ACT! by Sage Premium for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) and ACT! by Sage for Real Estate 2008 (10.0)

Citation

(2008), "ACT! by Sage Premium for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) and ACT! by Sage for Real Estate 2008 (10.0)", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2008.07725fab.001

ACT! by Sage Premium for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) and ACT! by Sage for Real Estate 2008 (10.0)

Article Type: Computer currency From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 25, Issue 6

Marketers have long been the spur that prompted software companies to develop programs to aid in dealing with customers. ACT! has been one of the pioneers in easing the contact and customer relationship management burden. This journal reviewed earlier versions of the program and found them useful productivity aids. Over time the software has been updated and upgraded and is now in its tenth edition, testimony to a long evolution and continuous improvement. Truth be told, when it comes to managing contact and sales leads, no product has stood the test of time better than ACT!. Over two decades, the product has earned an ever-increasing base of customers.

Originally, ACT! was a one size fits all contact manager that made face to face or virtual interaction more robust. Its major contribution was as a database that stored all information about prior interactions to avoid irritating the contact with omissions or requests for information already supplied. A salesperson could review past contacts with an account and note when and what was covered. It allowed marketing people to cite the reason for their next call, especially if they promised to follow up on an issue. Initially, customers were impressed that a marketing person would remember the details of a perhaps month old discussion. After many interactions, marketers could establish a relationship that might yield significant profits and a satisfied customer. Over time, sales people learned to modify the program to suit their needs. In fact, customization became so widespread that the company began to certify consultants to make those changes. At this point there are about 750 certified ACT! consultants who are able to customize the program for a particular business or industry.

The current publisher, Sage Software, identified at least one target that merits out of the gate customization. Thus, it seems to have embarked on a strategy of customizing its ACT! software to gain market share and a dominant position in each customer segment. The real estate market was a natural choice, given the complexity of a real estate transaction. Moreover, the ancillary work to find properties for sale, value them, list them in the official multiple listing services, find prospective buyers, and insure that the transaction is successful adds layers of complexity. Finally, since real estate is subject to significant legal restrictions, real estate agents need software to aid in tracking all of the documents required for a sale.

ACT! and the real estate market

Sage Software has had a product customized for this market segment for a while. It is called, ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2006. Its initial version was based on the core ACT! Premium product with added layers of real estate specific functionality. Those features included customized layouts with fields for standard contact information as well as items of buyer interest including price range, square footage, number of rooms, residence type and location. The initial release was very helpful but represented the first generation of customizing the core program’s basics. The newest versions: ACT! for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) and ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) enhance that functionality.

Sage reports that ACT! for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) solutions delivers new features, as well as improvements to the existing layout. The changes should help users manage key information. The company added custom tabs and fields that allow tracking specific buyer, seller, and property information. In addition, the Activity Type tracking function has been improved to gain insight into activities pertinent to a property.

New features

ACT! for Real Estate 2008 adds functionality not found in the previous release. The new features include the following new real estate-specific capabilities:

• •

  A new closing activity type and closing activity series which will allow users to manage the activities associated with a closing.

• •

  Integrate ACT! for Real Estate is an improvement that links directly with Microsoft Outlook. Outlook is used by countless real estate professionals and the program’s integration, facilitates communications and limits redundant information.

• •

  The search function has been beefed up to speed access to information.

• •

  Since real estate firms use standardized templates to list properties on the multiple listing services, it makes sense to include compatible templates for advertising flyers. ACT! for Real Estate includes those real estate-specific flyer templates that are required for advertising and ultimately selling a property.

• •

  A property management function now tracks listings from initial inquiry through close. It offers more detail on the status of property listings, using the sales processes specifically designed for real estate.

• •

  The new version includes an interactive dashboard. It provides a quick view of key information like activities and property listings.

Installation

Users can migrate from ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2006 to ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2008. To do so they simply install ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2008. The program will automatically uninstall ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2006 as part of its installation process. Moreover, the system’s existing version of Microsoft® SQL Server™ will be upgraded during installation.

