Two of us called the same seller four days apart and she stopped answering
Small loss in money, big one in learning, so writing it up while it still annoys me.
Five of us share a lead list. Skip traced records, a shared spreadsheet, everybody works it. There was no rule about claiming anything. I asked once early on and got told it hasn't been a problem.
I found a good one. Owner in her seventies, house she'd rented out for 20 years, tenant gone, roof going. Three calls over two weeks, one visit, she was warming up. I was going to bring paperwork on the Friday at $62,000.
On the Wednesday another member in the group called her cold off the same list and offered $71,000 on the phone, which he'd have walked back after seeing it. He had no idea I was on her. I had no idea he had the record open.
She put the two of us together in about ninety seconds and decided we were running something on her. Told me on the phone she was done with "you people" and she listed with an agent the following week. It sold, I'm told, around $78,000.
Cost me nine hours, the gas, and the best lead I'd found in three months. Cost the group a deal it would have split.
What I'd do differently: a claim rule in writing before anybody dials. You put your initials and a date next to the record, you get a set window, say ten days, and nobody else touches it in that window. Also one agreed opening offer range per lead type, because the $62,000 versus $71,000 gap is what made her think she was being worked.