Contact Manager & Collab Center

Overview: What Is This Training All About?

Course Description:

In this course you will learn how to enter a new contact, setup a saved search, and how to setup email notifications. You will also learn how to setup a Collab Center notification and how to utilize Collab Center effectively.

Course Outline:

Module 1: Getting Started
- This module will cover the basics of navigating to the contact manager and creating a contact in Paragon.
Module 2: Saved Search
- This module will go over ways to setup a saved search to be used for notifications.
Module 3: Email Notifications
- This module will cover how to setup email notifications for a contact.
Module 4: Collab Center
- This module teaches how to setup Collab Center notifications for a contact, how to navigate Collab Center, and finally how to utilize Collab Center to the fullest.
Module 5: Support
- This module will go over further resources for support when using Contact Manager & Collab Center.

Module 1: Getting Started

There are a few options when it comes to logging into Paragon, all of which can be found on the WVMLS website (www.wvmls.com). By scrolling down on the main page, you'll find a navigation carousel. Within this carousel, clicking on the 'Paragon Login' button will take you to the login page.

The second option is found by clicking the 'Member Login' link at the top of the page and then navigating down to the Paragon Login Banner a little further down the page.

These will take you to the Paragon Login screen (pictured below). Here, you will input your username and password to log in to Paragon.

Module 1 Navigation

Adding A Contact

To add a contact, we will click on the Contacts button found in the Top Navigation. This will open a dropdown menu that houses three sections: Contact Manager, Seller Suite, and Contact Resources. For our purposes, we will click on 'Add Contact' under the Contact Manager section. This will open a new contact tab with fields that we will use to fill in the information for our new contact inside the Working Pane.

Contact Information

Contact Information (pictured above) is the first section you'll fill out for the contact. If you are just trying to create a quick contact for notifications, then First Name, Last Name, and Home Email are all that are required.

The Collab Center Search Options will be covered in Module 4 of this course. The Spouse/Secondary Name and Spouse/Secondary Email are used if there is a second person whom your client would like to be contacted with notifications as well. (See image above right for an example)

Address Information

Address Information (pictured above) is where you will enter the contact's physical address information. You can also select 'Contact Requests Privacy' to ensure they aren't included in mailing label batches you use through Paragon.

Telephone Information

Telephone Information (pictured above) is where you will enter the contact's telephone numbers. This is required if you want to be able to text listings to this contact.

Manage Contact

Manage Contact (pictured above) is where you can select what type of contact this contact is.

Use Reverse Prospecting, when selected, will allow other members of WVMLS to see that this contact has a search setup which matches their listing criteria. If the box is selected and no alias is chosen, then the listing agent will see a blank spot where the alias would be. The contact's information is not given out by the process; only the alias, if chosen, is ever seen.

Source is great for tracking how a contact was first discovered. Source comments are a simple box to put notes relevant to this contact.

Save The Contact

Arguably the most important step is to navigate and click the Save button at the top of the contact information section after entering all information for the contact. This will finalize and save this contact in your Contact Manager.

Success!

A green 'Contact Added Successfully' pop-up will show up on your upper right screen, informing you that the contact is now saved. After this occurs, Paragon will automatically open the tab for this contact.

Module 1 Navigation

Paragon is divided into 6 important sections. Below, we will provide brief overviews of each one.

Top Navigation

The Top Navigation has a selection of dropdown buttons. For the purpose of this course, we will be focusing on the Search, Contacts, and Preferences sections.

Tabbed Navigation

Paragon acts as an application within the browser to facilitate the ability to perform multiple tasks at once. It employs a Tabbed Navigation found below the Top Navigation. Anytime you open a section, such as contacts, it will create a tab in this area, allowing you to easily move from one section to another.

