Listings,
leads and clients, oh my!
More Frequently Asked Questions
Why
isn't my new listing showing on my website yet?
Your website
product is a powerful convenient tool because uses a tool called
an IDX Feed which is provided by your MLS to keep searchable listings
up to date, but it is not directly your MLS's listing database.
This data feed typically (but not always) mirrors
the data available on your MLS's website. The feed update process
can be different for different MLS, but there can be one or more
feeds received at various times, each containing different information
for your site.
For example,
there may be a small "update feed" with basic info on
new listings, and price or status changes on existing listings.
Then there may be a "details feed" with expanded listing
information and changes, that may also contain front of home photos
and tours. Then there may be a full "photo feed" with
the remaining home photos. And, if your company also gets commercial,
land, rental, or other property types on their site, each of these
may come as it's own feed.
Thus, when
you input a listing into your MLS, even though it may be immediately
viewable and searchable on their site, we have to wait until they
have added the listing information into their feed to us -- can
take up to 24-hours -- and that feed has been processed through
our system -- usually within hours -- before it will display on
your website.
*Note: Your
company's level of service with the MLS may affect how often they
update feeds that are available and what information is passed
in that feed. Not all feeds contain all the same searchable fields
as are available in the MLS, and some restrictions may apply to
what data may show from your MLS based on their guidelines. IDX
rules and regulations are applied to the data before display on
your website.
Where
can I see the saved searches and properties of my leads?
Whether you've
noticed new leads by logging into your Management Center daily,
or you're getting email notices from our system, you've probably
wondered where all the really useful information is on your leads
-- like what they're looking for! The confusion here comes from
the terminology of "lead" versus "client".
A "lead" is any person who has filled out a form on
your site. A "client" is a person who is using the saved
searches, properties, and email notifications on your site. Essentially
a "client" is a "lead" who has gone one step
further.
Any person
who fills out a form on your website becomes a lead, whether they
registered to look at property detail, decided to "work with
you" by sending you their contact information, requested
relocation information or a cma, or whether they simply filled
out the "contact me" form. All of those captured email
address will appear as "leads" in your Management Center.
The source on those leads will give you a clue what form they
filled out, and details about any messages they might have entered
or requests they may have made can be found in the lead details.
You can also take a look at what properties any lead viewed from
their lead details tabs. This records anything they looked at
details for, and makes no distinction as to how the customer rated
the listing or their need. Those type of distinctions come from
your "leads" who have become "clients" of
your site.
Any person
who has registered on your site and begins to use the additional
site functionality like saving properties or saving searches becomes
a client of your website, and their information is managed in
your "Website Administration" section -- found as a
link in the left nav menu of Management Center. In Website
Administration--> My Tools --> My Clients,
you can review your clients and see exactly what searches they
are saving, what properties they are saving -- and how they rated
that property, as well as suggest properties or set up searches
for them.
Essentially,
Management Center is for managing "leads" -- that is
to say, where you do most of your marketing of yourself and your
site in an attempt to get these "leads" to become your
"clients" or repeat users of your website. Website Administration
is for managing things related to your website - your content,
your listing data, and your site's users - or "clients".
Can
I turn off the registration on my website?
Allowing
i ndividual
agent control of registration is a configurable option on our
websites. If it has been made available to you by your company,
you will find the control in your Website Administration tool
(found on the left-nav menu after you login to your Management
Center). By clicking Website Administration
--> My Website, you will be shown your Website
Control Panel. The EDIT button at the top right will take you
to your basic website settings, such as setting your Marketing
Name, your primary phone and email for display and choosing your
site template and graphics. In the middle section, under Urls
and Options, you will see the checkbox control: Require
users to login to see the "Property Detail page."
- An unchecked
box means that visitors to your site can do searches and look
at all property details and available photos without providing
any information about themselves.
- A checked
box means that visitors to your site can do searches and see the
number of search results as well as a thumbnail of information
about the results, but cannot view any details without going through
the registration process.
Even
with an unchecked box, the registration process exists on your
site at the point that any customer wants to use the
additional site functionality, such as saving searches or saving
properties. That cannot be disabled as a minimum of information
is required from the customer in order to provide that service,
and it should be an expected event for the customer choosing to
use those services.
Customers
who do not find this control as indicated are subject to the Company's
overall choice to set the registration level. Please contact support
if you'd like to inquire how to add the individual agent control
setting to your company site.
Where
do I find some manuals or help?
- Understanding
Your Website – basic reference especially for new agents
to acquaint them with their site capabilities
- Intro
Manual – guide used in our Intro To Your Website training
class, which teaches the basics of logging in, adding photos and
contact info, adding content, and changing templates.
- Attract
Retain Manual – guide used in our Advanced Website Training
class, which teaches the basics of lead and contact management.
- Frequently
Asked Questions – brief reference to answer the original
questions most commonly asked by agents to support regarding use
of their website.
- Website
Content Tips – brief reference for the agent ready to
add their own content to their website.
- Broker/Office
Sys Admin Guide – manual for the office/system administrator
illustrating capabilities of their login beyond a typical agent
login, such as managing office content and leads, setting lead
groups and rotation, and supervising agent content and lead followup.
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