ADVANCED ACCESS September 2004 Newsletter

September 2004 Newsletter

There is a harmony in autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!
--Percy Bysshe Shelley

ADVANCED ACCESS Unveils Newly Designed Customer Invoice

September 1st marked the beginning of some important changes at ADVANCED ACCESS…and they are changes that will make your lives easier!

Beginning in September 2004, ADVANCED ACCESS will unveil its newly designed customer invoice which will feature a number of changes and improvements designed for ultimate customer convenience.

“This is part of the on-going process that ADVANCED ACCESS has initiated that is designed to improve and streamline the total customer service-related experience,” stated Aaron Greeno, Senior Accountant. He continued, “…it is our desire to always look for ways to improve our service, while continuing to provide quality products and programs to our growing national customer base.”

Some of the newly designed features which will be showcased on the new invoice include:

• A section that will feature marketing and advertising information including marketing tips, discounts, featured speakers, programs, products and services,

• An updated monthly schedule that will list all conventions and seminars in various parts of the country that the ADVANCED ACCESS Mobile Website Team will be visiting.

• An improved invoice that will feature a perforated payment coupon, and a self-addressed, postage paid business reply envelope. This feature will allow customers to easily submit their payment invoice with the return postage paid for by ADVANCED ACCESS.

• The form will include an easy to use change of address section, and also a “Refer-a-Friend” contact form that allows current ADVANCED ACCESS customers and clients to earn FREE hosting for referrals who eventually sign-up for products, programs and services.

“This is another means of communicating to our clients,” stated Lito Felipe, Director of Accounting for ADVANCED ACCESS. Additional features include a re-designed, easy-to-read format, a new color theme and an improved “look” that will be more “client-friendly.”

Deborah Boza-Valledor Named Florida CRS of the Year

We are proud to announce that our own Deborah Boza-Valledor, Southeast Sales and Training Representative for ADVANCED ACCESS, and CRS, has received the honor of being named Florida's Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) of the Year for 2004. Boza-Valledor, a 20-year resident of Miami, was recognized for her dedication and service to the community, The Realtor® Association of Greater Miami & the Beaches (RAMB), The Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) and The Florida CRS chapter, as well as her top producing real estate sales performance. Her involvement in real estate began in 1992 and she currently serves the Greater Miami area and the International market.

Deborah, of The Team Advantage Realtors® and ADVANCED ACCESS has had many accomplishments over the years including FAR’s 2002 Realtor® Achievement Award, RAMB’s 2000 Realtor® of the Year and RAMB’s Civic Achievement Award in 1998 and 1999 for her work with Therapy Dogs at Miami’s Children’s Hospital and Jackson Memorial’s Children’s Cancer Clinic. Deborah is a past President of the Florida CRS Chapter (2002) and currently serves as a Regional Vice-President for the Council of Residential Specialists for Florida, Alabama, Bahamas, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The Council of Residential Specialists, a not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors®, awards the CRS designation to experienced Realtors® who have completed advanced professional training. Only 4% of Realtors® hold the CRS designation. We at ADVANCED ACCESS are honored to be associated with Deborah Valledor. For additional information about Deborah, please visit her website.

Floridians in Need Receive Help from Fellow REALTORS®

ADVANCED ACCESS (AA), Endorsed Business Partner of Florida Association of Realtors (FAR), presents a check for the Realtor Disaster Relief Fund. Pictured: FAR President-Elect Frank Kowalski, AA Representative Deborah Boza Valledor, FAR President Russell Grooms

Frances, the second hurricane to hit Florida in three weeks, caused additional property damage to the already battered state. The Florida Association of REALTORS® says assistance through its Disaster Relief Fund will be available to REALTORS® hit hard by the latest storm. To date dozens of REALTOR® associations and hundreds of members have contributed to the fund for a total of $785,000.

REALTORS® and associations are encouraged to contribute to the Florida Association of REALTORS®' Disaster Relief Fund or NAR's REALTORS® Relief Foundation to aid victims of Hurricane Charley and Frances.

Hurricane Charley was a category 4 hurricane that left thousands homeless, millions without power or water and property damage estimated in the billions of dollars.

