How to avoid duplicates and always know who brought what

The answer, straight away

You keep a register. One line for every property you receive and every introduction you make: date, from whom, to whom, by what channel. Ten seconds a line, and it settles almost every dispute between colleagues before it starts.

Without one, six months later nobody remembers who brought what, and the conversation becomes one person's word against another's with a fee in the middle.

What to record for properties you receive

Who sent it. Whether that person holds the owner relationship or heard it themselves. Whether an instruction exists. When it arrived.

The last one saves you: if the same property reaches you from three directions, the date tells you who actually brought it first.

What to record for introductions you make

Date, person, property, channel. A two-line email to the colleague is worth more than any general agreement, because it fixes the moment.

How to spot a duplicate

The same property arriving from three different intermediaries in one week is not confidential.

Usually it means one thing: a rumour is circulating out of control and the owner does not know how many people are discussing it. Before bringing a buyer, that is worth asking.

The quickest check: ask whoever offers it whether they can put you in touch with the person who holds the owner relationship. The answer, or the absence of one, is the information.

What to do when you find a duplicate

Do not bring a buyer until it is clear who has standing.

If you have a serious client and the chain is murky, the clean move is to go upstream: ask whoever holds the instruction to speak directly, stating your position.

Why it matters more at the top

Because in a band where few transactions close each year, burning an owner burns a real percentage of your market.

An owner who discovers they were on the market without knowing does not call back anybody who was involved.

The minimal version, if you dislike systems

A spreadsheet with five columns and one row per movement. It works, and the people who keep one never argue with colleagues.