MLX Professional Resource Center

Training Classes & Seminars

For a schedule of local training classes, please contact your real estate board or Realtor association directly.

User Guides & Tutorials

Download the MLXchange with MLX Professional User Guide (PDF)
Online tutorials for MLX Professional are available here.

Technical Support

Users can get help setting up and using MLX Professional by visiting www.MLXhelp.com or by calling 1-888-825-5472 (in the 954 area code, call 954-492-1200).

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's the difference between MLXchange and MLX Professional?

MLXchange is paid for by your monthly MLS dues. MLX Professional, on the other hand, is an optional add-on that you can subscribe to on a month-to-month basis. (Many MLSs have site licenses, so there might not be a monthly fee in your area. Please check the list on the Buy Now page.) MLX Professional includes an Agent Web Site with private Client Web Pages, Internet lead capture, e-mail templates, and enhanced client and task management - all totally integrated with your MLXchange MLS system.

Q: How do you unsubscribe from MLX Professional?

If you want to unsubscribe from MLX Professional, you can do so at any time by logging in to MLXchange, clicking Settings in the top right corner of the screen, clicking Personalize, clicking Agent Add-Ons, and then clicking the Unsubscribe link beside the listing for MLX Professional.

Q: If I unsubscribe from MLX Professional and then decide to re-subscribe later, will all my information be lost?

If you re-subscribe to MLX Professional from the same MLXchange user account, all of your previous information will be automatically restored when you re-activate your subscription.

Q: What is the MLXchange e-mail address for?

A: Unlike the base version of MLXchange, MLX Professional provides you with your own e-mail account and Inbox for communicating with your clients. When you get e-mail in this Inbox from people in your Client Manager, the program automatically associates the message with the appropriate client and maintains a communications history that can be viewed from the Client Record.

When you subscribe to MLX Professional, you are prompted to update your contact information and choose your new MLXchange e-mail address. The program provides a default address that you can (and probably should) change to something more memorable. Note that you can only change the portion of the e-mail address that comes BEFORE the "@" symbol. If you do not plan on using the MLXchange e-mail address, be sure to change the system default e-mail settings. See below.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The e-mail address CANNOT be modified once it has been saved.

Q: Why am I no longer getting e-mail replies at my regular address?

When you were prompted to update your contact information during the subscription process, the program selected your new MLX Professional e-mail address as your default "Reply To" address. When this option is selected, any replies to messages that you send from MLXchange will automatically go to your new MLX Professional e-mail address.

If you want replies to your e-mails to go to your Primary e-mail address instead, be sure to change this selection under Settings, Personalize, Contact Information. You can change this setting whenever you want.

Q: Why is the information under the Scheduled Client Interaction and the Client History on my Client Records not displayed on my Web site's Client Web Pages?

This information can be displayed or hidden using a setting. To change the setting, click Tools, Agent Web Page Setup, and then Site Rules. Make sure "Allow clients to view the ‘Tasks’ section on Private Client View" is selected if you want this information to be displayed on your Client Web Pages.

Q: Why don't some listings show up in the Featured Properties section of my Agent Web Site?

In order for a particular listing record to appear on your agent Website, or in the results of an IDX search (if available), it must usually pass four tests:

Your MLS must have IDX globally enabled
The Listing Office must participate in the IDX program
The Listing record must indicate IDX = Yes
The Listing must have an active status

Other local IDX/Broker Reciprocity rules may also be in effect.

Q: What is the address of my Agent Web Site?

Every MLX Professional Agent Web Site has its own unique Web address. To view the Web address, click Settings, Personalize, Agent Web Page Setup, Web Site Domain. You can personalize the first part of the address (e.g., "http://[YOUCHOOSE].[mls].mlxchange.com"), but not the second part (e.g., not the "[mls].mlxchange.com" portion).

Q: Can I use my own domain name with the Agent Web Site?

Yes. Instead of the domain name provided, you also have the option of using the MLX Professional Agent Web Site with an entirely different domain name that you already own. To do this, enter your domain name in the field provided under Advanced Options in the Web Site Domain area of the Agent Web Page Setup section.