"We have thousands of members who must find shelter for their families, incur large out-of-pocket expenses and shortly, return to their real estate career with few homes to market and little or no interest from buyers for the next few months," said Russell Grooms, President of the Florida Association of REALTORS®.

NAR is making a significant contribution to the FAR fund. ADVANCED ACCESS also made a contribution. All contributions to both funds will aid REALTORS® and needy Floridians. Funds will be administered by the Florida Association of REALTORS®.

Showcase Your Property Listings VISUALLY
-by Kathy Stevens, VisualTour.com

Many REALTORS® are still confused about their choices. Should they use a virtual to tour to showcase a property or should they just use 1 or 2 stills?

VisualTour® is a technology that enables YOU the agent to create and host your own custom branded virtual tour with a standard digital camera instead of paying an outside vendor to create the tour for you. You have the option of using stills, panoramics or a combination of both.

As agents find themselves selling to people in far away locations, virtual tours make this process an easier and more enjoyable venture. By providing a prospect with a variety of pictures rather than the usual 1 or 2, agents are finding that customers may even purchase the property “sight unseen” so to speak. Customers are surfing the Internet to locate agents that show more than just the front of the house.

When agents contact other agents on line they speak their mind such as the following comments from Judy Peterson and Judy Scott. Both agents have their VisualTours linked to their ADVANCED ACCESS websites.

“When it comes to features and service, you just can't beat the Visual Tour Product! Think of Tours for your Buyers and Tours for your Sellers and Tours on Diskettes or CD's for your listings, a tour for your favorite charity event, tours to put on your website, tours of the community features, tours for trailing spouses to help the family decide to BUY when they both can't be in town at the same time. Clients just love emailing the tour to family and friends - with your name, telephone # and picture on it!!”

“The software is extremely intuitive. You really can't make a mistake with VisualTour. Plus they really, really understand what service is about, just in case you do find the only way they haven't thought of to mess up. I can hardly imagine doing real estate without it. Everyone loves it, and that alone makes it unique! I agonized over it being "too expensive" and wish I had purchased long ago! Go for it! You won't be sorry!”

Judy Peterson, e-PRO, ABR, GRI, SRES, RECS
Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors

“I think you are the greatest! And I recommend you every chance I get. Met yesterday with an agent who grilled me about Visual Tours and ADVANCED ACCESS. I told her that Visual Tours was a must have!!!! (I've also been pleased with my relationship with ADVANCED ACCESS -- no complaints!)”

Judy Scott
Keller Williams Realty

This is the right time for you to reconsider your marketing strategies if you plan to be The Top Producer in your office. Check out the points that make VisualTour one of the easiest to use virtual tour products available.

• Tours contain up to 50 scenes; still photos, wide angle panoramic, or full 360° images - yes, you could have 50 360° images for one listing!

• Tours offer agent defined hotspots that intuitively link the images together, guiding prospects from one location to another through out the property.

• Tours can be created the SAME DAY you get the listing instead of waiting a week or two, since the agent creates the tours, no scheduling is required with an outside service provider.

• Tours brand the agent and company with a banner and the agent's photo.

• VisualTour® includes a free dynamic inventory list that can be linked to your site.

• YOU can change VisualTours at any time, even after they're online.

• VisualTour® provides UNLIMITED TOLL FREE one-on-one personal telephone training and UNLIMITED TOLL FREE technical support.

YOU ARE IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE TOUR!

Go to www.visualtour.com/advancedaccess and receive $50 off the Agent Starter Kit if ordered prior to October 1, 2004.

About the Author: Kathy Stevens is an experienced real estate and title insurance industry veteran where she has provided software training to hundreds of employees and agents. She has also used her considerable talents in graphical design and advertising for an international travel firm.

Kathy is currently the Senior Corporate Customer Coach and Marketing Consultant for VisualTour where she helps thousands of Realtors to use the VisualTour product to enhance their own competitive strengths in listing, marketing and recruiting.

ADVANCED ACCESS Unveils Mobile Website Team

It’s a simple idea whose time has come! It’s compact, informative, innovative, educational – but most of all, it’s MOBILE!

