KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Stop Getting Ghosted: Lead Follow-Up That Actually Gets Responses

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Episode SummaryMore listings don’t mean more closings—especially when buyers are hesitating and your leads won’t return a message. In this week’s episode of Real Estate On Air Live, host Ian Wheatley dives into the disconnect between sellers’ expectations and buyers’ behaviors… and why your lead follow-up system is more important now than ever.Then we sit down with Sarah Delansig (aka Sarah the ISA), host of the Keeping It Real Estate podcast, to break down the follow-up tactics that actually get leads to respond. From cold website leads to warm social clicks and referrals, you’ll hear what to say, when to say it, and how to personalize follow-up without feeling like a robot.This one’s all about getting responses, booking appointments, and staying human in a world of ghosted messages.What You’ll Learn in This Episode:📞 The Text Message That Gets the Highest Response Rate (It’s 3 Words) (15:04) 🌐 How to Adjust Your Follow-Up Strategy for Portal, Website & Social Leads (11:23) 🎥 Why Video Texts Work Best for Sphere & Referral Follow-Up (17:20) 📊 Why Consistency Outperforms Scripts Every Time (34:27) 🧠 How to Re-engage Long-Term Nurture Leads Without Feeling Pushy (25:07)Episode Breakdown:🎙️ Intro – Inventory Is Up, But Closings Aren’t. Why? (00:40) 📈 Housing Headlines – Seller-Buyer Imbalance, Mortgage Rate Forecasts & Fannie/Freddie Update (02:20) 🔁 Conversation with Sarah Delansig – Lead Follow-Up That Converts (09:18) 📱 The Scripts & Tactics That Work Across Different Lead Sources (11:23) 💬 Tone, Timing, and the Power of “Is This [Name]?” (15:04) 🎥 Video Texting for Sphere, Referrals & Casual Check-Ins (17:20) ⏱️ Persistence Over Perfection: Long Nurture Follow-Up That Works (25:07) 📢 Key Takeaways Recap: 5 Follow-Up Lessons You Can Use Today (36:44)🔧 Stop Guessing. Start Connecting.Lead follow-up doesn’t have to be robotic. If you’re tired of ghosted messages and dead-end drips, this episode gives you the tools, mindset, and real-word scripts to turn cold leads into conversations.📲 Subscribe to Real Estate On Air Live Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and inside the KGCI mobile app (iPhone & Android).🎧 Listen to Sarah’s Podcast Keeping It Real Estate with Sarah the ISA is streaming every Wednesday on KGCI Real Estate On Air and available in the KGCI app.📩 Want to practice these scripts? DM us on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll send you a script card cheat sheet from this episode.

The main thing that is going to help every agent is consistency. Period. Point blank over. If you want it to happen faster, then use video. If you want it to happen even faster, be completely authentic. This is KGCI Real Estate on air live. Your weekly deep dive into the strategies, trends, and tools, shaping the real estate industry, from market updates to actionable strategies and exclusive interviews with top agents.

We are here to unlock your full potential and help you thrive. thousands of agents trust KGCI every week. Now it's your turn. Let's go live. Here's Ian Wheatley. For the first time, in recent memory, we have more sellers than buyers in the housing market and not buy a little, by half a million.

Now, before you think that's good news, remember more listings don't always mean more closings because, well, inventory is up by our confidence. Not so much, right? Pending home sales dropped over 6% last. month and rates, they're still sitting north of 6.8%. So yeah, they're hesitant and they're not wrong. So the problem here is we have a real disconnect. Sellers still want top dollar, buyers want price drops, and in the middle of all that is you trying to get someone, anyone, to return your

follow-up message. That's why today's real estate on-air live is about sharpening your tools instead of waiting for the market, the goal fix itself. We'll be walking through this week's housing headlines, including what the National Association of Realtors, expects mortgage rates to be doing in the next 18 months. And spoiler, they're seeing a magic bullet coming, but it ain't here yet. Then I'll be sitting down with Sarah DeLancig,

