We reviewed Top Producer CRM in May 2012. Since then, we've been hearing rumors that the team is going to make some big improvements. We met with them again this week to see what's new and discovered that they weren't kidding: This isn't your mother's Top Producer.

The Goal Remains the Same

It's not the destination that has changed at Top Producer, just the routes you can take to get there. The goal behind the CRM is, as it has always been, that an agent can log in and immediately know what they need to do that day. The difference is that this can now be accomplished from any Web-enabled device and done with even greater ease and efficiency.

Let's take a look at some of the major changes.

Follow-Up Coach

According to Top Producer, the goal of its new Follow-Up Coach is to do more with less time and less effort. When the agent logs in, the Follow-Up Coach will give them five people to follow up with that day. Those five people will come from a variety groups within their database and essentially represent "hidden opportunities."

This is what Follow-Up Coach looks like:

What do you do with it? Simply reach out to each of the five contacts in Follow-Up Coach and check in. Talk about the weather, the market, whatever you desire. You can call or send an email. If email is your contact method of choice, handy templates are already included in Top Producer. If you use Follow-Up Coach as Top Producer intended, you can log in everyday, spend 10 minutes and possibly gain new business.

Reading about Follow-Up Coach, it may become clear that grouping contacts properly is very important in Top Producer. There are some categories already built in, but you can also add your own. How you categorize a contact will determine if and when it is displayed in Follow-Up Coach. The feature will also come into play when you create targeted marketing campaigns (a longstanding and very popular feature of Top Producer).

Sales Pipeline

Sales Pipeline is Top Producer's foray into lead management. The CRM can capture leads from about 50 sources, including realtor.com®, leading website companies and more. Text messages alert agents when they get a new lead, and that lead will also appear in Follow-Up Coach.

The Sales Pipeline helps move prospects from start to finish, lead to close. The categories are:

• New: pending action
• Engage: you've followed up on the lead, but it hasn't progressed
• Future: longer-term opportunities
• Active: clients you're working with at the moment
• Closed: past clients

Email Sync and Other Integrations

A lot of agents use Microsoft Outlook and Gmail. Top Producer syncs with Gmail and Microsoft Outlook, including contacts, calendar and email. So, you can establish one central system to talk to your other programs.

This isn't the only way Top Producer "talks" to other technologies you're already using. Top Producer has also integrated with Dropbox and Google Drive. Documents on either of those platforms are displayed as a link within Top Producer and can be emailed from within the CRM. This is something Top Producer's customers have been requesting for some time!

Popular Features Still in Place

The features that have made Top Producer one of the most popular real estate CRMs are still there. For instance, the drip marketing campaigns are still available and can be targeted to specific contact groups. The mobile CRM is better than ever. And, because it is browser-based, it can run on any Web-enabled mobile device, which is included for free to all Top Producer users.

In summary, the things about Top Producer that have always been a draw are still there, and it has added some interesting new features. It may be worth taking another look at this attractive CRM option.

Next Steps

• Visit www.TopProducer.com