Posted by Carey_PA on July 23, 2002 at 13:58:48:
and can’t stand entering info. into contact management software.
Printing out your posting now 
thanks,
CAREY
NEED ADVICE ON A “FOLLOW UP” SYSTEM!! - Posted by heather
Posted by heather on July 22, 2002 at 21:21:07:
Hi all!
Can anyone give me advice on a good follow up/call back system to help my business along?
Whether it be a manual system or software I just need a point in a good direction. . . heck, any direction. I know that some motivated sellers need to be contacted 2-3-4-7 times before they sign on to a creative deal, but I know I’m losin’ some good ones.
They go to the bottom of my pile, I get caught up in my daily life and new calls come in and I forget about them. I know that there is software for realtors, does anyone care to share how they run their business in this regard?
Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Heather
Re: NEED ADVICE - Posted by eric-fl
Posted by eric-fl on July 23, 2002 at 12:22:26:
If you are letting legitamite candidates for follow-up go cold, you are letting money walk out the door, it’s just that simple.
I’d recommend getting Act! contact software. It’s intuitive enough to sit down and start using without instruction. Yes, it can be made to be a huge, complicated thing, and is very powerful, but it can also be used as a simple contact management and followup system. If you have modem in your computer, you can even set it up to automatically dial calls and pop-up a call information box to record call notes, or can pop-up automatically for an incoming call.
Using the “Activity Series” feature, you can customize your own followup schedule for one or a group of contacts - i.e., send a letter in 1 week, send a post card in 2 weeks, make a followup call in a month, or two letters, or three calls, or whatever you want, you get the idea.
It also has an automated database maintenance and backup utility built right in, so if you put the database in the same directory as your other files, and backup that data regularly to external media (as you should anyway), then you automatically keep all of your data safe.
No, I don’t work for Act! or anything, but I work in computers full-time, so I’m familiar with it.
Re: NEED ADVICE - Posted by Tim
Posted by Tim on July 23, 2002 at 11:28:08:
Build a program yourself in Access. Very simple with the wizards.
Here’s a suggestion… - Posted by ScottE
Posted by ScottE on July 23, 2002 at 02:28:00:
Heather,
I use a few things, but they are all pretty much manual. The contact software programs are fine, but it takes time to enter (and access) the data and there is certainly a learning curve…also time consuming.
Anyway, I use telephone logs and then use a property information sheet for ‘real’-sounding deals. I keep the call log readily available and put each property info sheet in a file and use a labelmaker to give the file a label with the last name and address.
I put each file into one of four folders:
- ‘Dead’ file- not a deal for whatever reason (i.e. 40% over FMV, 6 months behind, 14% interest…uh huh, be RIGHT over)
2)‘Current’ file- live deals in progress.
3)‘Done’ file- completed deals (i.e. subject to deals that have completed L/O on the back end)
- ‘Re-hash’ file- deals that aren’t deals…YET…but the people are open minded and may need more information, etc.
This sounds like a big undertaking and semi-complicated, but it’s not at all. It’s quick and I can turn around in my chair and have my whole REI file at my fingertips.
To save my information, I scan all ‘real’ deals using PaperPort software and save them on a ZIP disk or burn them to a CD. I store the disks/CDs in a small safe in case of fire, theft or computer crash.
Perhaps not the best system, but it’s cheap to set up and it works well for me.
Hope that helps!
Scott