PropertyPro Newsletter XXXVI - October 2011

Hello to Everybody.

Here we are in October with cameo appearances of the sun and spectacular colours. It's a shame it won't last - November is looming with the threat of another cold winter.

There is still colour in the garden, and I am trying to squeeze in maybe one more week before bringing in the pots before that first frost finishes off the last of the flowers.

So make the most of the season - the clocks go back at 2am on Sunday 30th October. And then dig out the thermals and woollies, we have Bonfire Night and then Xmas to look forward to. Oh Joy!



Our last newsletter concentrated on working with multiple customer records and I hope you found something of interest in it. This time, I'm going into copying property records and the various elements you should remember. We'll also have a look at creating a flyer for mailshots.

First though, here are some of the recent changes to look for if you upgrade.

We are currently on Version 21.1.5 and there have been a couple of very nice extras added since 21.1.0.

Latest Version Changes

Recent Record List

It is now possible to open recently opened property and customer records.

We have added 2 new menu items, File, Recent Customers / Recent Properties, on the front screen, property and customer screens, which will list the last 10 of each. The default number listed can be configured.

New lettings Templates

When working in a rental property record, the property letters grid will now automatically default to the lettings letter templates for 'Sale Agreed', 'Amendment to Sale', and 'Offers'. I've listed below the new letter templates so that you can rename any existing lettings letters.

Let Agreed:

Instruct Landlord Letter.dot
Instruct Llegal Letter.dot - Unlikely to be used, not needed normally!
Instruct Tenant Letter.dot
Instruct Tlegal Letter.dot - Unlikely to be used, not needed normally!
Mem of Let Agreed Letter.dot

Amendment to Let Agreed:

ReInstruct Landlord Letter.dot
ReInstruct Llegal Letter.dot - Unlikely to be used, not needed normally!
ReInstruct Tenant Letter.dot
ReInstruct Tlegal Letter.dot - Unlikely to be used, not needed normally!
Mem of Let Agreed Letter.dot

Letting Offers

Offer Made Landlord Letter.dot
Offer Made Tenant Letter.dot
Offer Accepted Landlord Letter.dot
Offer Accepted Tenant Letter.dot
Offer Rejected Landlord Letter.dot
Offer Rejected Tenant Letter.dot
Offer Conditionally Accepted Landlord Letter.dot
Offer Conditionally Accepted Tenant Letter.dot
Offer Reserved Landlord Letter.dot
Offer Reserved Tenant Letter.dot

Customer Search Scroll Bar

This has to be my personal favourite.

It is now possible to see how far you are scrolling through a list of customers generated in the Customer Search screen. A 'tool tip' moves down with the scroll bar showing the customer name that would appear at the top of the list if you stop scrolling at that point. Sooo much clearer.

Closing the Diary

You will all like this one too. Whether you close the Diary accidentally or deliberately, you will now be asked if you are sure you want to do it.

Chain printout

The printout to Word has been reformatted with a heading, icons, and property address in bold text.

There are options to choose a template (it will default to a plain landscape A4 if none is chosen).

You can choose to email to any customer held on your database and the customer's address can be brought through in letter format if required.

Telephone numbers and chain events can also be brought through.

Open Customer Screen

We all know that PropertyPro checks the database for existing customers - however, you can now create a new customer from the Open Customer screen as well, saving you from closing the screen if your customer isn't listed.

This is only available from the front screen, diary and property.

Thank you Mr. P

Open Property Screen

And we haven't forgotten the Open Property Screen, you will notice the sold date has been added alongside sold properties.

Copying a Property Record

Copying a property record is very straightforward.

There are various reasons for copying a property record:

• You may have several similar properties - flats and new developments for instance.
• A sold property may have come back on the market
• A vendor instructs you to let their property
• A customer has bought a property and wants to let it.

Copying similar properties

First create a property and enter all generic information, photos, measurements, etc.

When you are ready, simply click the Copy button on the toolbar. The duplicate property will be attached to the same vendor, so you may need to change this if need be, and of course the address.

Copying a Sold Property

If a property has come back on the market, it is good practice to copy the original property. This ensures you keep the marketing history, and of course the chain details and property notes, separate.

The original property will factor into 'Sold Properties' reports, comparables, and annual figures.

The new record will be ready for fresh and up to date information, including photos - remember it is a totally separate transaction, and will form new statistics.

Copying a Sale Property to Let

Here, it is very important to have 2 separate property records. You need to keep the existing residential sales property - with its notes, printed details, and history - and a residential letting property record.


Once copied, you will have to remember to change the property class of the lettings property.

