Using Contact Managers and Databases

Almost everyone has her own system for managing contacts, and there's a huge industry ready to provide tools to manage contacts, for example:

• An address book, a Rolodex, or other paper-based system.

• A handheld device such as a Palm Zire or Treo, or a Windows Mobile-based device such as Hewlett-Packard's iPaq. (Note that Windows Mobile is the newest name for what Microsoft first called Windows CE and then called Pocket PC.)

• A dedicated contact manager on your computer, such as Now Software's Now Up-to-Date and Contact.

• A contact manager built into an e-mail tool such as Microsoft 's Outlook.

• A contact manager built into a more complex sales-management tool such as Sage Software's Act.

• A contacts database in a program like Microsoft's Accessor FileMaker's FileMaker, or even as a spreadsheet in Microsoft's Excel.

• A contact manager provided by the MLS system or the brokerage, where contacts are stored on a server accessible via the Web.

Checklist Client Data

When you build contact lists, collect as much of the following information as you canand remember, you can accumulate all these details over time rather than trying to squeeze them out of everyone the first time you talk.

• Name

• E-mail address

• Phone number (home and work)

• Mailing address

• Category (active seller, previous buyer, etc.)

• Personal data: birthday, names of family members, etc.

• Source of contact (how they found you: ad, Web site, referral, etc.)

• Notes (such as what they're seeking or bought, when they bought or sold) that will help you keep in touch appropriately

Which tools you choose are based largely on your personal preferences and experienceif you've worked for a sales organization, you've probably used a program like Act for years and so have no reason to change tools now, for example. And many people who've worked in business have used Outlook for years, and again can keep using the familiar tool. (Such agents might consider using Eurekaware's Real Estate Contact Manager, which is a plug-in module for Outlook that adds real estatespecific contact fields. The accompanying CD includes a trial version.)

CD Resources: For contact and schedule managers, trial Software from Eurekaware on the CD, as well as links to Eurekaware, Microsoft, Now Software, Palm, and Sage. For handheld organizers, links to Hewlett-Packard and Palm.

Collecting Information Consistently

Whatever tools you use, the key is to be consistent in the information you collect. That doesn't mean you collect the same information for everyone, but it does mean that you should collect the same information for each category of contact, such as prospective buyer, prospective seller, active buyer, previous client, and so on. Beyond name and basic contact information, the class of contact will determine what else you need to collect. For example, it makes perfect sense to collect information on a buyer's preferred neighborhoods and budget range, but this information is not relevant for a seller.

Eurekaware's Real Estate Contact manager adds real estatespecific fields to Microsoft Outlook's contact manager.

Because you can't know what information is pertinent to any individual contact, it's best to always have a notes field where you can enter information like "Prefers lower floors in condos" or"Works at homestreet noise an issue" rather than create fields for every possible type of information that might end up being useful.

Keeping Information in Sync

Chances are that you use at least two types of contact-management tools, such as keeping e-mail addresses in your e-mail client and using a contact manager to track all the other information about clients (phone numbers, search parameters, fax numbers, mailing address, and so on). That's typically because programs like e-mail clients include address books that let you type in a person's name and have his e-mail address automatically placed in the e-mail's To field, so you're going to end up with a contact list in your e-mail program's address book even if you use another tool as your primary contact manager. And you probably also carry a paper address book or notepad, or use a handheld organizer, when you're away from your desk to enter new contacts' information and look up information on existing contacts.

Because it's common to use multiple contact managers, you need to be able to synchronize data among them so the information is the same no matter where you look it up. That may require something as rudimentary as reentering or updating information in your paper-based, computer-based, and/or Web-based contact-management systems, or it may mean using technology tools to carry changes in one tool to another.

Most synchronization programs let you set up how data is synchronized between a handheld and a contact manager or database. Shown here are sample settings for Chapura's PocketMirror software as applied to a Microsoft Outlook/Palm handheld combination.