Left And Right Widgets

The right and left sections of Paragon's homepage are customizable widgets. The left section starts with Quick Search, Paragon News, and the Message Center. The right section starts with Market Monitor, Contact Activity (which we will be looking at in this course), and the Calendar widget. All of these can be moved from right to left, collapsed, or customized in terms of the parameters of what is inside.

Home Page Message (Center) / Working Pane

The Home Page Message is front and center on Paragon's Home Page. This is where you can get the latest information from WVMLS, including helpful navigation to MLS-specific areas. In addition, this is referred to as the Working Pane as it is where content will appear when you navigate around the application.

Bottom Quick Links

The Bottom Quick Links is a customizable navigation solution found in Paragon. If, over time, you find that you would like to jump straight to specific sections of Paragon, this is what you would utilize.

Module 1 Navigation

Getting to Contact Manager

Getting to Contact Manager follows the same starting steps that creating a contact does. First, click on the Contacts button at the top of Paragon to bring up the drop-down navigation, then click on View / Manage Contacts. This will open the tab labeled 'Contacts,' which is your Contact Manager.

Contact Manager's Top Navigation

Contact Manager's Top Navigation has a few navigation items:

Add New: This allows you to add a new contact.

Delete: This allows you to delete the selected contacts.

Import (pictured below): This allows you to import contacts from an Outlook CSV file or Google.

Export: This allows you to export your contacts in vCard format.

Print: This allows you to print the contacts.

Labels (pictured below): This allows you to print mailing labels for all selected contacts (unless privacy was selected in Contact Information).

On the far right side of this Top Navigation, you'll find the page index (pictured above). These controls allow you to adjust how many contacts are viewed on each page or to cycle through different pages.

Tip: Generally, if a contact is missing and you've been adding contacts, this is the culprit. Either changing the page size or clicking the arrow to go to the next page will show the additional missing contacts.

Contact Manager's Search

Below Contact Manager's Top Navigation is the Search function (pictured above). If you find that you have a large number of contacts and need to filter them down or find one quickly, this would be the tool to use.

Contacts in Contact Manager

The Working Pane of Contact Manager will display your contacts. This section gives you the ability to quickly glance and see relevant activity and information for each contact. We will go more in-depth on this in Module 4: Collab Center.

End of Module 1

Contact Tab Overview

The Contact Tab is divided into 8 sections:

Contact Activity, which we will go into further in Module 4: Collab Center.

Contact Information: This section contains the same information you entered when creating the contact. Going here will allow you to alter any information for this contact.

Buyer Activity: This is a drop-down menu section and will be auto-populated with 'Agent Recommended' and 'Add Search.' We will go over this section in depth in Module 3 and Module 4.

Seller Activity: This is a drop-down menu section and will be auto-populated with 'Associate Property.'

CMAS: This is where you can launch the CMA wizard to create a CMA for this contact.

More Information: This is a drop-down menu which has Notes, Tasks, Documents, Financials. Each of these is where you would associate any documents or extra information regarding this contact.

Messages History: We will go over this section more in-depth in Module 3 and 4.

Contact Summary: This is a one-page summary of all information pertaining to the contact. There is a useful 'Print Summary' button at the top which you can use to make a hard copy of this contact for your records."

Module 1 Navigation

Module 1

Module 2: Saved Search

Saving A Search

There are two avenues to save your search in Paragon. The first we discussed in Search Criteria; the second is after you go to the Results Page. On the Results Page, you will click the drop-down menu titled 'Save.' Here, you will click either 'Save Search' or 'Save Search As...' Both will open the same pop-up box, but with 'Save Search As...,' the name of your search will be blank.

Save Search Information Box

After clicking to Save Search or Save Search As..., you'll be greeted with a pop-up box. At the top are two tabs labeled 'Yourself' and 'Contact.' The 'Yourself' tab is where you will name your search (if you chose Save Search, it will auto-populate the name with the search class name), and you can also choose to set this search as your Default for this class of search. Clicking 'Save' in this box will save the search. Choosing 'Contact' will allow you to choose a contact from your already created contacts to assign this saved search to.

