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Working with Prospect Searches

With Prospect Searches, you store your prospective buyer's home, business, space or investment requirements, allowing Stratus to automatically track new and revised listings matching your prospect's search criteria.

You create a Prospect Search using the New Search or Map Search formats. You can also create a Prospect Search from the criteria page of any search, including Saved and Pre-Defined searches. Stratus then makes daily checks for new and updated listings matching your prospects' needs and sends you a list, by email, with a link containing each listing's full broker report. Stratus can also send new matches via email to the prospect, with a link to the listings that can be viewed in Property Match (a client) format.

Prospects remain active for 90 days. If you need the prospect file longer, you can always extend the expiry date (see “Extending a Prospect Search” on page 14).

NOTE: You are limited to 150 prospects at any given time.Creating a Prospect from the Prospect Searches Tab

To create a new Prospect search:

At the New Search page of Stratus, click the Prospect Searches tab.

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NOTE: The BRS Match column will display a “Y” for active BRS Property Matches. A BRS Property Match can be activated at any time after a buyer with a valid signed B.R.A (5 days or longer) is entered into the Buyer Registry Service®.

1. At the Prospect Searches page, click Create. The Create Prospect dialogue box opens.

Prospect Searches

Create

Email

Additional Recipients

Search Parameters

Continue

Prospect Name

Expiration Date

Contact list

Prospect’s Full Name

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2. Click into the Prospect Name field to enter a search name. This field is mandatory.

TIP: The system does not require this field to be unique; however, it is highly recommended that the name be unique to the search. Using a unique name will prevent the confusion that several searches with the same name can cause.

3. At the Expiration Date field, you can change the 90-day default setting, if desired. The expiry can be any number of days up to, but not exceeding 90 days.

TIP: You can enter a specific date in the month/day/year format, or add a specific number of days from today’s date by typing “t + number of days” (e.g.: If today is January 1, the system interprets “t+30” as January 31).

4. To use contact information from your TMLS Contacts, click the Contact down arrow. A list of your contacts that have been entered in Stratus appears. Click on the name of the contact you wish to create a Prospect search for.

NOTE: When you create a prospect from a contact, the contact’s full name and primary email address automatically fill in to the corresponding fields in the Create Contact dialogue box.

5. If you do not have a Contact to select, type the full name and email address in the corresponding fields.

6. To include additional addresses to receive prospect emails, click in the Additional Recipients text box and type the email addresses. If more than one email is added, separate them with a comma, space or line (press Enter).

NOTE: Notice that Send a copy to yourself is selected by default. When you receive your email and click the link to view the property matches, you will be required to log in with your authenticator, since the matches will be presented in Broker Full format. If you have multiple prospects, the matches will be combined into one email message, grouped by prospect name.

NOTE: The system limits additional recipients to 10. This value is chosen to avoid triggering the spam filters that many email servers use.

7. Next, establish your search parameters by completing the options in the Search section of the Create Prospect dialogue box.

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• Select the Class or classes to search by placing check mark(s) beside the desired option(s). Residential Freehold is selected by default.

• Select Sale or Lease or both. Sale is selected by default.

• Select either New Search or Map Search to indicate which type of search to use. New Search is selected by default.

8. Click Continue to advance to the criteria page for the selected search type. Complete the criteria.

If you want to view the results of your search criteria now, go to the following step. To save your prospect now, go to step 11.

9. If desired, click Submit to view the available results. At the results screen, you can print or email any listings as in any search, using the tools on the Action toolbar. Once you submit the results, you will be able to save the prospect using the Save Prospect button at the bottom of the results list.

10. To save the prospect at the Criteria page, click Save Prospect in the blue Notification Box at the bottom of the form.

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NOTE: When you create a new prospect from the Prospect Searches tab, the blue “Notification Box” will appear at the bottom of the search criteria form, the search results list, and the Map Search results. In each case, click Save Prospect to save. If you want to edit the Contact information or expiry date, click Manage Prospect.

You have successfully created and saved a Prospect search from the Prospect Searches tab. To learn how to create a prospect from other searches, go to the next section.

Creating a Prospect from any Search

Have you ever created a search and then thought you should have set it up as a prospect? In Stratus you can do just that. You can create a prospect at the criteria page of any search!

From a New Search

When you are working with a New Search, you are able to save the search as a Prospect search as soon as criteria is entered into the criteria form.

Notification box

Save Prospect

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1. Create a New Search.

NOTE: If desired, submit the search. From the results screen you can print or email any listings. Then, to create a prospect, return to the criteria screen.

2. Click Revise Criteria to return to the criteria form.

3. Click Create Prospect on the Action toolbar. The Create Prospect dialogue box opens.

NOTE: The Create Prospect button will not be enabled until you have inserted some criteria.

4. In the Create Prospect dialogue box, complete the prospect Name, Expiration Date and Contact information as in the previous section. Since you have already input your search criteria, you will see a Criteria summary at the bottom of the dialogue box.

