Clients Introduction
The clients module consists of four submodules namely, Contacts, Profiles, Leads and Subscribers (collectively referred to as Clients). Let’s take a look at the logic of the clients module below.
Clients overview
Each submodule (Contacts, Profiles, Leads and Subscriptions) performs its own function with in the system as a whole, the base logic is that a contact (read more about contacts in the Contacts section below) is the basic information of a client, there are 5 types of contacts, Buyers, Sellers, Landlords, Tenants and General Enquiry.
Access to the clients module is heavily dependent on the User Group access that has been allocated to a user. To allow your agents to see all clients within the company you would simply provide View = Yes access for each client type while editing the specific user group. Should you prefer that agents see only their own clients, you would allocate View Own access.
Two very important flags which we suggest be turned on are the View for Associated Contacts flag and the Update for Associated Contacts flag.
These two access levels allow agents to be associated with clients and allows them to view and edit the details of the buyer, lead and profile; each submodule of Clients has the View and Update for Associated Contacts Flags, which can be seen when adding/editing User Groups.
As a contact can only exist within a branch once (on a specific email address), adding the View and Update for Associated Contact flag provides access to the contact to other agents.
Now, let's have a look at a scenario to show you the Clients module in action.
Sbo, an agent in the Prop Data branch added a new seller contact record with email address joe@propdata.net, Sbo will be handling Joe's sole mandate. However Joe is also now actively looking for a new house. Joe completes an enquiry form for a new house on your website but, on another agent's listing (in this case, Hennie's listing).
As Joe already has a contact record (seller) created by Sbo, once the enquiry form has been completed by Joe, Hennie will automatically be added as an associated agent to the contact record created previously by Sbo. Joe's contact record will now also be updated to contain Contact types: Seller and Buyer.
The system will automatically create a lead record (of the specific listing Joe enquired on) and a buyer profile for Joe with the following criteria: Listing type, Property Type, Price and Area/Suburb. We know how to add the criteria as we know all the details of the listing Joe enquired on.
As you can see with the above scenario, the View and Update for Associated Contacts flag is crucial in allowing Hennie access to Joe's contact record.
As an agent, you can edit your Contacts and allow your colleagues access to the contact or profile by adding them as Associated Agents. Admins can do the same to allow multiple agents access to a seller contact for example. Read more about editing contacts and profiles in the sections below.
Why does access matter? In the case where agents are able to view and edit all, or view all and edit own Client types (User Group access) they will be able to see all Client records within the branch, however, in most cases agents will not want other agents within their office being able to see their buyers and tenants, this is where the above View/Update for Associated Contact permission comes into play. In the case of our above scenario: Hennie now has a legitimate right to view the contact record for Joe as Joe made an enquiry on his listing.
Why is email address a required field? Multiple functions across the system depend on a valid email address being added for contacts. Functions like emailing the seller feedback report to your seller, mailto: links on various pages and valuation reports all require an email address for that functionality to work correctly.
Also remember that in-terms of POPIA, buyers, sellers, tenants etc. need to be informed that you have their data, this is done via an opt-in mailer that gives the buyer, seller, tenant etc. the power to choose what data of theirs they wish to allow you access to and what their communication preferences are. Adding a fake email address is simply adding bad data to your database. Additionally, the system cannot send automated alerts to a buyer/tenant who has an invalid email address.
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