host it at Real Estate Podcasts heard here on KGCI, Real Estate on Air, for a deep dive into what actually works when it comes to lead follow-up across IDX, social referrals, portal leads, and more, you'll get scripts, strategies, and a fresh reminder that your follow-up doesn't have to be complicated. It simply has to be human. This is Real Estate on-air live. I'm Ian Wheatley. It's time for housing headlines. All right, taking a look at what's happening in the market and what it

means for your real estate business, we do now have more sellers than buyers, and it's by half a million. We saw this out of Redfin. Their chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, says that we've hit a bit of But first here, for the first time on record, sellers are outnumbering active home buyers by 500,000. And is a gap driven by high mortgage rates and buyer hesitation. So the shift is measurable. Now, Redfin estimates that there are now $700 billion in listings on the market, and that, according to their data, is an all-time high. So agents use this data to recalibrate seller expectations. Inventory is, in fact, up across the United States.

buyers across the United States still remains selective and overpricing is going to cost big on momentum. We also have a forecast out of the National Association of Realtors for mortgage rate relief that could be coming. The chief economist Lawrence Ewan, believing that mortgage rates will drop over the next 18 months. 6.4 will be the average in the back half of this year with possibly as low as 6.1% as we're getting into next year. that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Now, you made the comments that lower rates could be the market's magic bullet during the recent realtor's legislative meetings

down in Washington, D.C. So, agents, be sure to re-engage those fence-sitters. A slow rate drop won't really make headlines, but it does make monthly payments look a whole lot better. And we have a bit of an update on the future of Fannie and Freddie. They may be going public while staying in their conservatorship. In a rare dual move,

the Trump administration is exploring a plan to take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public while keeping them under that federal conservatorship. Now, Bloomberg is reporting that this could offer investment access without destabilizing the mortgage rates, which was the concern of a going public. Now, the FHFA has said that it will be ensuring

that there's no upward pressure on mortgage rates either way they go. So, agents, this may not, move the needle today. But any policy affecting Fannie and Freddie will eventually impact loan availability and structure. So make sure you keep this on your radar. More inventory, cautious buyers and a glimmer of rate relief on the horizon. That's a check of your housing headlines here on KGCI, Real Estate on Air Live. KGCI, Real Estate on Air Live, I'm Ian Wheatley. And we've all heard this before, a couple different ways. But leads are great, but only if you know how to actually get them to respond to you. Sarah DeLancig,

She is an ISA, Sarah, the ISA everywhere on social media. She is the host of the Keeping It Real Estate video podcast as part of the Agent Power Huddled Network. Watch that over on YouTube. She's joining us to talk about not getting ghosted by them ghosts. Sarah, thanks for popping by to real estate on air live. Thank you for having me. Yeah, the pleasure is always mine, ma'am. So before we get tactical a little bit, let me start with, what is it that most agents

actually get wrong about follow-up in general? Well, there's a lot that they get wrong about follow-up in general. The timing of it, the way that they approach it is being not themselves, so being inauthentic, the consistency of it, those are just some things to start. And then you can get into all the ways that they say, the things that they say and how they set tasks and what they do for when they actually talk to people as well. You know, we're going to start with an assumption in this conversation. We're going to assume that agents are using a CRM.

Yes. I know that's a bold assumption based on our past conversations, but we're going to operate from that place because we're going to assume that, we're just going to assume that the agents are using the right tools to be able to do the things that we're going to be discussing today. And what we're talking about is we're talking about how is it for an agent? What are some of those key responses that are going to solicit something from that specifically, depending on what type of lead they are, depending on where they're coming from. And so Sarah is starting to get a little tactical here. How is it that you tailor your message based on a lead source?

Do you change the tone or the structure depending on where they're coming from? How do we even start to get that concept wrapped up, get our heads wrapped around that concept? Yeah, look, all leads are not created equal, okay? I wish they were, but they're not. I mean, there are so many different factors that go into this. And so you have to treat a Zillow lead different than you treat a website lead and a website lead different than you treat a referral and all the things that we're going to get into today. But yeah, they're not all created equal.