Create Prospect

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5. At the bottom of the Create Prospect dialogue box, click Save Prospect.

You have created a new prospect from a New Search. To learn how to create a new prospect from a Map Search, go to the next section.

From a Map Search

If you are working on a Map Search and decide to save it as a prospect, you can.

1. Create a new Map Search.

2. Enter your criteria in the Dynamic Criteria Panel. Your results show automatically.

3. To save as a Prospect Search, click Prospect at the top of the Dynamic Criteria Panel. This button is enabled immediately, even

Prospect Name

Expiration Date

Contact information

Search Criteria summary

Save Prospect

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without search criteria, since the map location is the minimum criteria required.

4. In the Create Prospect dialogue box, complete the Prospect Name, Expiration Date and Contact information as in the previous sections. Since you have already set up your search, you will see a Criteria summary at the bottom of the dialogue box.

5. At the bottom of the Create Prospect dialogue box, click Save Prospect.

You have created a new prospect from a Map Search. To learn how to create a new prospect from a previously Saved Search, go to the next section.

From a Saved Search

Do you already have a search that would be perfect for a new prospect? No Problem. You can create a prospect from that saved search.

1. Select a Saved Search from your list of saved searches.

2. Click Continue to view the criteria. The Criteria form opens.

3. Make any edits you require to update the criteria for your new prospect.

NOTE: If desired, submit the search. From the results screen you can print or email any listings. Then, to create a prospect, return to the criteria screen.

4. On the Action toolbar, click Create Prospect.

Prospect

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5. Complete the Create Prospect dialogue box by filling in a Prospect Name, Expiration Date, and Contact information. Your search criteria is summarized at the bottom of the dialogue box.

6. Click Save Prospect at the bottom of the dialogue box.

You have created a new prospect from a Saved Search. Go to the next section to create a prospect from a Pre-Defined search.

From a Pre-Defined Search

Stratus allows you to create a new Prospect Search from any of the Pre-Defined searches that are for available properties.

1. At the Pre-Defined Search tab, select the search you wish to use.

NOTE: You can only use searches that are for available listings. If you select a search that includes unavailable listings, the Create Prospect option will not be available.

2. Enter the criteria for your search.

3. On the Action toolbar, click Create Prospect.

4. Complete the Create Prospect dialogue box by filling in a Prospect Name, Expiration Date, and Contact information. Your search criteria is summarized at the bottom of the dialogue box.

5. Click Save Prospect at the bottom of the dialogue box.

You have created a new prospect Search from a Pre-Defined search. Once created and saved, the system will search for new and updated listings after midnight and send your client(s) an email with a link to the listings.

In the next section you will learn how to view matches for your prospects.

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Viewing Matches for your Prospects

A list of your prospects can always be viewed at the Prospect Searches tab. From here you can view the latest matches for one or more of your prospects.

To view prospect matches:

1. At the New Search page, click the Prospect Searches tab.

2. Click the check box next to one or more prospects.

List of Prospect Searches

Matches

Due to Expire Alerts

Continue

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3. Click Matches. The resulting matches appear in List view, grouped by prospect, if more than one was selected.

From the matches results, the Action toolbar provides the same actions as any Listings Search. You can print, email, get driving instructions, etc.

TIP: To view matches that are older than 14 days, at the Prospect Searches tab, select a prospect and then click Continue. Then at the search criteria page, click Submit. The resulting matches appear in List view. Use the Action toolbar to print, email, etc.

Managing your Prospects

From time to time you may need to edit the contact information for a prospect, edit his/her search criteria, suspend the emails, or even delete a prospect. These functions are all part of managing your prospect.

To manage a prospect:

Days Back

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1. At the Prospect Matches tab, click the check box for the prospect you want to manage.

2. Click Manage. The Manage Prospect dialogue box opens.

The Manage Prospect dialogue box provides the tools for editing any of the prospect information: Prospect Name, Full Name, Email, Additional Recipients, etc. You can also edit the search criteria from this screen.

Editing the prospect information

1. At the Manage Prospect dialogue box, click into each field that requires a change of information. For example, you may want to modify the Email Options by changing an email address, or adding additional recipients.

Selected Prospect

Manage

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2. Extend the expiry date, if desired, by entering a new date. You can also use the Extend button, if the prospect is eligible. To learn more about extending prospects, See “Extending a Prospect Search” on page 14.

3. If you have no other changes, click Save Prospect to keep the changes. Otherwise, continue to the next step.

4. Review the summary of your search criteria. If you want to edit the criteria, click Save Prospect & Edit Criteria.

5. Make any desired changes to the criteria.

6. In the blue notification box at the bottom of the criteria, click Save Prospect.

You have edited your prospect and the search criteria. These changes will be reflected in the next day’s prospect search and emails.

Deleting a prospect

To delete a prospect:

Prospect Name

Expiration Date

Extend

Contact information and Email

Save Prospect & Edit Criteria

Summary of search criteria

Save Prospect

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1. At the Prospect Matches tab, select the name(s) of the prospects to be deleted by clicking in the check box beside the name.

