MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management & Client Portals Class Objectives By the end of this session you should be able to: Add, Edit & Manage your contacts information. Easily add and maintain your automatic emails and portal accounts. Understand the differences between manual and automatic emails. Customize your client portal and contact list. Add a contact to a manual, automatic or portal notification from multiple different areas. Effectively use your dashboard to access your contacts. Presented by: Joanne Werstlein jwerstlein@jthsrealtors.com JTHS Association of REALTORS, Inc. 2151 Alternate AIA South, Suite 1100 561-746-2707 www.jthsrealtors.com Updated: August 20, 2014
Table of Contents CLIENT CONTACT OPTIONS... 3 CONTACTS... 4 ADD A CONTACT... 5 CONTACT MANAGEMENT... 6 ADD A CONTACT... 7 Group setup... 7 CONTACT MAITENANCE... 8 Main Contact Information... 9 Searches/Auto E-mail... 10 Creating a Saved Search... 11 Add Auto E-mail... 12 Portal Setup... 14 Viewing your client portal... 17 Messages... 19 Notes... 19 Links... 19 ADVANCED... 20 Contact Summary... 20 Import/Export... 21 Create portal accounts with notification... 21 Customize contact list... 21 AUTOMATIC EMAILS... 22 MY SENT EMAILS... 22 HELP ME... 23 MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 2
CLIENT CONTACT OPTIONS Manual E-mail From any of the search functions in flexmls you can send a manual email with either 1 listing, selected listings, or all results. This allows your contact to view listings either with an interactive or a Detail Report depending on the options that you have selected. Automatic Email Based on a Saved Search your contact will receive an email notification every 24 hours with new listings, back on market, and price changes (you are able to change these preferences) that fall within their assigned Saved Search. Contacts will only receive those three status, they will not receive the initial search results. Client Portal After adding Saved Searches to your contacts account, creating a portal account will allow them to view all listings that currently match their saved search criteria. Contacts can make selections to distinguish between their favorite, possible and rejected listings. Connect with your clients by messages and recommendations, and proposed showing dates. Reverse Prospecting (not included in this training manual) When a Listing Agent wants to find clients that might be interested in their property they use the Reverse Prospecting function. FlexMLS will look for clients that meet the following criteria: 1. Reverse Prospecting has been enabled within the contact management page. 2. Saved Search on their contact management account where the Listing Agents property matches the criteria. If that criteria is met, the Listing Agent will be able to contact the Buyer s Agent to tell them more about the property in hopes they will find a buyer. The Listing Agent will not be able to obtain the Buyer s contact information, only the Buyers Agent information. Use comparison table to help you determine what the best contact method will be for you and your client. Contact Options Includes all search results Includes Saved Search Contact can access multiple saved searches Clients can Favorite and Reject selected properties Manual E-Mail Automatic E-mail Client Portal MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 3
CONTACTS FlexMLS provides many different tools to help you connect with your clients and other agents. By the end of this material you will be able to add a contact, edit contact information, send a manual and automatic email, and much more. Contact Management Manage your contact s information and notifications by this one-stop-shop. Access all of the available contact options from the Contact Management screens. Contact Summary The Contact Summary report was designed to give you a quick overall view of the activity of your contacts in FlexMLS. This report will show you your contacts display name, portal information, listing preferences, sent emails and automatic email status. Click on any of the hyperlinks within the Contact Summary to be taken to that area. Presentation Used to create a client presentation with a saved CMA, closing cost estimate, flyers and more. Reverse Prospecting A listing agent looking for a buyer can use the Reverse Prospecting option. From their listing flexmls will search the system for any buyers that have a Saved Search that matches the listing criteria. The listing agent can then obtain the buyers agent information to provide additional information on the property. Automatic E-mails This screen contains all of the current Automatic Email events sorted by expiration date. Click on the event, contact name or saved search and FlexMLS will bring you to the appropriate area. My Sent E-mails View manual emails, messages, and automatic emails that have been sent from your FlexMLS account. View the contact information, view email content or resend the link to your contact. MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 4
ADD A CONTACT There are 3 different areas in which FlexMLS allows you to add a contact: Contact Management> Add Contact Click on the Add Contact to enter in all Contact information including name, email, phone numbers, address, group assignment, reverse prospecting and portal setup. This material will walk you through how to add a contact and set up the automatic email notifications and their portal access. Contact Management> Quick Add When sending an email to a client that is not in your contacts list you can add them from the email screen. Add New to add a contact to an e-mail. Dashboard If you have the Contacts gadget on your Dashboard, click on the down arrow on the top right corner and click on New Contact. The New Contact will bring you to the full screen for adding a contact. MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 5
CONTACT MANAGEMENT Add, edit and manage your contacts with a variety of different options that focus on getting listing information to your client in the most effective route. Since there is so much information the Contact Management section will be divided into 3 different sections: Adding a Contact, Contact Management, and Advanced Options. Click on the contacts name to display their contact information. Add a contact with all of their information Edit, Remove, Deactivate or Transfer your contacts. Click on the hyperlinks to view the email activity for your client. Especially helpful If you client is referring to a specific email message MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 6
