“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Woody Allen
“Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is eighty percent of being a successful hitter. The other twenty percent is just execution.” Hank Aaron
“Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly 73 percent of all accidents involving falling objects.” Dave Barry
“Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.” Yogi Berra
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Smart people use percentages when they want to hit their point home. He who speaks in percentages rather than in generalities boosts his credibility. An agent who states that inventory in Pinecrest has risen 1.25 percent over the past three months sounds more knowledgeable and credible than the agent who 
responds, “inventory, yup, it’s up.”
It would be easy to fool or intimidate an audience when the mouthpiece is someone of notoriety or someone deemed an expert in a particular field. A discerning individual should be wary of anyone who quotes percentages about anything. Challenge him. “Sir, could you send me the back-up or source data on that which you just quoted?”
Thus, if a Realtor makes a public or written statement regarding the market or market trends, he needs to be prepared to substantiate his claims. Because of a Realtor’s “expert” status, It is extremely important that he back up his verbal data with written proof — especially with GEN X and GEN Y. A quick e-mail with a link to the source or report will give him a valid reason to reach out and touch his sphere and further boost him up the credibility ladder. “Sir, if you would like, I will e-mail you those reports since we have been discussing that area of the market.”
In a prior post we examined Facts & Trends™ and how knowing these stats boosts our credibility at any social gathering or listing presentation. There is a “statistics” area in MLXchange that can arm you with additional and useful information.
MLX Statistics in General Searches:
Whether you are researching an area or an agent (even yourself), MLXchange statistics will generate reports and charts based on your search criteria which can be saved as a pdf.
After you have typed in your search criteria, click on the results button to obtain your grid. You will find the statistics button at the bottom right of your screen.
Click on the the statistics buttom, and you will get all the report options to your left. This first report is a Market Analysis Report based on your search criteria. You can see that SP/LP ratio* is the next to last column on your right.
Knowing that listings are often re-listed, beware that these numbers may be askewed. In Facts & Trends™, however, there is an “original list date to sales price ratio” in the printed version of the form only. This would pertain to the much broader criteria selected in Facts & Trends™. In MLXchange, you have the capability of slicing the pie a little smaller.
Note that you may save any of these forms to pdf for printing. Some of the charts are quite colorful and would really present nicely.
Agent List-to-Sell Ratios:
If you are new to the business, you will not have a list-to-sell ratio* track record. At some point, if the numbers are in your favor, you will want to include this as part of your sales background. Posing the question and the answer to a Seller when he did not even know there existed a question might get you the listing. He may pose the question to your competition, “Now, what is your list-to-sell ratio?” If the Seller gets the “deer-in-the-headlight” stare, this could be one more brownie point for you. If you knew your competition, you have already looked up his stats for your own edification.
If your list-to-sell ratio is in the 90 percentile, you’re doing great. Even if the price has been reduced again and again in your previously listings, it means that you are on top of your business and have kept your Seller informed and obtained the right reduction to make the home move. That’s why it is a good idea to keep your Seller on auto-notify so that he is ready to sign the price reduction paperwork before you even have the conversation.
When you are searching your own statistics, it is good to start in cross-property search so that all your business is included — or you will have to do separate searches for single family, condo, etc. It is easier to do just one search through cross property and the graphs will reflect your numbers in one report.
Here are some additional report samples – I have eliminated the search criteria that will appear at the bottom of every report to save space:
Now it’s your turn to play. What is your list-to-sell ratio? Remember the MLXchange contains full listing data for two years prior. I have found that the full data is saved a bit longer than that.
PLAY!: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Thomas Edison
(This simple video demonstration may be useful to you:)
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Some information is useful but may be outdated as to the MLXchange program: MLX Muscle – Agent List to Sell Ratio,