And I absolutely adjust my messaging, the amount that I follow up, the number of times that I call, the way that I text, all that stuff gets modified. Not greatly like all the time, but, well, in some cases, yes, greatly. So we'll get into that, though. Perfect. So I kind of want to start with one of the coldest types of a lead that I can get, right? Which would be the IDX lead or the website lead. You know, these are people that usually don't know you.

They may not even remember that they even registered for a website. how do you break that ice? Yeah, okay, that's where you're put in a weird position, right? You have to be more of a guide and you have to come with value rather than, you know, like trying to act like they know who you are because they were on your website. No, I guarantee they probably do not remember that they were on your website. So you have to gently remind them. And you do that with value.

So one of the ways that I do it is I say, hey, you know, whatever you're, hey, Ian, this is Sarah. and I saw you were checking out some homes in the Lakeland Hills area on our website recently. You know, is there anything that caught your eye that you might want to go take a quick look at or did you have any questions? So that is kind of how I approached that. But you can also do it if they're looking at a specific home, which it's a little bit easier when they are looking at a specific home. Then you can actually say, hey, like I saw you were looking at this property.

You know, 1, 2, 3 street. And it has a really beautiful backyard. and it is still available. Would you like to book a time to go see it or something like that? So there are two different ways that you can do that. But you want to remind them of what they were doing because a lot of times they don't even necessarily remember, especially if they're just scrolling in the middle of the night and had a few drinks and they don't know, then they put it in there. But if you come from a place of value instead of like trying to get them to do something and then remind them what they did and then explain to them why you're the one calling,

then that's going to be really helpful. And when do you typically make that follow-up? So with IDX website leads, I try to call them as soon as possible. I try to call pretty much every lead as soon as possible, but I'm not sitting there going, oh, I have to do it within five minutes or anything like that. If they request a tour, then heck yes,

you want to call right away. But they're just kind of browsing and scrolling. I call as soon as possible. It's usually within a 24-hour period. And then I call again, you know, and I text. Every time I call, I send a text message as well. That is very similar to what you just heard.

So that's kind of my way of doing it. And then I do it again in two days. And then I do it again in a week and then two weeks and three weeks. And then once a month until they get answered for those. Got it. And that's the cadence of perpetuity in forever. And is there like a favorite, you know, you talked about you kind of kind of got to remind them of their activity.

And you talked a little bit about, hey, you know, you're looking in this general area. or if they were looking at a specific property, hey, you were looking at this specific property. But is there like a go-to opening salvo of a text message or an email that you find at a higher percentage, this one gets a response? Yeah, is this Ian? Question mark. Really? Yeah.

If you just say, is this Ian? And then, but don't just leave it at that. You need to do like a dash. This is, you know, well, I do dash Sarah because it says like this is, Sarah, but some people will have to type like, this is and then their first name. But it works really well for me because a lot of people are named Sarah. And then they'll be like, hey, you know, is this Sarah from high school or whatever? And then I could at least have conversation with them.

But yeah, that is the one that works really well. But I don't use it on the first text. But I also have found that if I like, like, after a while, if I'm like, hey, you know, you were looking at these homes on our website a while back, you know, I'm just trying to find out, if you're still actively looking and if there's anything we can help you out with, I use a little SOS emoji. If not, please reply, stop, right? So I give them an opportunity also.

And I do get a lot of people, but not as many as you would think, but I get a lot of people actually responding, yes, I do. I still look for homes. And then I get a lot of people that say stop, but I would think that more people would say stop, but they don't. And then I keep doing it. That's bold. That's a guy.

I feel like I'm playing poker by reminding them that they can. say stop, but you have to tell them anyway that they can say stop and we stop, right? That's a part of some of the new regulations that we're dealing with, right? And we need to be able to track that as well. So it's not a bad thing either. I want to flip it a little bit now because those are IDX website, pretty cold leads. One of the things that I know newer agents often struggle with, right, when they're talking to strangers say they seem to do a better job with strangers than they do their own sphere of influence.