The tools to synchronize your contact information vary based on which tools you're using, of course. The following are synchronizing options for commonly used programs and commonly used handhelds; the companion CD has links to each. (If you use a Palm OS handheld device, it typically comes with a basic contact manager for your PC or Mac that it can synchronize to. Windows Mobile devices typically synchronize basic data with Microsoft Outlook without needing additional software.)

For Microsoft Outlook

• With Palm OS handhelds: Chapura's PocketMirror (included with some Palm OS handhelds' installation CD) and KeySuite, DataViz's Beyond Contacts, Intellisync's Intellisync Handheld Edition, Laplink's PDAsync, LivePIM's SwitchSync, Palm's Outlook conduit (included with some Palm handhelds' installation CD)

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Chapura's PocketMirror, Intellisync's Intellisync Handheld Edition, Laplink's PDAsync, Microsoft's ActiveLink (this Software comes with Windows mobile handhelds)

For Microsoft Outlook Express

• With Palm OS handhelds: Intellisync's Intellisync Handheld Edition

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Intellisync's Intellisync Handheld Edition

For Microsoft Entourage

• With Palm OS handhelds: Microsoft 's Entourage Handheld Synchronization (included with some versions of Microsoft Office but must be manually installed from the installation CD)

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Information Appliance Associates' PocketMac

For Apple iCal and Mac OS X Address Book

• With Palm OS handhelds: Mark/Space's Missing Link

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Mark/Space's Missing Link

For Sage Act

• With Palm OS handhelds: Act Link (included on the installation CD in most Actversions), CompanionLink's CompanionLink for Act, Intellisync's Intellisync Handheld Edition, Laplink's PDAsync

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Act Link(included on the installation CD in most Act versions), CompanionLink's CompanionLink for Act, Intellisync's Intellisync Handheld Edition, Laplink's PDAsync, Pinpoint Tools' TransAct

Some programs, such as Sage's Act, let you synchronize databases among multiple usersbut only if the databases are installed on a network such as in a brokerage. Agents trying to sync a laptop and a desktop PC typically won't have the sophisticated network setup needed to synchronize this way.

For Now Up-to-Date and Contact

• With Palm OS handhelds: Now's Palm Conduit (available if you do a custom installation of Now Up-to-Date and Contact)

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Information Appliance Associates' PocketMac Pro

For Microsoft Access

• With Palm OS handhelds: DataViz's SmartList to Go, DDH Software's HanDBase Professional, SmartCell Technology's AccessPlus

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: Tiny Pocket Software's DB Anywhere

For FileMaker

• With Palm OS handhelds: DataViz's SmartList to Go, DDH Software's HanDBase Professional, FileMaker's FileMaker Mobile

• With Windows Mobile handhelds: FileMaker's FileMaker Mobile Synchronizing data among multiple PCssuch as between a desktop PC and a laptopcan be tricky. If you use Microsoft Outlook, Curosoft's OutlookSync can synchronize the address books among multiple PCs. If you use a network or Web-enabled version of Act or Now Up-to-Date and Contact, you can also synchronize among multiple computers. Otherwise, you'll need to designate one computer as the master and make any changes on that system, then copy the master contact list or database file to the other computers (or in some cases, export the data from the master computer and then import it into the others).

The most common way to exchange information among different contact managers and databases is to export the desired contacts to the CSV format and then import the CSV file into the other applications. Shown here is CSV export in Now Up-to-Date and Contact.

To exchange information among different programs, you'll likely need to export the data to an intermediate format such as CSV and then import that file into the other programs. Chapter 7, "Managing Marketing Campaigns," explains this process for exchanging contact information for sending out e-mails and other marketing materials, but the techniques are the same when exchanging contact information among almost any programs.

CD Resources: For synchronization software, links to Chapura, CompanionLink, Curosoft, DataViz, DDH Software, FileMaker, Information Appliance Associates, Intellisync, Laplink, LivePIM, Mark/Space, Now Software, Pinpoint Tools, SmartCell Technology, and Tiny Pocket Software.