The ADVANCED ACCESS Mobile Website Team is visiting a neighborhood near you TODAY! If you’re a modern-day REALTOR® who is becoming more and more dependent on a real estate Website, it helps to know all you can about the industry, trends, and helpful hints on how to effectively utilize and integrate your Website into your everyday Internet Marketing Program.

ADVANCED ACCESS designed this idea in order to meet the growing demand from agents across the country to be provided with informative and instructional-type seminars on better ways to increase Internet Website effectiveness. The concept is to provide a group of seasoned individuals, who can effectively conduct seminars and classes that will help real estate agents improve their Internet presence by providing the latest in cutting edge technology to those who elect to attend the seminars. Topics covered in the presentation include Website history and effectiveness, modern Website marketing techniques, customer service issues, technical review and discussion, as well as an introduction and demonstration of various ADVANCED ACCESS products, programs and services currently being offered and available.

A combination of current staff and an impressive National Seminar Speaker line-up provides some of the most innovative and educational seminar “break-out” sessions and presentations at trade shows and conventions all across the country.

Gary R. Brackle, Vice-President of Affinity Marketing & Communications of ADVANCED ACCESS, discussed the initial focus of the newly announced program. “…Our primary goal was to make it more convenient for agents who already have a high demand on their time throughout the workweek. This program is able to provide them with a meaningful, informative and instructional seminar, at a location easy for them to attend. We felt it was crucial for a program of this type, to be tailored to the needs of our audience or clients.” He concluded, “…a program of this kind allows us to conduct training and instruction, but also gives us the flexibility to change the overall format or focus if the audience or attendees so desire, depending on a number of factors including time, size, location, emphasis and so on!”

Deborah Valledor, Southeast Regional Sales and Training Representative for ADVANCED ACCESS, was equally excited about the newly unveiled program. “We have actually completed a number of meetings so far, and last month we facilitated 85 students through the class!” She added, “…It is very unique for a vendor, such as ADVANCED ACCESS, to take the time to actually come back and teach the clients how to better use the products that they have purchased or offer guidance on how to specifically achieve their goals. One client who had our Website for four years claimed that we couldn’t possibly teach him anything new, and at the end of the session, the agent actually approached me and commented that he had learned nine new things that he could apply to his Website.”

Curt Singleton, CEO of the Sarasota Association of REALTORS® stated, “…Our members who have purchased ADVANCED ACCESS websites appreciate the addition of the “hands-on” training classes conducted by Deborah Valledor. Deborah has a sincere interest in each student and the classes fill up quickly. This training allows the member’s website to become a real business tool.” He concluded, “…It adds value to our member’s purchase and increases their overall knowledge of technology, and the addition of personalized training at the Association reinforces the benefit of Association membership.”

Interested parties who would like more information on the ADVANCED ACCESS Mobile Website Team, or to RSVP your meeting date, simply contact Maria Valderrama, Toll-Free at 1-888-902-4653, Ext. #1008.

Dates Set For NC Mobile Website Team Technology Seminars

Working in cooperation with one of our current Affinity Partner’s, the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® (NCAR), we have finalized the dates for our very own ADVANCED ACCESS Mobile Website Team to make two (2) appearances in that state during the week of Oct. 11th – 15th, 2004

On Monday, Oct. 11th, the Mobile Website Team will be holding a seminar from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS® (CEO Jerry Panz)

The Mobile Website Team then rolls over to the Asheville Board of REALTORS®, on Thursday, Oct. 14th, for an early morning seminar from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (CEO David West)

This is the first in a series of seminars of this kind, that will cover a wide range of topics that will instruct, guide, and teach attendees about the importance of the Internet, and eventually will also lead to some excellent venues that we can reach out to our current clients, as well as an excellent selling opportunity for our team members.

Jane Ellsworth, Sr. Vice President–Sales, and her team will be finalizing all of the logistics, and the marketing and advertising will be coordinated from our offices here, in cooperation with NCAR, Wilmington and Asheville.

All parties are extremely excited about this first effort in the NCAR region…and we will work to ensure that this project is as successful as the Florida sessions have been.