And it's just weird. It is weird. It is weird. But it's a reality of the situation. So how do you follow up with someone in your sphere of influence without feeling awkward or pushy or have that quintessential commission breath? Yeah. So you've got to keep it casual and relational, like no matter what, right? I prefer video texting with that because then you can actually like, hey, you know,

hey, Ian, it's Sarah. It's been a while. Just want to see what you're up to. And then whatever the reason is that you're reaching out. Like, hey, I actually sold a home in your area and I just was thinking of you and just want to see what you're up to you, right? So that's kind of how I would recommend it. When you're doing sphere of influence stuff, you should absolutely be the one following up.

If you know these people and they're a part of your life, make a video, take some time. They'll feel appreciated. And especially if like whatever your reason is to follow up with them, then make it so that that's like kind of buried in it. It's not your forefront. And if you really care about these people, then you shouldn't just be trying to get them to work with you anyway. Right.

Right. I have a conversation. And then that naturally like people that are good people are naturally going to ask you about your career. One of the things you can also do is, like, ask them, hey, what are you doing for work nowadays? And then they're automatically going to feel obligated to ask you back what you do. And then you can bring it up if they don't already know that you're in real estate, right? Got it.

Now, what's the balance between personal and professional type of a conversation in that SOI follow-up? Well, I mean, it depends on your relationship with the person, right? Are you guys hanging out every weekend? or is it a sphere of influence because you sold them a home before, but you don't invite these people to your birthday party, right? Like that just depends on that, which all of this stuff is kind of like, you know, you just kind of got to gauge like what makes sense. Obviously, you're not going to, you know, throw shade on something and, you know,

that nobody knows what you're talking about. So you got to have the conversations that make sense for the person that you're talking to. And, you know, one of the things that I, I know I struggled with, uh, with my sphere people years ago was not sounding like a newsletter to them. Um, I'm not exactly sure how I overcame it, but how do you nurture someone in your sphere of influence without sounding like a real estate newsletter? Yeah. So you, like I said, you've got to kind of bury the lead on that one. You aren't reaching out just because you're trying to tell them, oh, interest rates are down or whatever. You have to care about the person first and come with the relationship, you know, aspect at the forefront so that you're just nurturing that relationship. And because you have a good relationship with them, then you're going to get their business because you're going to be top of mind because you care about that person as a person.

And you're not trying to be salesy. You're not trying to be, you know, any of that stuff. We're getting some guidance from Sarah DeLansig, Sarah, the ISA on social media. She is the host of the Keeping at Real Estate Podcasts, heard streaming here on KGCI, Real Estate on air. And we're talking about how to get responses out of our leads. And we're kind of talking about some of the different leads and some of the strategies and tactics that actually get that lead that's coming into your orbit to respond.

For a while, I was great at the Zillow and portal leads. You know, they come in hot, but they're never exclusive. Like, it's kind of like a dog fight. Like, I felt like Top Gun Maverick a little bit in some of this. But they've reached out to multiple agents. That's the reality of the situation. And you got to stand out and you got to convert. So if you're an agent, how do you give that value proposition?

And how do you stand out and convert those Zillow and Porter leads that are coming in? Yeah, I find this. Okay, so I have a really high Zillow rating for my. for Zillow. I don't fight with other, well, I fight with other agents on the team, but they're only reaching out to one agent. And most of the times they think they're reaching out to the listing agent, to be honest with you, which is kind of funny to me. But regardless, one of the things that I do is I try to solve their problems. Like I'm not trying to sit there and, you know, just pressure them into anything. You have to go low pressure, but high value. And this is with

every single type of lead, but especially with Zillow, they usually have a reason. and do a little bit of homework on you you're able to when you get the zillow call to see what they wrote and you know whether they have an agent or like they they fill out a little bit of information sometimes they'll write something in there um i had a guy recently yeah he reached out on zillow and he was like um you're using our listing photos from our pre you know when we sold that house and that's proprietary and you owe us money and you know and so i reached out to this guy because i realize it was a FISBO. It wasn't our listing. And I was like, hey, I called them anyway. I'm like, hey, look, you know, you were trying to reach the person that listed this home.

