1. Identify a person without erasing their history
A second enquiry is not automatically a second buyer. Compare the contact details the person has supplied, the property references, the timing and the project described. Two people can share a telephone number, and one person can use two email addresses. Flag a possible duplicate first. Confirm the relationship using the information legitimately available for the assignment; never ask for an identity document merely to tidy a training CRM.
When two records are confirmed to belong to the same person, retain both sources and the dated history. Do not overwrite a newer contact preference with an older campaign setting. Separate the buyer from a spouse, assistant or adviser, even when they discuss the same property. In this exercise, Lina submitted a portal enquiry and later emailed the agency about the same apartment. That is a reason to investigate, not sufficient proof to merge.
The next useful step is a short clarification: “Do these two enquiries refer to your project, and which address should we use?” Record the answer, the chosen channel and the next agreed action. If identification remains uncertain, keep the records separate and mark the uncertainty. A clean-looking database is less useful than a truthful history.
Two matching property references identify a possible overlap. They do not prove that two contacts are one person.
2. Keep pipeline stages tied to evidence
Define each stage before counting it. A reply establishes contact; a qualified project needs an expressed use, budget context and timeframe; a scheduled visit needs an accepted appointment; a completed visit needs evidence it occurred. A buyer who missed a viewing has not completed one. Record the absence separately so the team can distinguish scheduling problems from feedback after a real visit.
Lina missed Tuesday’s viewing and requests an email next Thursday. Confirm which date she means and the relevant time zone rather than relying on an ambiguous “next week”. The correct next action is the agreed email, not a completed viewing, a daily call sequence or an invented new appointment. Keep the original appointment in the history. If she explicitly refuses commercial follow-up, apply that choice instead of treating another channel as a workaround.
For an unreachable prospect, record actual attempts, their dates and the channel used. Follow the organisation’s applicable contact procedure and the person’s expressed preferences; this exercise does not prescribe a universal legal retry interval. End each record with an owner and a next action, or an explicit reason why no further action is planned. This makes inactivity visible without manufacturing progress.
A missed appointment and a visit awaiting feedback belong in different states.
3. Transfer responsibility and review the pipeline
A handover is a transfer of context and responsibility, not just a name in an owner field. Prepare the client’s confirmed objective, communication preferences, property references, unresolved questions and next commitment. Send only information the receiving colleague needs and is authorised to receive. Personal or financial documents should not be copied into a general team chat.
In our exercise, Sara will take over Lina’s file. Until Sara acknowledges the context and the Thursday action, the sender must know who remains responsible for that promise. Record acknowledgment, not an assumed transfer. A change of colleague must not turn an unconfirmed financing plan into confirmed funding. Preserve contradictions and pending documents.
During the weekly review, examine ageing records, overdue commitments, unresolved duplicates and handovers awaiting acceptance. Ask what evidence would allow each record to move forward. If ten visits were scheduled, seven occurred and three were missed, report seven completed visits, not ten. Do not divide offers from one period by unrelated visits from another and call that a meaningful conversion rate. Choose a consistent cohort and label the denominator. Assign a concrete action to each exception and check its result in the next review.
Sara receiving a file is not the same as Sara accepting responsibility for its next action.
Written practice
Write a CRM entry for Lina: suspected duplicate, missed viewing, requested email next Thursday and a colleague taking over. Separate confirmed facts, unknowns, next action and evidence of acceptance.
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