Choosing the Contact tab will allow you to enter a name for your search and choose a contact from your already created contacts (by selecting the magnifying glass icon in the 'Assign To A Contact' field) to assign this saved search to. It will also allow you to add a new contact, which will launch you into the creating a contact section.

The Search Is Saved Onto Notifications

Now that the search has been saved, we can utilize it for Email (Module 3) or Collab Center (Module 4) Notifications!

Module 2 Navigation

Starting A Search

Min

Clicking on 'Search' in the top navigation of Paragon will open a drop-down menu. This menu has 3 different columns labeled: Search By Class, Specialty Search, and Saved Search.

For the purpose of starting a search, we will only focus on Search By Class. Under this column, you can choose which class to search by, or if you want to do a search across multiple classes, choose the bottom option, 'Multi-Class'.

Search Tab Navigation

At the very top of the search page, you will see a tab navigation. This has three elements:

Criteria, which will automatically be selected and is how you navigate back to modify the search criteria.

Map Search, this is another way to refine your search criteria. To learn more about how to use this, take the Paragon 101 course which goes in-depth on how to search in Paragon.

Run Search, this will take you to your results view if there are any results.

Top Navigation In Search

Below the Tab Navigation is the Top Navigation of the search page. This navigation has several drop-down menus, starting with...

Load Search: This drop down allows you to load any saved search or load your default search.

Customize: This drop down allows you to customize the fields and containers present in the Search Criteria section.

Last Search: This will bring up a drop down of the last five searches you've done.

Save Search, this allows you to save the search. Both options operate the same, with the notable exception of 'Save Search As' not having a pre-filled search name.

The next to last options are Open All and Close All, which affect the search criteria section and will open all containers or close them.

The last section shows a count of the number of results as you enter criteria. Clicking 'Count' will refresh the number if it doesn't do it automatically, and clicking 'Search' will take you to the results tab.

Module 2 Navigation

Search Criteria Explained

Search Criteria is broken into three sections, which are called Containers. Each container has Fields that are filled in with the criteria you are searching for. These fields and the containers are customizable using the 'Customize' drop-down menu in the Top Navigation of the search page.

Primary Criteria (First Container)

Primary Criteria is the first container you'll see. We will only be touching on two of the fields in this container. To learn more about how to enter search criteria, take the Paragon 101 course.

Status: This field represents the status(es) of the listings you are searching for. Important Note: If creating a search for notification purposes to a client, you cannot include Preview status in this field. Doing so will cause an error banner to block saving the search.

Listing Visibility Type: This field is where you set what Listing Visibility Type you want to include. Important Note: If creating a search for notification purposes to a client, you must enter 'MLS Public Listing' in this field. If you don't, it will cause an error banner to block saving the search.

Secondary Criteria (Second Container)

Secondary Criteria is the second container and by default will be collapsed. Clicking on it will expand it, or clicking the 'Open All' button in the Top Navigation will also expand it. We will only be touching on one field in this container. To learn more about how to enter search criteria, take the Paragon 101 course.

Features: This is a unique field as it has three individual components. Here, you can make higher specifications in your search for a client. You can specifically call out features your client wants, doesn't want, or would like to have at least one of.

Advanced Criteria (Third Container)

Advanced Criteria is the third container and by default will be collapsed. Clicking on it will expand it, or clicking the 'Open All' button in the Top Navigation will also expand it. We will only be touching on one field in this container. To learn more about how to enter search criteria, take the Paragon 101 course.

Public Remarks: This field is great for entering criteria your client may have that isn't a feature but may be called out in remarks. For example, you can add 'fixer-upper,' which would help a client find properties that would benefit from some TLC.

Criteria Summary

To the right of the Search Criteria, there is a Criteria Summary section. This will start out blank and will fill with the criteria you've entered. It acts as a quick at-a-glance tool to remove or edit specific fields in the Search Criteria.