It's not listed by an agent. So you need to call this number and get a hold of this guy. So I just provide value because like if you're, you got to put yourself in their shoes. Like, what are they really trying to accomplish here? And they feel heard and seen when you don't talk over them and you don't try to just set the appointment and you like you need to um repeat and affirm what they're saying but not try to like be super inauthentic right you have to just kind of go with the flow of the conversation and if you believe in what you're saying then it should be pretty easy from there i always found success and just make turning over time of possession to them like i might ask them an open-ended or a quick little prompt but the longer i had them talking

and the more, and I didn't necessarily need that conversation to have any sort of constructive flow. But if I, when I could get them on the phone, that was always the, that was always the play. Let's just say you have one of those leads come in. Let's just say it pushes to your CRM. So you have it like, hey, by the way, this is a lead. Go get it from a portal or from a Zillow. How do you get them on the phone? Because it's easy when they're calling in.

it's a whole other thing when you've got to try to get them on the phone. How do we turn that inquiry that was cold that came with no call into a conversation that they're going to be responding to? Yeah. So there's a few different ways you can do this, which if you're calling from a CRM, you're going to want to, you know, leave a voicemail and try to address whatever house they were looking at or whatever question they have and say, you had these questions. I got the answers. Like, just give me a call back. We'll quickly go over it. Like, just try to come again with that value and low, low pressure, low key. Like, let's not be aggressive or anything like that. And then I would shoot a text too. I would shoot a text and be like, hey, you know, almost the same thing I left on the voicemail. Sometimes they'll answer. They'll pick up because they see, you know, you're calling about what they wanted to know about.

But other than that, you have to kind of hit them every day with the Zillowans because they have to be reminded sometimes or they need to just tell you what's going on. But another thing, you can also always send a video text from your cell phone, which may help you out as well. I don't highly recommend doing things from your cell phone. Some CRMs, you can send videos through so you can always attempt that as well. But when they see a face, they usually then aren't as likely to ignore. it because now they're putting you as a human and not just phone number or not just like, you know, data. That makes sense. I mean, that makes a lot of sense.

And the more you can make yourself to be a human as opposed to just name on the caller ID, that's got to help a lot. Similar but different because all of these are different. Thinking about social media leads for a minute, like these are, at least in my experience, these are leads that are soft, they're curious, typically not remotely close to being ready, heavy, long nurture phase here. How do you approach that conversation? So this is like the majority of what I do, our Facebook, you know, online, warm online leads. I call them warm because they click something and you've got the one-to-one consent that you can contact them and stuff, even if they don't like that, but they did agree to be contacted.

they click the ad, they've entered their information. So you still have to keep it casual, curious, and totally benefits driven, right? What is the benefit of you talking to me? Well, hey, if you didn't get the, well, let's just, let's give an example. Okay. I have a client in Houston and he runs an amazing ad with street text that is like a, if you're looking for three bedroom plus townhomes in the Houston city limits, you know, click here and get a list.

Okay. So that's running on Instagram and Facebook for him. and he gets tons of leads out of this. And so I call pretty much right away, not within five minutes or anything. Okay, like I call within a 24-hour period. And I say, hey, it looks like you requested a list of these homes from us online. You know, I just want to make sure you got that okay in your email. Sometimes it does go to spam.

Also may, you know, want to answer any questions you have and help you find whatever you might be looking for. So I approach it like that on the first call and the first text. And then sometimes they'll be like, hey, yeah, I didn't get it or whatever, whatever. So the second call and second text is way more generic. Hey, this is Sarah, you know, with the Sam grocer real estate team. That's kind of what I say because I call for a different agent. I'm not calling for myself. And still trying to reach you about your home search.