You must also ask your domain registrar to redirect visitors from your domain to your MLX Professional Agent Web Site. (Your domain registrar is the company that sold you your domain name.) If you administrate your own domain, you can set up the redirection yourself using one of three methods:

The preferred method is to add a CNAME record to your zone file that points your domain (e.g., "www.realtysuperstar.com") to MLXchange, e.g., "mls.mlxchange.com." (Do NOT point to your secondary domain (e.g., "StaceyJones.mls.mlxchange.com"). This option can usually be found under advanced domain settings, and is typically only available if you also subscribe to your registrar's "DNS Hosting" service. Please contact your registrar if you cannot locate this option.
If method 1 is not available to you, then you should be able to simply forward your own domain to your Agent Web Site at "StaceyJones.mls.mlxchange.com" (for example). The disadvantage of this method is that "StaceyJones.mls.mlxchange.com" will appear in the browser address bar, not your own domain name.
Some domain registrars offer the option to "frame" your domain forwarding so your domain name (e.g., "www.realtysuperstar.com") will appear in the browser address bar. In other respects, this option is essentially the same as option 2. This is not the most desirable method, however, because it prevents site visitors from book marking specific pages within your site.

Tips to Get the Most out of MLX Professional

Customize Your E-Mail Templates

MLX Professional’s e-mail templates give you the power to quickly and easily keep in touch with your clients and prospects. If you take the time to customize the sample templates and set up additional e-mail templates, you can improve your business through more personalized client communications and more effective prospecting.

Customize Your Agent Web Site

Using the Agent Web Page Setup options, you can customize your personal Agent Web Site, complete with your own template, featured properties, and branding.

To access the MLX Professional Agent Web Site configuration options, you must be logged into MLXchange. Click the Settings link near the top of the screen to access your Web site configuration options. Click Personalize to expand the section, and then click Agent Web Page Setup. From here, you can perform all the different actions required to set up and customize your MLX Professional Agent Web Site.

Buy Your Own Domain Name

If you don't have one already, it's a good idea to buy your own domain name for your Agent Web Site. In today's Internet era, a good domain name is as important as your phone number. Domain names are purchased through Domain Name Registrars such as www.NetworkSolutions.com, but a there are literally thousands of other registrars that you can use to purchase your domain name.

When picking a domain name, try to choose something that is unique, memorable, and easy to communicate (i.e., no weird spelling, no hyphens, etc.). You should also try to choose a name that doesn't tie you down to a specific broker or real estate organization. Domains are very inexpensive to register, so you may want to consider registering your domain for multiple years up front.

Leverage Your Existing Web Site

If you already have a Web site that draws traffic and generates e-mail leads, you will probably not want to abandon it to use your MLX Professional Web site exclusively. There are a couple of different things you can do to make your existing Web site work with your new MLX Professional Web site:

Integrate the two sites. You can continue using your existing Web site as your home page, and simply add links to it that let Web visitors navigate directly to specific parts of your MLX Professional Web site, e.g., the property search engine (if available) and your Contact Me page. The potential drawback to this method is that, if the two sites look quite different, it will be obvious to the visitor that they are navigating between two different sites. This can largely be overcome, however, by framing the content of the MLX Professional Web pages within your existing site template.
Redirect visitors automatically. MLX Professional allows you to automatically redirect people from your established domain to your MLX Professional Web site while still showing your domain name in the browser's address bar. Refer to the FAQ section above for more information on how to do this.

Optimize Your Web Site’s Key Words

To make it easier for Internet search engines to find your MLX Professional Agent Web Site, click Advanced Options in the Domain Name area of the Web site control panel. Under Search Engine tools, enter your Web site Title, Description and Keywords.

The keywords you choose for your Web site will have an impact on how your site will perform in search engines. Try to figure out what words you might enter in a search engine to find a site like yours.

Submit Your Site to the Search Engines

In order for the public to find your Web site, it’s also important that you submit it to the most popular Internet search engines. Done manually, this can be a very laborious and time-consuming process. Thankfully, there are several free services on the Web that can automate the process for you. AddMe.com is one example of a site that offers free search engine submission services. If you want, you can choose to pay for more sophisticated search engine submission technology and/or ongoing search engine submission services.

Use the Client Web Pages to Sell Yourself

While your MLX Professional Web site is great for advertising your listings, it truly excels as a customer communications tool. The Client Web Pages can be used as a customer service portal for your existing clients, as well as a powerful tool for convincing prospects to choose you as their agent. Imagine the following scenario:

MLX Professional forwards a new lead to your pager. Expanding the Property List section of the new client record that the system has created, you see that the prospect is interested in a listing that she saw on your Web site. After looking at the prospect’s preferences, you perform a search and add several similar properties to her Property List for display on her private client page. You quickly preview the Web page and then e-mail the page link to the prospect with the click of a button.