Once we hit 'Search' on either the Top Navigation or the Tab Navigation, it will take us to the results.

Important Note: In order to save a search to notify a client, the results must be at or below 500.

Module 2 Navigation

Module 2

Module 3: Email Notifications

Navigating to Add Search For Contact

To begin setting up an email notification, we will navigate back to the Contact Summary page that we went to in Module 1. On this page, we will click the Buyer Activity section to expand the drop-down menu. Here, we will be greeted by the 'Agent Recommended' and '+ Add Search' sections. For our purposes, we will click on '+ Add Search'.

Adding A Saved Search For Contact

This will open the 'Add Saved Search' section, which gives us two options: 'Add New Saved Search' or 'Load An Existing Saved Search.' Both are fairly self-explanatory, but let's dive into each option.

Add New Saved Search

This option will bring up a pop-up box that asks you to choose which class you are creating this search for. After selecting the class, you will follow the same steps outlined in Module 2 to create the Saved Search.

Load An Existing Saved Search

This option will bring up a pop-up box that asks you to choose which saved search you want to associate with this contact. Checking the box next to the search and clicking Save will then associate the search with the contact.

Module 3 Navigation

Navigating to Add Search For Contact

After associating a Saved Search with the contact under Buyer Activity, you'll now see the search as a selectable item. When the search is selected, it takes you to the Search.

Navigating to Add Search For Contact

When the search is selected under Buyer Activity, you'll be in the Search Management section. Here, you can remove the search, edit the search, or, when the search is set up for Collab Center (covered in Module 4), view Collab Center.

Navigating to Add Search For Contact

In the main section of Search Management, you will see the name of the search. If the search is set up for Collab Center, it will let you know if the Welcome Message has been sent (covered in Module 4). Under Automatic Notifications, there is a drop-down where you can choose to change it to Collab Center (this is the default when first associating a saved search with a contact), Email (which we will be using for the purpose of this module), or Off.

Navigating to Add Search For Contact

Once Email has been selected as the Automatic Notification type, a pop-up box will appear. This is the Email Notification Options box. More specifically, this is where you will customize the recurring email notification for your client.

In this box, you can change the recipients of these recurring emails, as well as the subject and notification frequency. You can also change what type of triggers cause the email notification. The example above has 'when a listing's price changes' or 'a new match is found via the saved search.' You are also able to add additional messaging to the email at the bottom. Once everything has been set, you will click OK to set up the recurring email.

Special Tip: If you want to vet results before sending them to the client, you will clear the To: field and add your own email in place of the client's.

Module 3 Navigation

Sending The Required Initial Email

The moment you've clicked OK and set up the recurring email message, a green Success box will pop up. This box informs you that you have to send an initial email to get the process for these notifications started. Clicking the 'Click Here' link will take you to the results for the search in spreadsheet format.

Starting The Initial Email Process

On the results screen, you will need to click the 'Email' button at the top to start sending the initial email.

Setting Up The Initial Email

After clicking on the Email button, a pop-up box will appear which allows you to affect how the search results are sent in the initial email (and all recurring email messages). CollabLink will send a link to a Collab Center with minimized interactivity. Hyperlink will send a link with which the client can view the results. PDF Attachment will compile the results into a PDF which is attached to the email, and finally, Insert Into Body will put the results in a spreadsheet format into the body of the email (Be Aware: this is the most limiting of the Email Types). When you have selected which type, clicking 'Compose Email' will continue you onto the last step of the initial email.

Finalizing The Initial Email

The Compose Email window will then open. In this window, you will need to add the client's email into the To: field. Here, you can change the subject or add additional messaging into the body. Once you have made your changes, you'll click the Send button, which will send off the initial email and kickstart the notifications.