The process is a bit more complicated to migrate from ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2006 to the lower priced ACT! for Real Estate 2008. This pathway requires that the version of Microsoft SQL Server that came with the earlier program be uninstalled. In addition, the ACT! Premium database must be migrated to an ACT! database. The situation is just complicated enough to require carefully reading the documentation. A fresh installation of one of the two 2008 releases is foolproof and straightforward.

The program

ACT! for Real Estate products are billed as helping residential real estate agents and brokers “organize their buyer, seller, and property information in one place, communicate through custom flyers and letter templates, and manage property showing, closing, and reporting activities.”

Considerable thought has gone into the upgrade’s design. Sage based some of its design features on actual industry consumer research. The National Association of Realtors administered the premier research vehicle. The National Association of Realtors’ 2007 Realtor Technology Survey found that 80 percent of sales agents and associate brokers rated the value of technology supplied by their broker as being “extremely valuable” or “somewhat valuable,” and 65 percent responded “yes” when asked if they wanted their broker to expand the amount of technology offered. Armed with this information, Sage had a clear pathway for enhancements.

The new product centralizes an agent’s, broker’s, or team’s information, and users access contact information using an interface designed specifically for real estate, keep detailed notes and information on listed properties, track appointments and to-dos, and can attach critical documents like inspection reports, house photos, and MLS listings.

ACT! for Real Estate provides a function called a dashboard, a graphical view of information including activities, property listings, and sales opportunities. There are also options to display team information to help managers set company sales targets and gauge individual and group performance status.

Sage stresses that ACT! users will find the new application familiar since it is based on the familiar software kernel. In addition, they will find new features. Sage stresses that users will be able to:

• •

  Manage information most relevant to the profession using a custom layout with dozens of real estate-specific fields and Property Seller tab designed for residential real estate professionals.

• •

  Access a brokerage’s MLS home page quickly and easily from ACT! for Real Estate.

• •

  Automate and expedite activities with multiple steps using one of ten real estate-specific Activity Series.

• •

  Run one of six custom reports in addition to the more than 40 reports that come standard with ACT! to measure the real estate-specific activities you engage in with your buyers and sellers.

• •

  Facilitate daily buyer and seller communications with preformatted templates designed specifically for real estate.

• •

  Agents can track and analyze how they spend their time using one of more than 20 real estate-specific activity types in addition to core ACT! activities like calls, meetings, and to-dos.

• •

  Manage property listings from initial inquiry through close for more visibility to the property listing status using sales processes specifically designed for real estate.

• •

  Get comprehensive, graphical representations of key information with interactive Dashboards.

A standalone copy of ACT! for Real Estate 2008 will be very useful for the individual real estate professional. In companies that have multiple work groups, networking capabilities are vital. For these users, ACT! Premium for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) supplies that functionality. ACT! Premium for Real Estate offers team features and functionality, including:

• •

  Group scheduling.

• •

  Automatic Outlook® calendar sync.

• •

  Customizable opportunity field names and types with drop-down lists.

• •

  Custom user permissions per team member.

• •

  Team reporting that provides insight into team performance.

• •

  Automatic database sync, backup, and maintenance.

• •

  Silent install.

Data

When users of ACT! migrate from ACT! to ACT! for Real Estate, they will be happy to know that their data integrity is preserved. In fact, the migration will retain any ACT! customized layouts. Beyond that they will benefit from the real estate-specific functionality in ACT! for Real Estate. The process is not automatic. Users you must opt to add that content to the existing database. The process is simple but has to be done manually.

Summary

ACT! by Sage Premium for Real Estate 2008 (10.0) and its simpler sibling are noteworthy for several reasons. First, they demonstrate the basic adaptability of the ACT! core. Sage’s adaptation to the complex real estate market highlights the value of its design team’s considerable skills that have to exceed those of a single certified customization consultant. Second, it may telegraph further customization projects applied to other disciplines.

The product is available for $299.99 per user. ACT! Premium for Real Estate, recommended for organizations with five or more users, is available for $469.99 per user.

Edited by Dennis A. PittaUniversity of Baltimore