Top Producer – 8i Improvements over 7i and still boring websites

February 22, 2008
By: Kurtis Holsapple
Author's Website: http://www.plugmylisting.com

Working with agents in the Portland, OR area, I run into many different contact management systems, but keep running into Top Producer. Just about every agent using this system is using version 7i, and with it’s quirks and annoyances, it seems to be doing a pretty good job of providing agents what they need to get their jobs done. With the release of 8i Top Producer answered some of my big problems with it. The user interface is much improved. It is easier to navigate and find what you need. It is a little faster (not sure if that is just a cache thing or what, but it seemed overall slightly faster) and best of all, it finally runs on Firefox! This is a great step to get agents into freedom to run their business the way they want, not the way they have to.

I personally don’t recommend their websites though. Simplistic, template based websites have their place. They should have their price too, and I believe that what you get for $59.95 a month isn’t really worth it. Integrated IDX solutions are pretty much standard now, and without Top Producer 8i (or 7i) already set up, you really loose out on the lead capturing benefits. For $20 a month, you can get the best web hosting that is available, and have $30 a month to spare on finding a great IDX solution. Your start up fee will probably be more than the $149 startup fee that you have with Top Producer but you aren’t stuck in a bubble.

Check it out if you want to. For everything that they offer, most agents can find a package that works with their budget (packages range from $59.95 to $249.95 each month).

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Categories: IDX, Identity Management, Websites

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Jeff on February 22, 2008 1:42 pm

What annoys me about TopProducer:

Working for a title company here in Portland, we use constant contact for sending out our monthly newsletters, class announcements, or flyers with a link to an image stored on a remote server. When I send the emails out, I instantly have several agents email me saying that their system won’t let them view the images.

Since I’ve never used the system, I can’t tell them how to fix it. Assuming there’s a way to allow the blocked content??? (Anyone wanna help?)

I emailed the support team at Top Producer, oh about 3 weeks ago, and still haven’t heard back. Talk about GREAT customer support. Not that I’m a customer, but I (like Curtis) work with a lot of agents who use it.

So, lately I’ve just been telling those agents that TopProducer isn’t that great, and they should switch to something else. Any recommendations?
Kurtis Holsapple on February 22, 2008 3:28 pm

The agents that I know have switched from Top Producer to something else all seem to move toward EurekaWare. You can read a post I did on that software here.
leannwalters on February 25, 2010 4:01 pm

So let me understand; you use Constant Contact? as in Constantcontact.com? Cause I've used TopProducer for over a year, and I used it for a couple of years way back when when it was 7i, I thought the 8i would be more user friendly but have not been convinced so decided to cancel the $36 a month payment. I would like to try Constantcontact but would love some feedback first.
SouthwestCharlotte on March 1, 2010 5:03 pm

I tried to cancel my Topproducer8i as well as TopProducer website today with much resistance from TopProducer's customer service representatives. I am 5 months short of the 12 month contract, but the website as fallen short of what I expected out of the product. Their tech support also promised certain things with their “integrated blog” which is nothing more than a free blog that is framed into a page on your website. I have had way more success so far with a free wordpress site with a decent template and $7 hosting at godaddy. If anyone is interested in knowing more about an inexpensive alternative to a template website like TopProducer feel free to contact me about how I have used WordPress and my real estate website.
Anonymous on March 2, 2010 1:05 am

P.S. My new website is Charlotte Real Estate website.
SouthwestCharlotte on March 2, 2010 1:03 am

I tried to cancel my Topproducer8i as well as TopProducer website today with much resistance from TopProducer's customer service representatives. I am 5 months short of the 12 month contract, but the website as fallen short of what I expected out of the product. Their tech support also promised certain things with their “integrated blog” which is nothing more than a free blog that is framed into a page on your website. I have had way more success so far with a free wordpress site with a decent template and $7 hosting at godaddy. If anyone is interested in knowing more about an inexpensive alternative to a template website like TopProducer feel free to contact me about how I have used WordPress and my real estate website.