Module 3 Navigation

How To Affect The Automatic Email Notification

After sending the initial email and returning to the Contact Information screen, you will see that the 'Save Search' under the 'Buyer Activity' drop-down has now become a drop-down itself with 'Email Notification 1.' If you click on 'Email Notification 1,' it will allow you to edit or delete the recurring notification.

Email Notification Settings

After clicking on 'Email Notification 1,' you will open the Notification settings. Here, you can turn on or off the notification, delete the notification, or edit the notification (which will open the Email Notification Options window).

Module 3 Navigation

Module 3

Module 4: Collab Center

Navigating To The Contact Notification Settings

Switching notification to collab center.png

In order to set up Collab Center for a contact, you will first navigate to the saved search you've assigned to your contact. When you are here, you'll click the drop-down menu under Automatic Notifications and select Collab Center.

Setting Collab Center Options

After selecting Collab Center, the information will refresh, and you'll be greeted with a blue 'Send Welcome Message' and a blue 'Options' link. To start, we will go into the 'Options' link.

In here, we can affect a number of different things from top to bottom:

Client Email Options: Clicking 'Message Body' will allow you to add a custom message to go out with the recurring email notifications for Collab Center.

Notification Date Range: This is where you set how long you want the notifications to go out. This will be affected by your preferences, but the auto-default is the maximum time, which is 12 months.

Notification Trigger: This is where you can alter what triggers a notification to go out.

Client Notifications: Here you can set the notification to go out immediately or at sent intervals (e.g., Daily), which is called Recurring.

Agent Notifications: Just like Client Notifications, this affects the frequency of the notifications.

To:, CC:, BCC: These act the same as an email and are used to specify the recipients.

Subject: This is the subject line for the emails that go out. You can alter this to a custom subject.

After we have set our options, the next thing to do is to send the Welcome message to finalize the setup of Collab Center.

Module 4 Navigation

Sending The Welcome Message

After setting your options, the next and final step to set up your client's Collab Center is to send a Welcome Message. This is accomplished by clicking the blue 'Send Welcome Message' button.

Customizing The Welcome Message

Once the blue button is clicked, a window will open which allows you to customize, preview, and send the welcome message. Here you can affect the To:, add any attachments, or add a Custom Message which will be placed at the top of the email. Clicking the Preview button will show you what the email looks like. The most important part of this email is the Link which will.

The most important part of this email is the 'Visit Your Site' button, which is how your client will access their Collab Center. Once you have finished customizing, clicking the 'Send' button will send the email. The window will then be replaced with a green success banner and a preview of the email that was sent. You can close this window, and you'll see the Saved Search info area has changed in Paragon.

Saved Search Info After Sending Welcome Message

If in Agent Preview Mode after Welcome Message.png

Starting from the top, instead of saying 'Welcome message not yet sent,' we are given 'Contact has not accessed the site.' This will change once your client has clicked on the link in the Welcome message and gone to their Collab Center. Activity is now expanded, showing Favorites, Possible, Rejected. In the example above, we have Agent Preview on, so two other columns are visible: Needs Approval and Disapproved. In Agent Preview, you can approve which results are visible to your client by approving them. Disapproved results will not be visible but can be switched over to Approved at a later time if need be. Where before we had a blue 'Send Welcome Message' button, we now have a comments section. Any comments you and your client make through Collab Center will be visible here. Now that you are familiar with this new look, let's move on to learning how Collab Center looks for your client and how they interact with it.

Module 4 Navigation

Finding Collab Center Activity

Now that the client is interacting with Collab Center, the last step is to follow up on activity. There are multiple places to find your client's activity within Collab Center.

"On the right side of the home page of Paragon, there is a Contact Activity widget. This widget will show the recent activity from your clients. Clicking the 'View Site' button will take you to that client's Collab Center. You can also click the tabs: 'Comments' will show the most recent comments from your clients, and 'Searches' will show any client-created searches from Collab Center. Note: You will only have activity on the 'Searches' tab if you have allowed clients to do new searches in Collab Center.

