(Real Talk is a "list-serv" comprised of over 50,000 members)

Michael wrote:

Don responds:

I was a long time (15 years) ACT user. The last decent version of ACT was 6.0. Since that release Sage bought Act and basically destroyed a great product. Their first "new" version (Act 2005) was so bad that no one could make it work...Act 2006 wasn't much better...2007 is so convoluted that ACT consultants suggest hiring a consultant to install the software. I spent 9 months trying to get ACT 2007 to work properly & finally threw in the towel.

Not only is Gary knowledgeable, but he has taken the time to listen to my needs, offer solid suggestions, provide working copies of the leading contact management software on a trial basis and finally I settled on Agent Office, Version 10 which I purchased directly from Gary's web site.

When I was ready to convert my 800+ contacts from Act to Agent Office, Gary was there...logging on to my computer via the internet to assist in getting the new software set up & the Act files moved over.

Gary offers additional help in maximizing the Agent Office software which I plan to avail myself of soon.

I've only been using Agent Office for less than a month, but it works! It also runs circles around Act.

P.S. I'm not on Gary's payroll...... just a happy customer.

Kind regards to all,

I have been following the recent posts regarding ACT contact management software. I have been using ACT as my primary business data base for marketing for probably 12 years. Currently I use ACT 2006 and do not plan to upgrade. I have never purchased any Realtor add on software for ACT. Many years ago I made my own templates for both letters and E-Mails, and have updated those as needed. I have both good and bad to say about the use of ACT. When set up correctly ACT is very useful for managing your marketing and business schedule, and for printing or sending templated E-Mails or letters. It is a great program when used properly. I know there are many program features that I have not learned to use which for many may be useful for others.

In upgrading ACT to version 2006 I was told by my ACT consultant that the upgrade would be easy. That was not the case. All of the letters and E-Mail  templates needed to be updated from the previous version which required me to bring in my consultant to assist which was not inexpensive. Then I spent many hours in making the necessary changes for the many templates I have. The ACT program is very useful, but updating to new versions is a real pain. I am not at all impressed with the Sage software writers of ACT or those that beta tested the upgrades. My last two upgrades of ACT have been both expensive and frustrating.

In my case I have no choice but to continue to use ACT since I have many files which includes both current and previous customers or contacts. I am not aware of any way to transfer those files to another program except to do that manually which is really not possible. We are told in the e-PRO course that the best software is that you will use. I fully agree with that. ACT like any other contact management software will take some time to learn depending on just how computer literate you are. Once you learn that or any similar program it is very useful. For Realtors not using some type of contact management software is not a wise decision.

My primary message here is that whatever contact management you elect to use will probably become your primary contact software which you will routinely use. To change from one contact management to another will likely be difficult or not possible depending on how large your database is. I am not a computer expert and others may provide a different opinion.

Rusty Koehler

I have been using ACT since ver. 2.0 . My last upgrade was Act 2005. Sage software contacted me in 2006 to participate in a beta test of Act 2006 for Real Estate. I agreed to to do it.  When I installed it on my Laptop that is dedicated to Real Estate, it would not allow me to retain my previous version to run side by side with the beta. They told me that the new version used the same MSSQL 2000 server address as the previous version. I would have to back up the old 2005 database and re-installed the old version if I did not like the beta version for real estate. This really grated on me, I've been doing beta tests for years on different software products. You, never rely on any beta to do business with. They assured me I could go back to the old version by exporting any changes to a csv file.  I got it up a running, imported my old database into it, ok. It did have a lot of bells & whistles that 2005 does not have. It had a hyperlink to your local MLS, Outlook. You could sync to outlook. It also had a library of letters for buyers, sells, etc. This was of no use to me. To me it seemed that they designed a database template for real estate agents. It had fields for buyers wants & sellers haves. It did have some bugs! Every time I emailed them about a bug, I never got any response. I even called them a found it difficult to communicate with the beta people. Then in April of 2006 a message began to pop up sayiny that this beta would expire on April 31. Well, the was no April 31, only 30 days in April last year. I called them and complained about this CHEAP market tactic to get people to upgrade to this version. There was no notification in any of the beat materials that it was going to shut down on April 31. I was furious! I called them up numerous times complaining about their tactics. They could care less! One of the tech support people offer me her employee discount to get the upgrade, I turned it down. I WILL NOT DO BUSINESS WITH A COMPANY THAT IS DECEPTIVE AND  WILL NOT RESPOND TO THEIR CUSTOMERS!!

I found if I turned the system date back to before June 1, it would boot up. Then set it to the real date. How stupid are they! Most companies write to the system registry so you can't do that. I kept doing that up to a month ago. I upgraded my laptop to vista business. Vista is a real nightmare! I had to uninstall it and go back to XP pro. When I did this I exported the act database to a csv file. Then reformatted the HD, set up a fresh new XP & software installation. I tried to reinstall the act beta, but could not do it.

As of today, I am back using Business Contact Manager for Microsoft Outlook. It does the job! When I make the big bucks, I may try Top Producer.

Bill Welch

Great blog! Very helpful. I have been working with realtors lately who are experiencing MORE THAN PAIN in trying to get ACT! to work as it's supposed to. Buggy, and keeps crashing. Look slike I will have to build a application that my clients can host on THEIR website and run with their SQL database so they can work, make some money and be able to afford to pay their website hosting bill. If we don't help them, then I'll go out of business! Lol! Thanks for the blog! Timely, and very very helpful!

david@hoffmaninternet.com

Back to CRM Article