Fall Season Convention & Trade Show Schedule Announced

You are cordially invited to stop by and say hello to our staff when they visit your part of the country during any of the upcoming Trade Shows and Conventions across the country. The following appearances have been scheduled (as you can see, our sales staff is going to be BUSY!) For more information or an updated schedule, call us TOLL FREE at 888-902-4653 ext. 1008, or send an email to Maria Valderrama at mvalderrama@advancedaccess.com.

September, 2004
Sacramento Area Association of REALTORS® - September 16
Hawaii Association of REALTORS® - September 16-17
Texas Association of REALTORS® - September 19
Michigan Association of REALTORS® - September 19-21
North Carolina Association of REALTORS® - September 19-21
     Larry Lokker, National Seminar Speaker, will be speaking at the convention
     Sept. 20th at 9:45 am and 12 Noon
Maryland Association of REALTORS® - September 20-22
Tucson Association of REALTORS® - September 22
District 6, Inc. – September 22-23
Houston Association of REALTORS® - September 23
Virginia Association of REALTORS® - September 28
Illinois Association of REALTORS® - September 29-30

October, 2004
California Association of REALTORS® - October 5-7
     ADVANCED ACCESS presents Rick DeLuca, speaking on Tech Tuesday
     at the C.A.R. convention
Wisconsin Association of REALTORS® - October 10-12
Kansas Association of REALTORS® - October 11-13
Prudential University On Tour – October 12
NCAR Tech Fair – October 13
Buffalo Niagara Association of REALTORS® - October 13
Colorado Association of REALTORS® - October 17-19
Maine Association of REALTORS® - October 19-21
REALTOR® Association of Pioneer Valley – October 20
San Francisco Association of REALTORS® Expo – October 25
Prudential University On Tour – October 26
Osceola Association of REALTORS® - October 27

November, 2004
National Association of REALTORS® Convention – November 5-8
Prudential University On Tour – November 10

December, 2004
Triple Play (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) – December 7

You are welcome and invited to visit our staff at any of the above listed conventions and trade shows. We are looking forward to seeing you, and we would like to give you a FREE GIFT - our 3rd Edition Marketing Tips CD, a chronological compilation of our ADVANCED ACCESS Marketing Tips Library.

Featured AA Employee of the Month: Casey Griswold

This month we're featuring one of our talented and dedicated Sales and Marketing Managers, Casey Griswold. Casey has been on board with us for over 3 years, starting out with the company as a Sales Representative, and shortly thereafter he was promoted to a Managerial level within the department.

Casey grew up right here in Southern California with his parents, two sisters and one brother. In a previous newsletter we announced the engagement of Casey to our highly competent Human Resources Manager, Jamie LeBlanc. Casey and Jamie are planning to be married this spring, and they have been dating for over 4 years. Jamie realized Casey was “the one” the moment he asked Jamie’s daughters, Alyssa and Ashley, ages 5 and 6, to come along on their first date. Casey even spent most of his time during their date watching the girls have fun on the play equipment at McDonalds. The entire family bonded that day and the couple has been together ever since. When Casey proposed on Christmas morning, he got down on one knee with the girls standing right next to him. As Jamie says, “How could I say no to all three of them?” The couple is planning a wedding in the spring.

Casey has a dog named "Jack", appropriately named as he is a Jack Russell terrier. When he’s not working or spending time with Jamie and the girls, Casey enjoys playing cards, boxing and swimming. Casey is a devoted family man who truly loves spending time with his family.

Casey finds satisfaction in his job particularly because of the interaction with our clients and his co-workers. Commenting on his work, Casey says, “I am a licensed real estate agent and practice real estate on the side so I realize the value of the product that we offer and I enjoy knowing that I am providing our clients with an amazing service.”

Casey displays a strong sense of pride in his work here at ADVANCED ACCESS as he introduces our products and services to new clients. People like Casey truly make a difference, and we are proud and honored that he is a part of our team.

To close our newsletter, we would like to make a happy announcement:

On Sunday, September 5, 2004, our own ADVANCED ACCESS Chief Executive Officer - Kristina Morrison and President - Justin Davis, were united in marriage in a beautiful mountain setting in Telluride, Colorado at a small, private ceremony. We wish Kristina and Justin all the happiness in the world as they begin their new life together as a married couple. Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Davis!

August 2004 | Back to Main Page | October 2004