Contact Attributes Overview

Basic Elements

All contacts entered into the Focus3 SalesManager system are required to be placed on one of several Action Cycles specifically designed to work with your marketing efforts. The cycles ensure that your contacts stay in motion until an appointment is scheduled, a sale is recorded or a contact is disqualified. These cycles can queue any combination of letters, calls or e-mail.

By using Focus3 SalesManager you will be able to manage your contacts SalesPathTM. The SalesPathTM  of a contact is initially determined and defined by the following characteristics:

• Inquiry Type
• Relationships
• Lead Status
• Campaign
• Action Steps/Action Cycles/Action Cycle Aliases

Inquiry Type is used to measure and track HOW a contact is received - not what generated the inquiry.  This is useful when measuring traffic.  The following is an example of Inquiry Types:

• Email/Website
• Mail 
• Phone-In
• Referral
• Walk-In
• Event

A Relationship tracks the connection with your contacts in the database. 

Below are examples of Relationships in Focus3:

• Advocate - Community supporter, banker, politician, vendor,
• Broker - Cooperating Real Estate broker or realtor
• Builder - Potential home builder
• Employee - Community employee or partner
• Former Owner - Former owner of this specific property
• Owner - Owner of this specific property
• Owner Pending - Specific Property Owner whose contract has yet to be finalized
• Prospect - Sales contact

A Lead Status is assigned to each contact to help qualify them for the sales process. It must be understood that contact qualifying is subjective and is the sole discretion of the Sales Executive. A simple, self-explanatory qualifying process provides the most efficient way to gauge the quality of contacts in the database. Many communities use this to measure the time-frame for a site visit or even a purchase decision.

All contacts should immediately be qualified with the following ranking scale:

• New: This is the default status for all new contacts that are initially entered in the system.

Once the contacts have been contacted they are reclassified to one of the following lead statuses:

• A (Hot)
• B (Warm)
• C (Cold)
• Opt Out: Used only if a contact specifically requests not to be contacted in the future or requests to be removed from the database. Do not use Opt Out if the contact has been disqualified by the Sales Executive for any reason or cannot be successfully
• Dead: Used only if a contact has been disqualified or cannot be successfully contacted. There is no potential for this contact to tour or purchase in the future. Do not use Dead if the contact requests to be removed from the
• Other - Someone who is not in the sales funnel - like an employee, broker or vendor.

A Campaign is how the contact discovered your community and typically, every marketing Campaign is a member of one of the following Campaign Categories:

• Billboards and Signage
  • Billboard
  • Entrance Sign
• Direct Mail
  • Business Reply Card
• Offsite Events
  • DC Real Estate Show
  • Miami Boat Show
• Print Media
  • Coastal Living
  • NY Times
  • Wall Street Journal
• Radio/TV
  • WNCN
  • Wall Street Journal
• Referrals
  • Broker Referral
  • Friend Referral
  • Owner Referral
• Web/Internet Media
  • ideal-living.Com
  • privatecommunities.com
  • carolinaliving.com
  • Website
  • Google search engine

What is an Action Cycle?

Focus3 uses Action Cycles to navigate contacts through the inquiry to sale conversion process - also known as the SalesPathTM. Each Action Cycle consists of one or more scheduled events (mail, phone, email) which are used as a communication plan to help build a Relationship.  Action Cycles are designated to automate and ensure proper follow up with a contact. All contacts are placed on an Action Cycle to put them in motion. One Action Cycle could queue multiple Action Steps.

What is an Action Step?

Action Steps are independent actions which are automated within the Action Cycle. Action Cycles consist of a series of one or more Action Steps in a specific order and separated by a pre-defined number of days. For example, the Introduction - Req Info action cycle consists of two Action Steps:

• Introduction Letter/Brochure (Correspondence)
• Intro - Follow-up (Call)

What is an Action Cycle Alias?

An Action Cycle Alias is an alternative name for an Action Cycle. Action Cycle Aliases allow for a single Action Cycle to be referenced by multiple names. For example, an Action Cycles Alias named Not Interested and an Action Cycles Alias named Not Qualified could both point to a Future Prospect Action Cycle.

Action Cycle Aliases are the only options visible in the Action Cycle drop-down menus located in the Call Details, Inbound Details, Reservation Details, and Tour Details pages.  Unlike Administrators, users/sales do not automatically have access to action cycles unless they have an alias setup.