Page. Additionally, highlight the password and consistently type in either your own name or the name of your team. We are attempting to brand your name and the more often you use it the better. Click Generate Web Page and the page will be made. All Customer Web Pages have the same URL, as it is based on your subscription. Therefore, you may provide this same URL to all clients. This is wonderful when we talk about drafting the E-MAIL: "Inform Client of Customer Web Page Availability".

Go back to your e-mail library, choose a category, and start a new e-mail. In this e-mail, we want to tell the client you will make a customized web-site just for them. Your exemplary service includes keeping them informed of the processing of their transaction. The e-mail itself will include;

a. the URL they must click to see their page (remember, it is the same for all clients, so just type it into your e-mail template)

b. the Username: merge code for 'firstname' followed by merge code for 'lastname' (with no spaces between the two)

c. the Password: type in either your own name or the team name

The above three items are all that they require to access their own, personalized Customer Web Page.

Save the e-mail under the title "Inform Client of Customer Web Page Availability" and link it into your Listing Plan as you develop the task SEND AN E-MAIL: "Inform Client of Customer Web Page Availability".

You now have a Listing Plan which requires you to make the Customer Web Page, perform some tasks, and will automatically release notification to the client of their Web Page availability.

Are you constantly retyping those letters?

I still don't get the fascination with Microsoft's Word for communications with clients. These letters don't link with TOP PRODUCER's Contact Record and you have to hunt for them when needed for reference.

Would it not be easier to open TOP PRODUCER, create -name - open a letter folder, create a blank letter, start Microsoft's Word, find a letter you use frequently, copy it to the clipboard, ALT-TAB back to TOP PRODUCER's blank letter, and PASTE the clipboard's data into your new TOP PRODUCER letter? The only changes you need to make are to replace certain data with merge-codes so that future letters might pull the appropriate information from within your Contact Record.

Examples of merge-codes you might want to insert within your letter:

Contact-FirstName

Contact-LastName

Property-Number

Property-Street

Property-P.O. Box

Property-Suite

Property-Building/Floor

Property-City

Property-State

Property-Zip

After inserting the merge codes, SAVE the letter, using the same name you previously used within Microsoft's Word. This makes it easier for you to find the letter in the future.

Now, when you need to use this letter, associate your client with this letter template, make any modifications, and print it out.

Clearing out duplicate contact records

From time-to-time, it is useful to check for duplicate contact records within your database. Having single entries will insure that you are not providing duplicate services to the same client. The easiest way is to click Search, Search for Contact, Display All (bottom of page), then hold down the CTRL key while highlighting the first two duplicates/three triplicates/etc. Now, click View/Edit at the top left hand side of the menu. This opens the duplicate records in a rolodex type file, one record hidden behind the other. Click the NEXT button (bottom right-hand corner) to rotate among your similar records. Cut and paste information to get one good record, then delete the less good record(s). Work down your list of contacts, choosing the duplicate pairs, creating one really good record Shortly all of your records should be in good shape.

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