This answer applies 2 methods from the guide, led by one.
Run a one-week prospecting experiment
Use one audience, one helpful reason to contact them and one manageable follow-up commitment.
- 1Choose a permission-respecting channel the audience already uses.
- 2Offer one useful explanation, comparison or check.
- 3Record the real response, qualified need and agreed next action.
- 4Review the result against time spent and change the premise when evidence is weak.
Hold when: Do not use pressure, fabricated scarcity or bought attention as proof of demand. Reach and activity are not the same as business value.
Read it in Broker Brain →Make the next step observable
Give each instruction, dependency and promise an owner, date and completion test.
Read it in Broker Brain →Desperation is in the message, not the follow-up
Nobody minds hearing from an agent they once asked for help. What reads as desperate is a message that asks the person to do the work: “Are you still looking?” gives them nothing to reply to and tells them you have nothing to say.
The guide's answer is its ‘Run a one-week prospecting experiment’ method, applied to the enquiries you already hold: one audience, one helpful reason to contact them, and one follow-up commitment you can actually keep. Pressure, invented urgency and sheer volume are what make follow-up feel desperate, and the method rules out all three.
Choose one audience, and check you may contact each person
An old database is not one audience. Pick one slice you can genuinely help this week, such as people who asked about two-beds near the station in the last six months, rather than everyone who ever filled in a form.
The channel has to respect permission. Send from your own number, one person at a time, with your name on it and an easy way to say no. Messaging apps are quick to restrict accounts that send the same text to many people who report it, and your market has its own rules on unsolicited messages and personal data. Follow them.
- 01Gather the enquiries you are allowed to use: the ones that came to you directly, plus any your agency has agreed in writing that you can work.
- 02For each, record where it came from, what they asked for, their budget and area, when they enquired and the last thing either of you said.
- 03Remove anyone who has asked not to be contacted and anyone who never enquired with you. No source and no permission means no message.
- 04Rank the rest by how well they fit something you can show now, then by how recently they enquired, then by how far they got: a viewing beats a question, a question beats a form.
- 05Take the top ten. That is the experiment: a number you can write to properly, follow up properly and learn from.
One helpful reason, written for one person
The method asks you to offer one useful explanation, comparison or check. For an old lead, that is one new fact about what they asked for: a listing that fits, a price change, or a recent sale in the street or building they were watching. Check it against the listing or the record before you send it; a guessed price is worse than no message.
Keep it short enough to read on a lock screen. An example: “Hi Sara, it's Tom from Harbour Realty. You asked in March about a two-bed near the station with room for a desk. Two have come up this week, both under your budget, and one has a proper second bedroom. Want me to send the floor plans?”
- 01Their name, and yours with your agency if it has been months.
- 02What they asked for, in their words, so they know you remember them rather than a list.
- 03One new, checked fact that bears on it.
- 04One easy question they can answer in a word or two, with no pressure and no deadline you made up.
Record the real response and the next step
This is where the guide's ‘Make the next step observable’ method takes over. Every lead in the experiment ends the day with an owner, a next action and a date, and a message sent is not a step completed. The step is complete when you know what they want next, or that they want nothing.
- 01A reply: answer the same day, find out what has changed for them, and agree the next step in their words, such as floor plans tonight or a call on Thursday. Record it.
- 02No reply after about a week: one more message with a different useful fact, never a repeat of the first. Record the date.
- 03Still nothing: get in touch again only when something relevant to them changes, and at least a month apart. Record a next date anyway, so the lead is parked, not lost.
- 04“Bought elsewhere”: congratulate them, ask whether they would like to hear what homes like theirs sell for from time to time, and record their answer.
- 05“Not now” or “please stop”: thank them, stop, and record it so nobody on your team messages them again. Interest you assumed is not interest they agreed.
Review the week and change one thing
At the end of the week, count what matters: useful conversations, real needs you now understand and next steps the person agreed to. Messages sent is activity, not value. Set it against the time the week took.
Then make the method's decision: continue, change or stop. If replies were thin, change the reason you gave, not the number of people you sent it to. If one message earned real conversations, use its premise for the next ten. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what made the difference.
What gets in the way
Not following up at all because you don't want to look desperate.
Lead with their enquiry, not your listing. A message about what they asked for, with one new, checked fact, reads as help, and it is the easiest message you will send all week.
Sending “Are you still looking?” to the whole list and treating silence as a no.
One person, one message, one reason. Silence after a broadcast tells you nothing; silence after a useful message means try once more, with something different, in a week.
Pasting the same text to hundreds of contacts in an afternoon and putting your number at risk.
A handful a day, one to one, each written for that person, only to people who enquired with you, and stop at the first no.
Working enquiries that belong to your agency without asking.
Start with the enquiries that came to you directly, and ask your manager in writing for permission to work the rest.
Questions agents ask next
What do I say to a real estate lead that went cold?
Remind them what they asked for, give them one new, checked fact that bears on it, and ask one easy question. For example: “You asked about a two-bed near the station in March. One just came up under your budget. Want the floor plans?”
How long should I keep following up an old lead?
Until they say no, buy, or stop fitting anything you can help with. After the first two messages, get in touch only when something relevant to them changes, and never more than about once a month.
Is it OK to follow up old leads on WhatsApp or by text?
Yes, if they enquired with you and you message them one to one from your own number with a real reason. Avoid broadcasts and copy-paste, honour every opt-out, and follow your market's messaging rules.
Should I call or message an old lead?
Message first. It lets them reply when it suits them and tells you who is still interested. Call the ones who reply, while the conversation is warm.
What if they tell me they bought with someone else?
Congratulate them, ask whether they would like to hear what homes like theirs sell for from time to time, and record the answer. If they say no, that is the end of it.