A pretty consistent flow of raves for lead management software Follow Up Boss has been making the rounds on social media sites, including Facebook Group streams like Tech Support Group for Real Estate Agents and What Should I Spend My Money On?

There's no doubt it's a favorite tool for real estate agents. But with the recent acquisition between Move, Inc., and FiveStreet, Inc., there seems to be a front runner worthy of a comparison in FiveStreet.

But first, let's make one thing clear. Neither one of these tools are full-service CRMs (Customer Relationship Managers). What they are, however, is an answer to the nightmare of multiple lead generating sites with no single place to manage them.

So let's look at some of the best features the two products have to offer:

1. Lead Routing to Team/Agent

Response times are one of the biggest challenges in any industry, real estate included. With a whopping 48 hours between the initial receipt of the generated lead and the time the agent calls them back, it wouldn't be difficult to improve on the average response times. These tools aid in getting the leads funneled to an agent immediately. Both Follow Up Boss and FiveStreet will immediately send both an email and text to the broker or agent.

2. First One to the Lead Wins

While Follow Up Boss has a "Round Robin" lead funneling system, FiveStreet can be sent to one particular agent (a buyer agent or a listing agent, depending on the type of lead) or to a team of agents. The team option is undeniably an added benefit, as it reinforces the immediate response need of each of the leads and brings a sense of urgency to team members; first one to the lead wins.

In addition, should a lead not be claimed, FiveStreet will automatically rebroadcast the lead to another team (or single agent) within five minutes, 20 minutes, one hour, four hours or one day.

3. Immediate Client Contact

With all this talk about response times... Once the agent or team member has received the lead – now what? Both FiveStreet and Follow Up Boss will send an automatic (and customizable) email to the prospect upon the agent claiming the lead.

FiveStreet takes this a step further, however, with a customizable text message being sent to the prospect, too (or instead of an email).

To make these feel as un-automated as possible, however, these text messages are delivered a few minutes after the lead is claimed. While emails are sometimes opened, texts are almost always viewed.

4. Drip Campaigns

Follow Up Boss includes its own drip campaign, where the contents of the emails are customizable, but the schedule of when they are sent are not. This is made possible by the integration of the email marketing tool, MailChimp. However, FiveStreet's cumulated leads can be instantly pulled into Top Producer's CRM, where existing users can utilize the vast number of fully customizable email drip campaigns, along with other marketing tools including BombBomb, Contactually and MailChimp.

5. Performance Indicators

One of the most important part of any business model is the ability to track the performance of your marketing dollars. With literally dozens of lead generating sites being pulled into one central location (including realtor.com®, Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com, Craigslist and Listings-to-Leads), determining which lead provider is giving you the biggest bang for your buck is now a reality with FiveStreet. Each new lead is counted as they are pulled into your FiveStreet system and a easy to read and monitor chart is readily available at any given time. With Follow Up Boss, you'll need to export your leads into Excel to see this information.

Both Follow Up Boss and FiveStreet allow you, as a Team Leader or Broker, to also monitor your agent's progress with each lead, which will allow you to see who's responding the quickest, who's following through, etc.

6. The Pricing

While FiveStreet offers a single agent solution, at $19/month, Follow Up Boss is more focused on team use and does not promote their single agent option openly (which is privately priced at $49/month).

FiveStreet's team/brokerage solution is priced at a relatively cheap price of $49/month for up to four team members (additional agents are charged $10/month/agent), versus Follow Up Boss' comparable solution priced at $129/month for up to three agents, all the way up to $499/month for up to a maximum of 25 agents.

We think that both products offer some pretty exceptional tools to help agents alleviate their lead management nightmares and solve the immediate response needs customers have come to expect.

Have more questions about Follow Up Boss or FiveStreet? Let us know in the comments below!

To view the original article, visit the Tech Savvy Agent blog.