Jack Miller Consulting

I have had several people contact me about problems synchronizing their Top Producer for Blackberry on Cingular wireless.  This problem can be resolved, and to get it resolved you need to contact Cingular and tell them to allow for full TCP access to allow your blackberry to contact Top Producer for synchronization.  Several folks have had problems getting Cingular to do this- keep going up the food chain on their support desk because this problem can be resolved with a simple change on their end.

blackberry, mobile, phone, problem, top producer

I’ve been using Top Producer for the Blackberry for about 6 weeks now, and I will be posting some notes about usage and pros/cons for this device specific version of Top Producer.  Overall, the application is a plus.

Here is the release notes from TP about this:

Now you can take 7i with you on your BlackBerry® handset and take advantage of sales opportunities everywhere you go. Easy-to-use and loaded with real estate specific features, new Top Producer for Blackberry lets you stay connected, maximize your productivity, and give your clients and prospects what they want – when they want it.

With Top Producer for Blackberry you can:

blackberry, mobile, phones, top producer

A software company’s perfect customer base looks like:

1. people come in and out of the industry frequently – lots of newbies
2. are other sales people
3. Are likely to buy a product (or subscription) and not implement it – lowers support costs, hosting costs if a hosted web application
4. Can *always* do some more marketing

Two different types of technology and productivity tools in real estate

1. Lead generation – more leads
2. Transactional Efficiency – reduces your costs

Steps For Technology Adoption

1. Consider business goals – efficiency?  leads?  What business activities are you trying to impact and how? Write down your criteria.
2. What are other people doing?  (benchmark practices)
3. Comparison shop (benchmark products) (have to have vs. nice to have features)
4. Consider real costs – branding/customization, content development, product price, subscription costs, how much training do you or your staff really need, how much is support if you need it, can you get support locally, your time involvement?
5. Consider your ROI
6. Compare and select – create a spreadsheet, include pros, cons, costs, and have-to-have and nice-to-have features
7. adopt, train, track – hold dollars accountable for results

Essential marketing business practices for the real estate agent today (supported by technology)

1. Client IDX – Clients able to do their own searching, save favorite properties, have searches emailed to them  – lead generation/efficiency
2. Mass communication with past clients – email, direct mail, both – 12 direct/33 touch
3. Prospecting and Follow up plans for different audiences – 8×8
4. Automated Lead capture – web, IVR, stealth site, email, etc

presentation, purchasing, technology

Treo:

“I’ve been using the Palm Treo 650 for about 4 months now, and find it to be great. The only challenge is that TP 7i for Palm does *NOT* have email capabilities, but I’ve worked around that by using “Versamail” to download my email with “Leave on Server” option. This let’s me get my email on the go while keeping it *Linked* to my contacts.

I also love the fact that the TREO acts as my Supra Key, Telephone, Expense manager and can have the MLS listings on it, not to mention web capabilities.

In my mind, there is no better choice if you are using TP 7i.”

“Have been using the treo 600 for over a year and love it.”

PalmM505/515:

“I have had many agents bestow the virtues of their PalmM505 or 515 models.   These being a couple years older, you can still pick up great deals of brand new units on ebay for a fraction of what the models normally retailed for.”

Tungsten C.:

“For those that want a keyboard and wifi I suggest  the tungsten c.”

Kyocera 7135:

“I purchased the Kyocera 7135 about 2 years ago and it works fine.  Had some difficulty with crashing at first and then had my supplier install a new OS on it and everthing has been okay since then. I have logged onto the Toronto Real Estate Board with it and there are some issues with respect to pictures.  When I am paged by my office, as long as the client return phone number is included in the text of the message it will dial that number for me. Also, TP7i will allow me to dial automatically when a contact record is opened.

Here’s Kyocera’s page for the phone: http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/7135-smartphone/”

Palm Z22:

“I just bought a Palm Z22. So far I really like it. I have been using it alot and really trying to make it work for me.  I synch it with TP and it works great. Its also very small, light and has a nice color screen.  It is simple, not alot of bells and whistles but does what I need it to do.”

mobile, phones, top producer