You don’t spend your day behind a desk — but many of your potential new customers do, and that’s when they’re contacting you. Short of hiring a personal assistant, how can you connect with them and still work with your current clients? You automate it.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 73 percent of REALTORS say technology has made selling easier and increased their selling time. Likewise, contact management software has become a lifesaver to agents because it organizes all of their prospective and current clients and their appointments. Many systems also act as an agent’s sales and marketing team because it can direct mail or e-mail campaigns and they can supply the data for tracking their performance, such as the length of time it takes to close a sale.

But most contact management software is just that: software. A package you buy, install and have to call in your tech savvy son — or IT person if you have an office — to fix when it’s broken.

However, many companies are nipping problematic software in the bud by putting their contact management solutions on the Internet. These Web-based applications allow for anywhere-anytime access, a plus for agents using PDAs. In keeping with the trends, a la mode has just rolled out its own contact manager — a feature included in every Agent XSite at no additional cost.

Don’t you hate it when you talk to someone on the phone and they’ve forgotten half the details from a previous conversation? Your prospects and clients do too. XSites contact manager helps you track every contact with detailed records, including phone numbers, addresses, e-mails and unlimited notes. This information is always available to you anywhere you have access to the Internet — even a mobile device. You’ll never be unprepared when a client calls unexpectedly.

XSites’ online scheduling feature also gives you access to your appointment calendar at any time. Simply login to your XSites' secure admin area to confirm or change appointments, send reminders and e-mail clients. You can even import and export contacts and schedules to and from Microsoft Outlook® and Outlook® Express, ACT!® 6, Agent® v6.0, and Top Producer® 7i.

Agent XSites' contact manager also serves as your own personal marketing database manager. Its filter, sort and search capabilities allow you to define target groups for e-mail and print marketing campaigns. You can send targeted e-mails through your free CertMail account or export a target list to Microsoft Excel® for print campaigns.

And, if you’re using a la mode’s CertMail, you’ll notice some improvements there as well. Now, all CertMail accounts have a more robust, intelligent spam blocker, the ability to attach HTML signatures, e-mail forwarding options and rules that can help you better organize and manage your mail, even a multilingual spell checker. On the back end, we've installed separate new servers dedicated to CertMail's mail processing and storage for even greater storage capabilities, speed and spam blocking.

What's not new is that CertMail still gets you the same huge 100MB of mail storage space and SureReceipts, which lets you know when your client has received their report, and it's still virus-protected.

Nearly a quarter of REALTORS are using some form of contact management software, according to a March 2004 technology survey from NAR. That number is expected to double as more and more agents grow to rely on the Internet and mobile technology to help them do their jobs better. And, as all agents know, projecting a professional image is almost as important as the sale itself. What better way to show your clients and competitors that you are on the cutting edge than your quick response time with their inquiries and a website that practically does business for you?

But many real estate professionals are confident the market will bounce back to its healthy numbers. After all, it is one of the strongest markets in the U.S.

"The effects from a weather event are typically short-lived, and sales numbers typically don't take long to rebound and normalize," said Walt Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of REALTORS®.

"The only thing we can safely say about storm impact is it can delay transactions on a localized basis. In terms of annual state sales there is no discernible impact," Molony said.

"On a monthly basis we've previously been able to detect adverse weather impact in a U.S. Census region in existing-home sales (such as a major winter storm), but see a catch-up the following month. On a quarterly basis the sales data tends to 'smooth out,'" he added.

How to e-mail your current and future customers

You’ve been gathering e-mails from your family, friends and associates for months and you’re ready to launch your e-mail marketing campaign in an attempt to reel in some new business. Before you begin any type of e-mail promotion, you’d better make sure you’re in check with the CAN-SPAM Act.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) signed by President Bush in December 2003 and effective as of January 1, 2004 creates a national standard to control the problem of deceptive or fraudulent commercial e-mail.

The Act outlines a series of practices you must follow when sending commercial e-mails (such as your e-mail describing your services to potential home buyers) both solicited and unsolicited.

The Act requires all commercial e-mails to include:

• a legitimate return e-mail and physical postal address,

• a clear and conspicuous notice of the recipient's opportunity to “opt-out” of receiving any future e-mails,

• a way for the  recipient to send a message requesting not to receive any future e-mail messages from the sender (active for at least 30 days after message transmission),

• a clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation, and

• a notice in subject heading if messages include pornographic or sexual content.

E-mail communication to your current customers and clients is exempt from CAN SPAM, such as e-mails sent by a listing agent or broker to a seller who has listed their home for sale, or by an agent or brokerage to a prospective buyer who has already had communications with the agent. But, make sure that e-mail is what the Act refers to as a “transactional or relationship messages” and its primary purpose is to:

• facilitate, complete or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender;

• provide warranty information, product recall information, or safety or security information with respect to a commercial product or service used or purchased by the recipient;

• provide information with respect to a subscription, membership, account, loan or ongoing commercial relationship involving the ongoing purchase or use of products or services offered by the sender to the recipient;

• provide information directly related to an employment relationship or related benefit plan in which the recipient is currently involved, participating, or enrolled, or;

• deliver goods or services, including product updates or upgrades, that the recipient is entitled to receive under the terms of a transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender.

Following these rules can mean the difference between a $200,000 sale or a $2 million fine for noncompliance with the CAN SPAM Act. That makes the choice easy.