Only a couple minutes after you received the lead, you pick up the phone and call the prospect back: "Hi, Ms. Smith? This is Stacey Jones from ABC Realty. I see that you are interested in a property that you saw on my Web site. I've taken the liberty of preparing a list of other properties that might interest you, and I've set up a private Web page for you where you can view these properties when you've got a chance. All you have to do is click the link that I e-mailed to you a few moments ago."

Of course, MLX Professional’s Client Web Pages were designed primarily for ongoing customer relationship management. The Scheduled Interaction section shows any uncompleted tasks so clients are kept abreast of upcoming showings, appointments, etc. The Client History section shows completed tasks, reinforcing the value of your services by clearly showing everything you've done for your clients to help them buy or sell a home. Note that only the event’s date, type, and Subject (topic) are shown on private client pages, so make sure you enter a good, descriptive subject when you add new events to your task list in MLX Professional (e.g., "Ad placed in the Times, page D13").

Manage Your E-mail Addresses

Your e-mail can be greatly simplified by maintaining three separate addresses: a personal e-mail address (e.g., a Hotmail account) for communicating with friends; a business address for communicating with peers, vendors and other business associates; and a second business address for communicating exclusively with clients. This client-oriented e-mail address is the one provided by MLX Professional.

E-mail addresses beyond these three are probably unnecessary and should be phased out over a period of time. Make sure you tell the appropriate contacts about any e-mail addresses you plan to discontinue, and the new address where they can reach you. You should continue to check your old addresses for mail for a period of at least two months before canceling the addresses entirely.

Forward Your E-mail Messages

If you have an existing e-mail address that you really want to continue to use, you may consider using an e-mail forwarding service to redirect incoming e-mail to your new MLX Professional e-mail account. Many Internet Service Providers offer this service for free or for a small monthly fee.

If your e-mail address is with a personal domain (e.g., bob@bobsrealestate.com) it is possible to set up e-mail forwarding to MLX Professional free of charge. MyDomain.com and ZoneEdit.com are examples of Web sites that offer free domain management services, including e-mail forwarding.

To set up e-mail forwarding from your own domain to MLX Professional:

You must first set up your domain name so that it use the chosen domain management service provider for DNS resolution. (DNS is the mechanism that translates domain names - which are text - into the string of numbers that Web servers use to locate your Web site.) To do this, log in to the control panel of your domain name registrar (i.e., the site where you bought your domain name in the first place).
In the control panel, you should find a setting for "Domain Name Servers" or "DNS." This is where you will enter the DNS information for your chosen domain management service provider. In the case of MyDomain, the settings would be:
Primary: ns1.mydomain.com
Secondary: ns2.mydomain.com
Secondary: ns3.mydomain.com
Secondary: ns4.mydomain.com
Once you have made these configuration changes for your domain name, log in to your chosen domain management service provider, add your domain name to the list of domains you want to manage, and follow their instructions for enabling e-mail forwarding/redirection.

Note that we do NOT endorse the services of MyDomain.com or ZoneEdit.com, and do not provide support for problems arising from e-mail forwarding. Some forms of e-mail forwarding may remove or otherwise disable the XML tags contained in MLX Professional e-mail leads, so you may have to experiment with one or more e-mail forwarding services to determine compatibility with MLX Professional.

Generate "Smart" Leads from Other Web Sites

When a buyer requests more information on your Agent Web Site, an e-mail is sent to your MLX Professional e-mail address. This is no ordinary e-mail, however, because it contains special XML tags with information about the buyer and the property in which he or she is interested. MLX Professional uses this information to automatically perform a variety of time-saving functions: when the program receives one of these "smart" e-mail leads, the New Leads counter on the home page is incremented, the attached contact information is automatically converted into a new client record, and the property of interest is automatically added to the client’s Property List.

Your Agent Web Site uses a page with special HTML code to create these "smart" leads. This same page can be added to other Web sites to enable the generation of smart leads using a special link. To find this link, log in to MLXchange and click Settings, Personalize, Agent Web Page Setup. Click Web Site Domain to see your "Contact Me" Web Inquiry Form Link.

Update Your Correspondence and Collateral

Be sure to put your new Web site and e-mail addresses on all your correspondence and printed materials, including your e-mail signature, business card, yard signs, CMAs, open house flyers, etc. This is a simple yet often-overlooked step that is key to the successful promotion of your site.

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