Give me a call back. Just something super generic. And then I send that text. Is this Ian question mark? Okay. Dot, dot, dot, right? Or dash Sarah. Right?

And then usually if they don't respond to that, then I say, please let me know dot dot dot the next time. And I just leave pretty generic voicemails from there on out. But I put more effort into the text messages because people are more likely, even if you leave an amazing voicemail and they call you back and you think, oh, they heard my voicemail. They know what I'm, no, they didn't listen to my voicemail at all. They were just like, I missed a call from this number, you know?

Yes. And I'll be like, oh, well, you know, I left you a beautiful voicemail. and I sent you a wonderful text that explains all the reasons why I called you 20 times before this, but if you still don't know who I am, I'm just kidding. I don't do that. But no. It's funny because it's true. Exactly.

No, but seriously, I don't treat it like that, but I'll be like, oh, you know what? Five months ago, you were browsing around here on Facebook. And at the time, you know, you were looking for a house. Funny story. I called this person 20 times recently from October 2nd. of 2024 until last week. And this lady has never answered a single text or a single phone call. And all of a sudden she calls me back and says,

hey, I'm looking for a house. All right. I'm like, okay. That only took, what was it, eight months? I've had it happen where, you know, I will be, you know, on some, but, you know, you know, think of like 10 days of pain and, you know, go through that whole process and I'm calling them every week to 10 days and this is something that goes on for for you know eight nine months and then they call out of the blue because you know

they obviously click the button they had a bunch of people doing like 10 days of pain on them but after the 10 days everyone falls off the face of the earth I'm the only one still standing there when they're actually finally ready to start thinking about the process of buying a house or selling their house and you know there is there is merit it people pay if people are in the mode of buying or selling a house they are paying attention to the frequency that multiple agents especially when you're dealing with those with those leads that you know aren't in your sphere of influence that aren't super exclusive to you i mean i've had dozens of closings that have come out of something like that where i'm just keeping up with somebody who

who I haven't heard from for six months to a year. And then for me, it seems like they came out of the blue. But in the back of their head, I was top of mind when they ultimately had that need. For social media leads, if you were to say, it's a guide that works, or it's a listing that works, or if it's just the casual check-ins, what value to a social media lead cuts through most often

and gets that response? Well, it's interesting that you asked that, well, trying to make sure that they got whatever they requested. Instead of just being like, can I help you? Do you have, you know, just jumping right in and acting like they're ready to buy or sell, right? That's my approach. But also giving them that option where you're like, that's playing with fire, like saying, hey, you can say stop. When they feel like they're in control of the situation, they tend to not ask to be, get, taken out of it because they kind of like the reminder.

Okay, you know what? I'm not ready now, but this person's going to call me again in a week or again in a month. And then I'm going to be, you know, and then maybe I'll be ready then. They kind of like the reminder. And I think that's what happened with the lady that I brought up. So giving them some kind of sense of control, but also giving them a no like and trust factor where you sound authentic. You don't sound like someone that they don't want to work with, you know.

I think that's why it's crucial for me in my very. business why I'm in the United States and I hire here and I make calls here and I have my license. And so I understand the amount that it takes to convert a lead. I understand the money and time and effort and energy that it takes to convert a lead. But also I think that something that always cuts through is going to be video. So if you can ever send video, there's that too. So make sure you're providing value, making sure they got what they wanted. Make sure that you're given them control of the situation, you know, hey, if this isn't what you need, let me know. And then send a video and get them to know like and trust you because that's half the battle.