Inside the Contact Manager, next to the contact, their recent activity will be shown. Clicking on the 'View' button will take you to the client's Collab Center. Clicking on the number under the 'Undecided,' 'Favorites,' 'Possible,' 'Rejected' columns will open a spreadsheet of those results. Any time there is a blue chat bubble icon, it can be clicked to go to the client's comments. From there, you can respond to the client's comments.

When you click on the contact, the first section within the Contact's information is 'Contact Activity.' Here, you will see the activity broken down by saved searches for this client. Much like the contact manager, there are a number of links that can be followed to get relevant results or go directly to recent comments from the client.

The last and most direct way you can get notified of your client's activity is through the email notifications. Unless unchecked, Paragon will automatically send a notification email to you when your contact makes a comment or changes a listing to Favorite, Possible, or Rejected. These emails will come through as "Collaboration Center Activity Notification".

These are the main ways to check on your contact's activity. In the last part of this module, we will briefly go over how to shut off the notifications for your contact.

Module 4 Navigation

Shutting Off Automatic Notifications

Whether using the automatic email notification or the Collab Center notification, the method to shut off the notification is the same. After navigating to the notification (found under Buyer Activity), click the drop-down menu labeled 'Automatic Notifications' and choose the 'Off' option.

If you want to remove the notification and the saved search in one go, click the 'Remove Search' button in the navigation menu (while looking at the saved search in Contact Information) and choose to delete the search for the contact or for you and your contact.

Congratulations on finishing the Collab Center module. In the next module, we will go over some support resources for further learning on Contact Manager and Collab Center.

Module 4 Navigation

Collab Center Home

The first time your client goes to their Collab Center, they will be greeted with a helpful overlay guiding them on how to navigate the home screen. The notable elements of the home screen are:

The Updates Dashboard, which shows the total amount of updates, how many are New results (if you are using it as a notification trigger for your client), how many have a Price change (only if you are using it as a notification trigger for your client), how many had a Status change (only if you are using it as a notification trigger for your client), how many had an Open House (only if you are using it as a notification trigger for your client), and how many added their First Photo (even if set as a trigger, this would always be 0 since WVMLS requires the first photo upon listing).

The My Listings Dashboard shows how many of the results are Undecided (this is the state all new results start in), Favorites, Possible, or Rejected, and Agent Picks (If you utilize the Agent Recommended section found under the contact information in Paragon, this will be where those listings show up).

The Tabbed Navigation in Collab Center is an in-browser application. These tabs allow the client to jump between Listing Activity (this is the home page which shows their results), Communication (shows all comments back and forth and on which properties), and Saved Folders (where their Favorites, Possible, and Rejected listings are stored, as well as custom-made folders).

How Client's Interact With Listings On Collab Center

Aside from Favoriting, Possibiling, or Rejecting a listing, a client can go into the listing details and will be greeted with three more ways they can interact. The 'Start An Offer' section is found on the right side of the listing details. This allows your client to show interest in starting an offer on the property. Note: This will not send any communication to the listing agent. Instead, it will trigger a notification (via email and text) to you, letting you know that your client wants to start an offer.

After the 'Start An Offer' section is the 'Send A Comment' section. This section allows your client to make comments about this specific listing.

After the 'Send A Comment' section is the 'Request a Showing' section. This section allows your client to send a request for a showing at a specific time. Note: This does not send a showing request to the listing agent. Instead, it will send a notification to your email, letting you know the client is interested in a showing.

These are some of the main ways your client will interact on Collab Center. The next step is to find out how to see this activity.

Module 4 Navigation

Module 4

Module 5: Support

If you'd like to learn this information in a live class environment use the calendar below to register for the next upcoming monthly Contact Manager and Collab Center class:

At WVMLS we are here for you! If you have any questions, suggestions, or help of any kind give us a call at (503) 399-8657 or email us at support@wvmls.com.