Add Contact Fill out all applicable fields for your contact, only the Full Name field is required to save the contact. Add multiple e-mail addresses by clicking the Add button. Add additional contact information by clicking on the Add button. Click here to create a portal account for your client. There are additional areas in which you can turn this on. Refer to page 14 for more information. Click Add Contact when you have entered in all of your information. Groups Groups can help distinguish between the different types of clients or other agents. To create a new group click on Edit Group List then Add New. To assign a contact to a group click on the Add sign then use the drop-down menu to choose a group. Assign as many groups as you want to a contact. MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 7
Contact Maintenance Click on the contact s name to view their information. This will populate on the bottom portion of the Contact Management screen. Displays the contact s general information, and E-mail activity. Add Saved Searches and setup automatic emails. Access your clients portal, view portal listing carts and listings that have been viewed by your client. View messages that your client has sent you from their portal, or that you have sent them on a listing. Write private information notes on a client. When your client writes listing notes through the portal it will show up here. Manage the links to listings that have been e-mailed to your client. MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 8
Main Contact Information Remove Choose what information you want to have removed from the contact record. Please note that if you click on All or Saved searches it will delete the Saved Search from any contact that has it saved. Deactivate Deactivate a clients portal or automatic emails. Note: You will need to manually turn these options back on, there is not an Activate option. Transfer Transfer your contact information to another FlexMLS member. Note that this transfers the entire contact record and will no longer be included in your contact list. MLS 204: FlexMLS Contact Management 9
Monitor how many emails have been sent to your client by either automatic email or manual email. See what your clients have viewed by clicking on the hyperlink in the Viewed section. Searches/Auto E-mail Add as many Saved Searches as you want for your client, also edit a saved search when your clients preferences change. Please note: Any Saved Searches in this section will populate in the client portal. Click on the View Totals to populate all of the Search Results in those particular sections Add a Search, rename, edit and delete a contacts saved search. Set up your contacts automatic emails MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 10
Creating a Saved Search You will use a contact s saved search for both automatic emails and the portal accounts. Click Add to start the process. Choose from either an already Saved Search or start the Quick or Full Search process. Click Create New Quick Search. Note: Attach multiple Saved Searches by holding down the CTRL key while clicking on the applicable searches with your mouse. Enter in your search criteria for your client. When done click on the Save function button. Fill out the Search Name, Description (not required), and assign the Search to a contact(s). Change what criteria will be included in the Saved Search. Save and Add to an Auto E-mail or just Save the Search. Click Save and then click on Return to Contact Management (top left corner). MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 11
Add Automatic E-mail After adding a saved search to your contact s profile you can add automatic emails by following this process: Your Saved Search will now populate in the Searches section. To add the Saved Search to an automatic E-mail click on Add an Auto E-mail (middle right of screen). Change how you and your client will receive automatic emails and notifications. Add additional contacts that you want to assign the Saved Search to. Choose which days of the week your clients will receive e-mails. Automatic e- mails are set up for a 24 hour period, if you remove a day your client might miss a potential property. View (interactive)- Will display the results in the List, Detail, Map etc. Printer Friendly Will only display the public detail report. Make additional selections by using the drop down menu. Options change depending on what you have chosen. Write a note to your client that will display in the e-mail notification. Create and Save a template that you can use on future emails by using the Save as New, Update, Rename and Make Default options. The Signature will populate both in the e- mail notification and on the report (interactive or printer-friendly). Click Next when done. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 12
If you have more than one saved search for your client, each search will need to be setup individually for the automatic e- mail notifications. You can see which ones have been setup by clicking on the search then viewing the Auto E-Mail section. To remove an automatic e-mail, click on the red X. To view the number of listings and recent changes, from the Results section click on View Totals to populate the listings in each category. View the results for a saved search from the Search> Saved Searches menu. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 13
Portal Any Saved Searches on your client s account will populate in their portal account (See Searches and Auto Email section for how to save a search). Follow the instructions below for the best method in setting up your clients portal account. 1. Go to the main navigation tabs and click on Preferences then Portal Preferences. 2. To turn on your portal, set the toggle to On (this might already be on). You will not be able to sign-up your clients unless this is turned On. 3. Your portal name is automatically created as your first and last name. To create your own simply write over the Name section. 4. FlexMLS pre-populates this email notifying your clients when you have created a portal account for them. Edit this message or create your own. 5. Add your Signature Card or another customized business card. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 14
6. Choose what your clients will have access to in their portal by adding/ removing different options. If you have created a custom View you can assign them to your portal account. Your clients will have access to all of these options, check off options that you don t want them to have access to (i.e. Open House dates). Change where your Business card will display in the portal, and the background color. 7. Go back to Contact Management and into the contact in that you want to set up the portal account for. Within the contact click on Portal. Create a Username and Password for your client portal, or have the system generate a password for you. Once you click Create Account an e-mail will be sent to your clients notifying them of the portal setup. The notification email will contain the link to the listings, their username and password. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 15