• Select Edit, Property Class, and change to Residential Letting
  
  

This will change the 'price' to 'rent' and the 'instruction tab' to 'availability tab' on the property record.


If the vendor has decided to let the property instead of sell, then it is necessary to withdraw the residential sales property. You can do this by entering a date into the 'withdrawn' box.

Exporting Photos

Now you may find this amusing - I only discovered this feature last week! Did you know that this feature copies all photos attached to the property to a destination folder of your choice?

I'm sure this would be very useful to many of you if you need the photos for other uses.

Open the property, and choose File, Export Pictures



You will then be prompted to select a folder to store the photos.

Creating Flyers

Many of our agents are using the Advert feature to create a flyer that promotes new properties, and then use the Customer Search screen to email it out to their applicants.

Of course the same feature could be used to create a flyer showing properties sold within an area and mailshot residents in that area or do a leaflet drop.

The beauty of using the Advert feature is that you can choose which properties you want to include, and PropertyPro will not only bring through the photo, text, address and price, into the template of your choice, but also record the advertising activity in each property.


First decide on which template and note how many properties it will hold. If you don't feel confident in creating or amending an existing advert template, then please call us and we can help.

You may also want to ask Support to add this flyer as a publication - this will enable you to choose it in the drop down list, so that it is recorded in each property's advertising history.

• When the list of properties displays, select the properties you want to include.
  
  You can also sort the list by clicking a column heading.
  
  
  
  
  
• You are then ready to click assemble.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Select your template in the next screen, and PropertyPro confirms the number of properties it will hold.
  
  
• At this point you can change the order in which the properties appear in the template, and choose internal photos if used in the template.
  
  Select a property and use up / down. Click the + sign to show internals, select the room and use toggle to show/hide.
  
  
  
  When you click next PropertyPro extracts the photo(s) and text from each property and places the information into a Word document based on the selected template.
  
  
  
• Before displaying the document, you will be prompted to save this Word document, and then the document will display for you to check for any editting.
  
  Save any changes you make, and you may also want to create a PDF which will be sent out in the mailshot.
  
  
  
  
• When you minimise this document, you will be switched to PropertyPro's advertising screen:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is where you specify the date of advertising which is then recorded in the history of each property.

The next part of the exercise is to select the customers you wish to mailshot in the Customer Search Screen using any of the filter options that you need.

In this example I have specified:


The Customer Type

Customers last contacted since January

Customers with saved searches

Customers with email preferred

• Then right-click the list and choose Select All
  
  
  
• Right-click the list again and select With Selected > Send > Email
  
  

Enter the subject

Click template and choose your email template

Click attachments and select your flyer PDF



Then .....

Click send

When you click send, the flyer will be emailed to all customers selected, and be recorded against each customer.


For all those customers who do not have an email address, or are 'mail preferred', use the same process in Customer Search, but click mail preferred. .

• Refresh the screen and right-click over the list and choose Select All
• Choose With Selected > Send > Create Mailing Labels.
• You can then print off the appropriate number of flyers and put them in envelopes.

This will also be recorded against each customer.


And for a finishing touch, send a copy of the flyer to each of the vendors - and why not print off a couple of flyers and display them in the office?


Believe it or not, this process takes absolutely no time at all. It has taken me longer to document it for you!

Free Training Days

The training is totally tailored to those who attend the day, and we really encourage everyone to take advantage of these free training days.

We are still running a new user day each month alternating between Admin and Negotiator. If you have a new starter, then please send them along for training. From their viewpoint it eases the pressure of operating a new software program whilst getting used to a new office environment and procedures.

The second session each month is generally a refresher for those who want to use the system more efficiently. It's an opportunity to see any new features, be reminded of old forgotten features, and update existing skills.

The next Open Training days:

Wednesday 2nd November - New User (Admin) We will focus on entering customer data, property searches, creating property records, publishing details and matching and mailing.

Wednesday 16th November - Refresher Refresher + looking at Reports.

Don't forget that if a half day session is more convenient for you, please call. Telephone training may also be available for a small charge provided that a suitable remote connection is available

We look forward to a visit from you very soon!

And finally, if there is anybody else in your office who might also want to receive our newsletter, please let us have their email address and we will add them to the mailing list.

Kind regards

Kate

Kate Hoare (Training Manager)
kate@propertypro.co.uk
Direct dial: 01788 862517

PropertyPro • 6 Somers Road • Rugby • Warwickshire • CV22 7DE
Tel: 01788 862550 • Fax: 01788 862525 • E-mail: sales@propertypro.co.uk
www.propertypro.co.uk
Directors: H McClean • L M McClean • Company Registration No: 3450574