• 50% of the agents who sell someone a home will be out of the business within 3 years.
• Although 71% of sellers said they'd use the same listing agent again, only 23% actually do.
• Although 70% of buyers said they'd use the same buyer agent again, only 11% do.
• The annual resale turnover rate averages over 10% nationally. This means that if you have 500 contacts in your database, more than 50 of them will sell in the next 12 months.

With so many homes being sold, so many agents leaving the business and such poor follow-up by many of the agents who stay, doesn't it make sense to enter as many names and as much property data as possible into your contact records? With such great odds, it makes good sense to enter everyone you can and try to keep in touch, particularly when TOP PRODUCER's Match buyer/seller feature gives you such a high return on your investment.

R e a l   W o r l d   S c e n a r i o :

You've just listed a three bedroom rancher on a large lot in a quiet area. There are good schools, shopping and public transportion nearby. It's a 120-day listing and the price is a little on the high side, so your sellers should have plenty of time to find a new home, which you've also offered to help them with.

When you ask them what they're looking for, they say they want 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, preferably contemporary in style, but definitely with an in-ground pool. They also say they'd like to stay in the same school district for their kids. They tell you they don't want to spend any more than $50,000 on top of what they get for their present home.

Once you return to the office the first thing you do is open a new listing file and apply a Listing plan. While your at it, you decide to add your sellers' future home criteria to the Present/future home section of their contact record, and then do quick Match buyers and Match sellers searches. Your database, which now includes over 500 contacts, yields 4 potential buyers who closely match the criteria and 6 potential sellers, 3 of whom haven't moved in 5 years or more. Your chances of getting an extra side or two just got better.

F r o m   T h e   F i e l d :

If you need another reason to build your contact database and use Match buyer/seller, consider the words of superstar agent Sam Miller from Mt. Vernon, Ohio, who racked up 223 sides in 1998. He uses Match buyer/seller as a powerful listing tool on his notebook computer:

"I take my notebook computer with my entire TOP PRODUCER database with me on listing presentations. You should see the look on the seller's face when I cross-reference their home with the buyers I have in my database -- closes them almost instantly."

Q u o t a b l e   Q u o t e :

"The meeting of preparation with opportunity
generates the offspring we call luck."
                           - Anthony Robbins

Using Top Producer's Match buyer/seller feature begins with entering detailed information in the Present/future home window. To get to the Present/future home window, simply do the following:

• From your seller's Contact record or from Detailed contact entry, click on Present/future home. Or from Quick contact entry click on Future property information or Present property information. Additionally, you can enter the main present and future home details in Quick contact entry, click on Match buyer/seller and the Present/future home window will appear with these main details included. In all cases, you can also add Present home notes and Future home notes.
• Ideally, you want to enter as much Present home and Future home information as you can in the Present/future home window. In the case of House style, Area, Spec features, Parking and Other items you can access modifiable pick lists by clicking on the given field buttons.
• Once you have filled in as many fields as you can, click on Match options to define the plus/minus tolerances for Square feet, Bedrooms and Bathrooms, and also to check the Must Match items. (Note: Including too many Must Match items could make your search too narrow, so you won't get a productive result.)
• Click on OK.
• Click on Match buyers to match your prospect's present home with potential buyers. The search results will appear in a grid, with the red checks indicating the Must Match items and the blue checks indicating the matching items.
• Highlight the names you desire.
• To print a report of your search results, click on Report and then click on OK in the Print window.
• Click on Match sellers to match your prospect's future home with potential sellers. The search results will appear in a grid, with the red checks indicating the Must Match items and the blue checks indicating the matching items.
• Highlight the names you desire.
• To print a report of your search results, click on Report and then click on OK in the Print window.

N e t w o r t h y:

For details on how to get even more out of the Match buyer/seller feature, refer to the Entering contacts using the 'Quick' contact entry section in VOLUME 1 of the TOP PRODUCER video training series