Guidance on how to ensure successful matching

This guide has been reviewed against our global client base and classed as relevant to all regions

Matching is a powerful tool to match the properties you are marketing to relevant applicants - success with matching is dependent on how you set your property attributes and your applicant requirements - there are a few basic rules to follow to guarantee success

For information on how to carry out matching, click here:
Matching (property to applicants & applicant to properties)

1. Property attributes - first 3 columns

Ensure that the first 3 columns in the property attributes screen are completed as fully & accurately as possible - at least one option in each section should be selected (where relevant)

From property:

In the Attributes panel, click edit (pencil) icon
Complete the attributes to match the property you are marketing
Attributes are set-up to meet business needs, therefore are likely to differ from those shown below
(although the principle of how the screen works is the same)

Complete each section within the first 3 columns, where possible

Where relevant, each section (i.e. Type, Location/Parking, Style, Floor, etc.) within the first 3 columns should contain at least one tick to describe the property you are marketing
As shown in the example above, the property is a period style terraced house with a garden and in a town/city situation - ticking these options will ensure that applicants who are looking for these attributes (as indicated in their requirements) will be matched to this property when combined with their rooms, price range and property area requirements
Leaving the Floor section blank is acceptable, as this section is not relevant to the property
Enter Rooms information and any other information you wish to record in the bottom panel

The Additional Information field does not have any impact on matching

Why do I need to do this? E.g. I’m marketing a 2 bedroom flat, can I just tick flat & enter the rooms information?

Unless a section is not relevant, avoid leaving a section blank; to ensure that a property matches to applicants, the system is configured to match applicants to properties that have been left with blank sections in their attributes, meaning that a completely blank property attributes section will match regardless of applicant ticks in that section

For example, if a flat is being marketed, and just ‘flat’ is ticked in property attributes, applicants could be matched to the flat who are looking for any style of house and with any type of situation (due to these sections within the attributes being blank), therefore this could result in applicants being matched to the flat who are looking for a detached house, due to the style column on the property being blank

For the property above, as it is a house, Floor is not relevant, therefore leaving the floor section blank in this situation is acceptable (as this section is only relevant to applicants looking for flats)

2. Property attributes ‘Special’ section (far right)

From property attributes, in Special:

None, one or more items can be ticked, as appropriate for the property

3. Property match price range (sales properties)

A match price range is applied to all sales properties, which is usually set to 10% (dependent on configuration, although in most cases it is set to 10%)

This means that when applicants are matched to properties, the match results will include applicants whose price range falls within 10% below and 10% above the property price

When needed, the match price range can be adjusted per property, click here for more information: Changing a property's match price range

4. Applicant requirements - first 3 columns

Ensure that the first 3 columns in applicant requirements are completed to suit the applicant’s property search - it is advised to limit the amount of requirement options selected to ensure that the applicant matches to a good selection of properties

From applicant:

In the Requirements panel, click edit (pencil) icon
Complete the applicant requirements
Requirements are set-up to meet business needs, therefore are likely to differ from those shown below (although the principle of how the screen works is the same)

Where the applicant has a preference, complete each section in the first 3 columns

In the first three columns, any tick represents a preference
If the applicant has no preferences in a column then no boxes should be ticked - all property types in that column will then be matched
Ticking boxes indicates an either/or preference which then reflects in the match results
For example, ticking house will only match houses - ticking bungalow and house will match bungalows and houses
Add the minimum number of bedrooms, reception rooms and bathrooms
Tick Location to specify the Areas the applicant wants to look in
In the example above, the applicant will be matched (within their price range) to 4 bedroom houses of any age/decoration that are detached or semi-detached, with a garden, in south-west London

5. Applicant requirements ‘Must Have’ section (far right)

An option in the Must Have section should only be ticked when the requirement is absolutely essential for the applicant

Any tick in this section represents an essential requirement
For example, if the applicant needs to find a retirement property, ticking Retirement will prevent
non-retirement properties from being matched
If none of the items in this section are essential, then this column should be left blank - this will ensure that the applicant will be matched to properties that do/don’t have these attributes

If more than one tick is selected, the applicant will only be matched to properties that have all corresponding attributes in that section ticked
e.g. ticking double garage and triple garage will only match to properties that have both a double garage and a triple garage and will result in the applicant not matching to any properties

6. Applicant price range

Ensure that all applicants have a price range set to closely match their budget - if not set, applicants will be matched to all properties that match their requirements regardless of price

From applicant Requirements panel:

Sales applicant
- Enter the price range the applicant is looking to buy within
Lettings applicant
- Enter the price range the applicant is looking to rent within
- Click the menu to the right and select the rent frequency (e.g. Monthly)

For sales properties, match results are affected by the match price range which is applied to all properties - see section 3 above for more information

If you have followed the instructions above but are still having issues with matching, use this guide to help pinpoint the issue: Solving match issues

Guidance on how to ensure successful matching

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