9. Once your clients portal account has been set up there are many different management options for you. Turn the client portal On or Off View what your clients portal will look like and the searches in which they are able to view. If your client forgets their login information you can resend it from this link Make individual changes to the portal settings for your client. Change your clients Username or Password. View the properties that you and your client have deemed as recommended and favorites. Click the red X to remove the listings in that category. Click on the listings that your client has viewed. Clients can change their password after logging into their portal. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 16
Client Portal Click on View Portal to see what your client log-in looks like. After logging in your clients will receive a pop-up asking them if they would like to watch a video or read a PDF guide on how to use their portal. Note: They will continue to get this message until they click on Do not show this message again. Clients will click on the Saved Searches to view the results. The portal will populate a notification if there are new listings on their saved search. Clients can easily view their favorite properties by clicking on their listing carts. Change what location (top, side or bottom) your signature card and logo appear in the Portal Preferences. Clients can view messages that you have sent to them. Clients can change their password from what you created. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 17
After clicking on a search your clients will be brought to the results where they can view them in the List, Detail, Photo, Map, and Messages viewing tabs. This will give your clients many different options in viewing, sharing and printing selected properties. (Screen shot taken from actual client portal) Clicking on My Account will take the client back to the initial page. Your client can send you an email message about a specific property. Clients can share their favorite listings with social media sites. For instance, they can post a link to a property on their Facebook. After selecting specific properties clients can save these to a listing cart. Clients can choose printing options for the Public Detail Report. View function specific help. Log out of the client portal. Clients can Favorite, Possible, or Reject potential properties. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 18
Messages View messages from your client or portal log-in notifications from flexmls, click on the message to expand or to reply to your client. Notes Write a private note about your contact to help you remember important information. Listing Notes When your client writes listing notes through the portal it will show up here. It is also emailed to you. Links View and manage the links that your client has received from automatic and manual emails. To disable a link click the red x to delete it. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 19
Advanced From the Contact Management front page click on Advanced (located on the top right corner). The Advanced Features and Preferences allow you to customize your Contact Management screens according to your preferences. Contact Summary The Contact Summary can help you manage your contacts portals, favorites, saved searches and whether or not an automatic email has been set up. Screen shot has been modified to separate fields for easy viewing. Click on the contacts Display name to view their contact information (brings you back into Contact Management). The hyperlinks will show you properties that your clients have rated. View all of the Saved Searches associated with each contact. The Auto E-mail section will state Active if the search is sending out automatic emails. See which contacts have their portal turned on and when the last time they logged-in. Click on the hyperlinks to view the emails that have been sent to your contacts by auto emails or manual. You can also find the Contact Summary under the general navigation tab Contacts> Contact Summary. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 20
Import/Export Contacts Click on Import then choose how the fields will be separated for import (Delimiter: Comma, Tab, Pipe). Click on Export then the method in which you want to export the information (Web browser, excel etc ). For both Import/Export follow the instructions that are provided after these initial steps to complete the process. Create Portal Accounts/ with Notifications This function is particularly helpful if you would like to add a portal account for all clients who do not have a login. The system will populate a series of questions and steps for you to follow to complete this process. Customize Contact List Add/Edit/Remove fields that display in your contact list. Add or remove fields in your contact list by clicking on the x or the +. Re-sequence the fields by clicking on the arrows. Click Save when done. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 21
AUTOMATIC E-MAILS (under Contacts Tab) Manage the automatic email events that your contacts have received. The automatic events will stop if your client does not open any message for 90 days, as long as the contact is viewing the email notifications the expiration date will continue to be pushed out 90 days. Clicking on the event will bring up the automatic email selection page, you can then make changes to the automatic email process. The date that your contact last viewed an automatic email notification. Click on New to set up a new automatic email for a contact. Click on the contact to view their Contact Management Page. Click on the Search to view the results. The date in which the automatic email process will expire. Click the x to delete the automatic email. MY SENT E-MAILS Manage the e-mails that have been sent to your contacts either by automatic email, system notification, or manual email. Click on Send if your client needs another copy of the email. View the email that was sent to your client. View both the automatic emails and sent emails from your Dashboard with the My Sent Emails gadget. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 22
HELP ME! Contact JTHS MLS Support Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 5 pm at (561) 746-2707 Click on the Help button at the top left of flexmls. Choose from User Guides, Video Tutorials (also located at the bottom of the User Guides), Forums and Contact Support. Depending on function (Quick Search, Contact Management etc.) the User Guides will customize what information is listed. If you don t find the answer you are looking for, you can select User Guides. Included in these guides are video tutorials that can help guide you through the system. From the Forums section you can access multiple different forums including Frequently Asked questions, these include step-by-step instructions. MLS 204: flexmls Contact Management 23