RealTown's RealTalk

I have been an Advanced Access customer for over a decade with one of their template sites. I currently have concern with the technical /equipment problems they continue to have. Currently receiving my domain emails that goes through their server has been delayed as long as 15 hours. Some important emails haven't made it through at all. I have been told for the last 4 days "we're working on it". On the upgrades to their page manager "we're working on it" and for the upgrade on their websites to their new format ...... you get the picture. I am looking for suggestions/recomendations of other companies that might be able to provide  reliable service.

On Sep 6, 2008, at 5:28 PM, Ron Werner, CRS, ePro, Licensed Broker
wrote:
>
> I have been an Advanced Access customer for over a decade with one
> of their template sites. I currently have concern with the
> technical /equipment problems they continue to have. Currently
> receiving my domain emails that goes through their server has been
> delayed as long as 15 hours. Some important emails haven't made it
> through at all. I have been told for the last 4 days "we're working
> on it". On the upgrades to their page manager "we're working on it"
> and for the upgrade on their websites to their new format ...... you
> get the picture. I am looking for suggestions/recomendations of
> other companies that might be able to provide reliable service.
>
 

Ron, I've been very happily developing custom sites on top of
Point2Agent sites for the last several years. Their syndicated
advertising and Handshake advertising programs are very cool and
beneficial to agents, and customer service by phone for paying members
is excellent. It is a very popular system, with somewhere in the range
of 175,000 members.
 

You can start with a free Standard site (free for six months, then $10
a month) to get acquainted with the system. Many features are
disabled, but it'll still give you an idea how the system works. You
can also do a free two-week trial upgrade to Professional. A
Professional or Premium subscription is necessary for heavy
customization. The Point2 Message Board is the best way for free
members to get answers to questions.
 

Unlike AA, you'll need to i-frame an IDX service, either one of many
excellent 3rd party services that are available or one provided by
your MLS board.
 

Suzanne
 

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com
360-666-0881

Could you give me the addresses of several sites that you have done. I with a part time assistant have created and have been maintaining my site. www.gr8homes.com . For idx our mls has offered a free solution which I have at http://searchthemls.gr8homes.com although I have considered changing to one with mapping.

Suzanne  couldn't have said it better or with more honesty when it comes to "customer service" than with this statement:

"customer service by phone for paying members
is excellent."

You see the deal is you have to be a PAYING MEMBER to get EXCELLANT service.  There are no FREE LUNCHES on the Internet.

Thank you Suzanne for the honest information.  The key word is PAYING!  Kind of like the key word to selling real estate is COMMISSION.

Dear Ron,

Advanced Access has great customer service.  The sites, unfortunately, have not been able to set the same standards.  During the last several years, we have had the privilege of working with some great AA clients.  We also designed and programmed beautiful Point2 sites.

The advantage to both of these providers is good customer service.  Point2 has a lot to offer with technology.  Handshakes are ok if you don't have listings, but keeping abreast of the listings offering current information will be time consuming.  If you are in an area where your MLS Board partners with 3rd party vendors, you could potentially showcase listings through broker reciprocity and have the listings look like your own.

What we needed for our clients was solid customer service backed by a real estate web design that was flexible, scalable and easy to manage on a custom design.  We learned to program AA & Point2 sites, but still found that with the true custom designs, clients were tied to us for the life of their sites adding/changing/deleting pages with AA & Point2. 

If you are looking for a serious internet presence, being drawn to a free site to work on will be exactly that.  There are considerations when moving your site to another provider.  Do want want another template design or a foundation to build on with a custom site?  If you have your site professionally designed, will you own the artwork?  Will you be able to manage the custom navigation without knowing html or advanced programming?  Who works on your website design should you hire a private individual and something happens to that person?  Will the web hosting company be able to maintain your custom website from a design level, or are you tied to the web designer for the life of your site?

This industry has involved into a complicated process.  Making a decision to move your site is a serious endeavor.  Due diligence on your part interviewing companies, and designers, will be worth it's weight in gold.

There are some great designers and web hosting companies available.  I wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Cherie Young
Online Marketing Strategies
www.CherieYoung.com
760.782.0103