Tech Bits – Volume 1 – 3/2/2008

Greetings!

I am going to write a newsletter to bring the company up to speed on recent technology developments. While the main thrust will be to keep you informed of RE/MAX Executive’s web program, I will also seek to identify important  opportunities to promote you and your listings and learn about trends in real estate IT.

Look Both Ways When Crossing LeadStreet.

There is so much to cover regarding the migration that this entire article will be dedicated exclusively to LeadStreet.  I will break this down into three sections: training opportunities, account setup, and lead migration. Feel free to use the comments section at the bottom to ask any questions not answered here.  If I don’t have the answer, I have access to people who will.

Training Opportunities

All is not lost if you didn’t read Cindy’s KYI at the end of January or missed my blog article on the RE/MAX International training schedule. International is providing weekly online LeadStreet training every Tuesday and Thursday as detailed in the Carolina Affiliate’s (top left from remax.net) link on remax.net:

March Training with RE/MAX International:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/576683470
• Mar. 4 – 11a-1p – Introductory LeadStreet
• Mar. 6 – 3-5p – Introductory LeadStreet
• Mar. 11 – 11a-1p – Introductory LeadStreet
• Mar. 13 – 3-5p – Introductory LeadStreet
• Mar. 19 – 11a-1p – Introductory LeadStreet
• Mar. 20 – 3-5p – Introductory LeadStreet

You can also find tons of help documentation on LeadStreet itself. Just go to the menu item, “My LeadStreet” and select “Help Docs” from the drop down menu.

RE/MAX Executive Workshops

This will mark the last week of daily workshops as we go back to our regular Tuesday/Thursday schedule. All workshops are run from the Ballantyne conference room and agents must email technology@charlotteproperty.com in advance to attend. The workshops will not replace the training offered by International. If you do not get training from International on LeadStreet, the workshops will not be helpful.

LeadStreet Account Setup 101

This is my first attempt at a step-by-step guide of what you absolutely need to do to make sure you are getting leads from remax.com and charlotteproperty.com. To get into LeadStreet, go to remax.net and login. Then select LeadStreet from the link list in the top left of your screen.

The first screen we need to check is located by selecting the “My LeadStreet” menu item then clicking “My Agent Options”. My instructions are highlighted in red.

Lead Options

Make sure you have option #1 checked at all times….even if you are forwarding your leads to someone else. Only fill in option #2 if you wish to give your leads to another agent.

1. I am accepting leads at this time:
   
2. I am currently forwarding my leads to this Affiliate:
   

Lead Notification Options

Email lead acceptance email will not work unless your “reply-to” address matches the email address LeadStreet has on file. So, if you are using yourName@remax.net, that address forwards to something else…more than likely keeping you from accepting a lead.

Use your remax.net (or whatever you market) as the primary email address but use the secondary email for lead notifications and have it sent directly to your actual email address.

Make sure you enter the phone number and carrier into the text message notification box. While you can no longer accept leads via text message, word is that the text messages go out faster than the emails so you’ll get more warning and be in better position to grab more leads.

1. Primary Email: toddbrower@remax.net
   Secondary Email: todd.brower@yahoo.com 

   [Check] Use secondary email for lead notifications and primary for all other communications

2. Send text message notifications to the following number:
   

   yourPhoneNumber & cell phone carrier

 IDX

Enter only your CMLS or Piedmont MLS Numbers here. Do not enter the MLS code for anyone other than yourself.

If you have more than one IDX code, you may enter the values separated by a comma.      

Ignore the rest of the settings unless you have had training from International and you know what you are doing.

Click “Save & Continue” at the top right.

That’s it! If you setup this screen right, you are ready to receive leads.

Migrating Your Leads from RIMS to LeadStreet

When RIMS went down on Feb 15th, all of your existing RIMS leads lost access to yoru website. Both Executive and International backed-up and attempted to transfer your leads for you. For the most part, we were successful but some accounts still don’t have their contacts moved over. Luckily, we have a backup of everyone’s RIMS leads and we can help.

Were your leads moved over?

To check this, go to LeadStreet and find “Contacts” in the menu and select “Search Contacts”.  Without entering any search criteria, click the search button near the top right corner. This will show you all of your contact.

Will your old leads be able to login to the new system?

No! It is VERY IMPORTANT to realize that your existing RIMS clients that were moved into LeadStreet do not have a login and password assigned to them. This effectively blocks them from using LeadStreet. The next bit of this article will detail some recommended steps on how to reactivate your RIMS leads and notify them of the changes. It is the number one topic discussed at our workshops.

1. Obtain an excel spread of all your RIMS leads. If you don’t have one, send an email to technology@charlotteproperty.com asking for your RIMS lead. Please give your office location to help speed up the process.
2. Remove the columns for street address, created date, and notes. This helps shrink the document to one page width.
3. Sort the entire spreadsheet by “Last Activity Date” in decending order. This puts the leads that were most recently active at the top of your spreadsheet.
4. Select how far back you want to go (I recommend going back to the beginning of 2008) and print the spreadsheet for as far back as you wish to go.
5. Log into LeadStreet and search your contacts for the first person on your spreadsheet.
6. Click the edit button  next to the correct client record.
7. Click the “Advanced” tab just below the client’s contact and email record.
8. At the bottom of the advanced screen, there is an option that says, “Allow this contact to login to public features.” Click the button next to that statement.
9. Copy the client’s email address into the field for username and enter “remax” as their password.
10. Click save and close from the top right of the screen.
11. Repeat until all your recent clients from RIMS have been setup. Use the client’s email for the username and “remax” as the password for every client.
12. Send an email to each client (it is fastest to just copy the column from Excel into Outlook’s bcc field). Telling them that your website has moved. It is now at AgentUserName.remax.com. Tell them that their login is their email address and their password is remax.

Everyone should be set. Feel free to post questions or comments below.

This entry was posted on March 3, 2008 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Corporate News, tech bits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.