2. Click Delete. A dialogue box opens to confirm this action.

3. Confirm the action by clicking Delete.

TIP: You can also delete a prospect from the Manage Prospect screen. Select the prospect to delete. Click Manage. At the Manage Prospect dialogue box, click Delete. Confirm the action by clicking Delete again.

Extending a Prospect Search

Stratus provides a visual alert when your prospects are soon to expire. You will see this alert on the Prospect Searches tab as well as on the Info Centre. In the example below, you can see that one prospect is about to expire. You will also note that under the expiry date column, the number of days until expiry is displayed (for eligible prospects) in place of the actual date.

Selected Prospect

Delete

Prospect Searches tab

Days until expiry

Visual alert (appears in red)

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There are several options for extending this prospect, based on eligibility.

NOTE: A Prospect Search is eligible for extension if it is within 14 days before, or after the 90 day expiry date. After 90 days, the prospect is hidden. If linked to a Contact, it will be visible indefinitely from the Contact. To learn how to extend from the Contact, see “View & extend a prospect from Contacts” on page 16.

From the Prospect Searches tab

To extend a prospect from the Prospect Searches tab:

1. Click the check box beside the prospect to be extended.

2. If the expiry is in 14 days or less, click Extend.

3. Confirm the action by clicking Yes.

The prospect is extended for 90 days from the current date.

If the expiry date is in more than 14 days, you cannot use the Extend button. Go to the next section to learn how to extend prospects that aren’t eligible yet.

From Manage Prospect

If you decide to extend the expiry date of a Prospect Search that is before the eligibility period:

1. At the Prospect Searches tab, click the check box beside the prospect to be extended.

2. Click Manage. The Manage Prospect dialogue box opens.

3. Click into the Expiry Date field and enter a new date. To extend for the maximum 90-day period, enter T+90.

4. Click Save Prospect. The new expiry date is saved and the dialogue box closes.

After a Prospect Search expires, it remains visible for 90 days. This is within the eligibility period. After that, the prospect is hidden. However, if the prospect is linked to a contact (you selected the name

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from the Contact drop-down list when creating the prospect) you will be able to view the Prospect Search indefinitely from the contact.

View & extend a prospect from Contacts

To view a Prospect Search from Contacts:

1. Click Contacts from the Left Side Panel. Then, if necessary to view your personal contacts, click My Contacts.

2. Click into the check box for the Contact you want to view.

3. On the Action toolbar, click View. The details form of the Contact opens.

4. Click on the Prospects tab to view the Prospect Search.

NOTE: When a Prospect Search is eligible for extension, an Alert will appear in the Info Centre.See “Extending a Prospect Search” on page 14.

5. Place a check mark beside the Prospect Search(es) to be extended.

6. Click Extend.

Your prospect is active again, for a period of 90 days. It will now appear in the list of prospects at the Prospect Searches tab.

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NOTE: After a Prospect Search is deleted (i.e., from 90 days after the expiry date), this is the only way to re-activate the search.

You have learned how to extend your Prospect Searches. In the next section you will learn how to suspend or delete a prospect.

Suspending a Prospect Search

Sometimes it may be necessary to place a temporary hold on the prospect emails or to delete the prospect altogether. Both of these functions are available starting at the Prospect Searches tab.

1. Click the Prospect Searches tab. A list of your prospects appears.

2. Click the check box beside the prospect to delete or suspend.

3. Click Manage. The Manage Prospect dialogue box opens.

4. Click the check box beside Suspend this prospect.

5. Click Save Prospect.

6. To re activate the prospect, clear the check box for Suspend this prospect and the click Save Prospect.

When you suspend a Prospect Search, neither you nor your client receive Property Match emails. If you wish to continue receiving the

Suspend the Prospect

Save the Prospect

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listings by email, then instead of suspending the prospect, just change who receives the emails during the suspension period. You can edit the Prospect Search as often as required.

NOTE: If the expiration date passes while the Prospect Search is under suspension, the prospect will expire.

Prospect Matches Email

The automatic email that your prospect will receive through the Prospect Match program will contain a link to the listings. When he/she clicks on the link to view the matches, listings are displayed in Property Match format. This link is active for 14 days.

Client version of prospect email

NOTE: In the automatic email, there is a link labelled to Unsubscribe from this service. When the prospect clicks this link, it sends an email message to your roster email address requesting that the prospect be unsubscribed. To learn how to delete this prospect, See “Deleting a prospect” on page 13.

The salesperson’s version of prospect match emails is similar to the client’s version. Notice the thumbnail photos of the listings along with the brief, 3-line description of each listing.

Unsubscribe link

View listings link

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Salesperson version of prospect email

Now, saving your prospect match email messages will provide listing details for your records!

NOTE: As a salesperson, when you click the link in the email message to view the listings in detail, you will be required to log in to Stratus with your authenticator. The listings will be presented in Broker Full format.

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