Realhound Support or more accurately, lack thereof . . .

Here is an actual dialog that just took place with Realhound support. This after having waited five days for help.

3:16 PM Customer: Hello is this Josh?
3:17 PM Realhound Support 2: Yes, this is.
3:17 PM Customer: Ok, can you call so we can talk at the same time?
3:17 PM Realhound Support 2: Sorry, but I'm not available for a phone call right now. Is there an additional question or concern?
3:18 PM Customer: yes, this takes 4 times longer than talking at the same time
3:18 PM Customer: it is MUCH quicker to talk than to try and communicate via intant messaging
3:18 PM Realhound Support 2: Yes, but I'm not available for a phone call right now. So I can help you now this way or we can reschedule for tomorrow.
3:19 PM Customer: same old story with you guys
3:19 PM Customer: this support method SUCKS
3:19 PM Realhound Support 2: Why are you trying to pick a fight? I'm offering to assit right now.
3:19 PM Customer: because this is STUPID

3:19 PM Realhound Support 2: Ok, then we can reschedule. I'm truly sorry your frustrated.
3:20 PM Customer: Not enough to pick up the phone though 'eh?
3:21 PM Realhound Support 2: I really don't know what to tell you. I'm currently on a different phone call, and can't call you. Please tell me what you would prefer. I now only have 8 minutes until I have a different appointment.
3:21 PM Customer: Well, RH is not syncing properly
3:21 PM Customer: contacts don't equate on different machines
3:21 PM Realhound Support 2: I know that - that's what I'm going to try to resolve for you.
3:22 PM Customer: there are groups that don't add up and all of this is fairly contant with yoru program
3:22 PM Customer: add to that a completely dopey method of providing supprt and you have a recipe for customer frustration
3:22 PM Realhound Support 2: May I begin looking at it now?
3:22 PM Realhound Support 2: This was all outlined in the emails already and was what I was planning on looking at.
3:23 PM Customer: how do you plan on having me explain the differences - by typing them all?
3:23 PM Customer: that's SO inconvenient for me, the customer
3:23 PM Realhound Support 2: Fine - we'll reschedule for tomorrow. I'll send you an email later letting you know the available times.
3:23 PM Realhound Support 2: Have a great evening.
3:24 PM Customer: this after waiting for 5 days
3:24 PM Customer: not happy
3:24 PM Customer: I'm very tired of this method of support
3:24 PM Customer: it's totally unacceptable, particularly when you factor in the amount of money someone spends with you guys annually
3:25 PM Customer: please copy this dialog to Andrew, I'd like him to see how a customer feels

GetResponse & Jooma Template

The following is a technical discussion, but the tools are ones that very useful to many in CRE.

I presently have a site that was created with a Joomla template and it has GetResponse extension/component that automatically adds a new registrant to the Joomla Community Builder database, upon registration, as well as submitting them to GetResponse for the "final opt-in" which then adds them automatically to GetResponse, in the event they do opt-in from that email.

I am curious if GetResponse has any plans to implement an Event Management feature similar to that of Constant Contact? This is something that is compelling enough in my case that I would leave GetResponse (and forego all of the work in setting up the extension mentioned above) and even go through the hassle of installing a different Joomla component for that interface between my Jooma-Templated site and Constant Contact. I didn't like the fact that the company providing the Joomla/Constant Contact component/extension didn't also automatically add a new Joomla registrant to the Joomla Community Builder (in addition to the Constant Contact autoresponder) as the GetResponse Joomla extension does. If they did have that, I would have already left GetResponse. That is how important event-management is to me. So for now I'll stay put, but it would be much easier to do so if I knew GetResponse was thinking of introducing this feature-set or presently working on it. Is it being worked on, is it on the "drawing-board"? Please let me know.

Robert M. Burns
Happy GetResponse user with present feature-set on the autoresponders, but longing for the event-management area that integrates with the autoresponder, ala Constant Contact

REA9

Have you used Rea9? If so, please chime-in here - I'm thinking about trying it out because I am so disappointed with support I am receiving now from my commercial real estate CRM product.

Catylist vs. Loopnet

How would you compare these two? Is anyone using both?

Robert

Swiftpage

I am using this extensively. This is an excellent tool. Email stats, who opened, what did they click on, how many times did they click, etc. Useful.

Also, the ability to have people visit web pages and fill out forms and not have to re-enter them in Act is very useful.

Goldmine

Goldmine was also a program I used for a while also, but they seemed as if they didn't care about the entry level customer at all and their support was sub-par so I gave up on them. They had "templates" that were industry specific (there was one for real estate and one for commercial real estate) in their program, but they weren't supported by the company, they were supported by VARs and -- they weren't supported. This seemed a curious approach - sell them as if they're part of your program, and yet when the customer calls for help - say "no, it's not our template". So out of frustration i gave up on them. In their defense the program did seem to be a fairly good one, however their support policy was wanting.

Commercial Brokers Association (CBA)

The datbase of CBA, the local multiple listing service for commercial agents here in the Seattle area, has been selected as the database format for NAR. Pretty cool - especially if they could be convinced to add contact management to it. Their property database is already quite good. It doesn't need much improvement, if any.

Robert