Now, before we wrap up, I would be remiss if I didn't ask about referrals because referrals are gold. But they are often, unless you have that person referring you doing a handoff, they are often quite quiet. you know, you don't necessarily meet them directly. How do you do that follow-up? So it doesn't feel cold and salesy, but leverages that relationship that is being leveraged by the person who's referred you the business. Yeah, I mean, I would ask if you could do like a three-way intro

because you said if they're not handing it off, like a three-way text intro is or whatever, it's going to be super helpful. Now, if that's not an option for whatever reason, which I don't know why it wouldn't be an option if you're going to be signing a referral agreement with these people anyway, they shouldn't, they should want to know that their referee

is being taken care of by the right agent and everything like that. So they should be willing to do this and take five seconds and say, you know, hey, and make the introduction for you. But if that's not the case, I would do again, I know I'm being repetitive here, but again, I would record a quick video. video, hey, this is Sarah. You know, Ian said that you were looking for this, this and that. I am super excited to help you out with you, whatever, whatever, whatever. Like, can't wait to get

on a call with you to discuss your timeline and help you reach your dreams or whatever. You know, get into your dream home, blah, blah, blah, right? Those things are going to be really helpful. But if you can, try to get the person that referred it to send it over. But if you can't do that, and you're like totally averse to video, then you can do it on a text. Like, hey, so-and-so mentioned you. I heard you might be making a move soon. That's super exciting. I really love to chat with you about, you know, however I can help you with this process or something like that.

Got it. Now, wrapping up here, you know, we've talked about you wish every agent would use video. You wish every agent would provide value. is there besides value and besides video, is there any other principles that an agent should be following if they couldn't necessarily track the nuance between these different types of lead sources? They said, hey, you know what?

I have this cold lead in front of me. I need them to respond. How do I get them to respond, Sarah? I guess the one thing that I would say, like it's a combination of things, but the main thing that is going to help every agent is consistency, period, point blank, over. If you want it to happen faster, then use video. If you want it to happen even faster, be completely authentic.

Don't be pushy. Add value. These are all the things like that you're adding more and more to your tool belt so that you can actually get the job done. But yeah, consistency is super key. I think there's a statistic, like 88%. of agents only make one follow-up call and they never make a second one. And that's just insane. And so, and depending on who you're calling and the type of person, like, we didn't even

get into like absolutely cold leads, like expires or fizzbos or circle prospecting. And those have to be handled a certain type of way. Those almost need to be handled so separately. We can tackle those truly another time, right? Well, I don't know if we can because we only might have six months left to even have those as part of our lexicon with all the laws and stuff one-to-one. It's true. Yeah, so I was preparing for that six months ago. Right.

Or actually eight months ago. But yeah. So, yeah, I would say consistency is the most crucial part of follow-up. And you will learn and become competent by being consistent. And you will become confident by being competent and consistent. if that makes sense. That makes a ton of sense. I don't think I could have said it any better.

Sarah, Sarah, the ISA, she is on social media. You can find her there. You can listen to her podcast, keeping it real estate, streaming here on KGCI, Real Estate on air. You can catch her video version of that podcast over at the Agent Power Huddl. Sarah DeLancic, thanks for popping by to KGCI Real Estate on air live. We appreciate your insights. Thank you so much. I always appreciate chatting with Sarah DeLancig over at the Agent Power Huddle on YouTube.

You can watch her there every other. Tuesday, her podcast, keeping a real estate is streaming Wednesdays on KGCI Real Estate on air. But as an ISA, lead conversion is all she does. And she always brings things that we as agents can put into our business or reminds us what we should be doing. So in no particular order, here are my top five takeaways from that conversation with Sarah that you just heard here on Real Estate on Air Live. At number one, not all leads are created equal, so don't talk to them like they are. They're emphasized the importance of tailoring your message to the lead source. A Zillow lead isn't a website lead and a referral isn't your high school friend.

Treat them accordingly. So agents match tone and timing to where that lead came from. She talked about the differences in that conversation because a one size fits all follow-up just doesn't convert. Number two, the best text message is this. Insert customer name here. Yeah, really, it works. What Sarah says is her highest response text. It's just, hey, is this blank?

Add a dash and your name, and suddenly you're a human again, and you're not spam. And agents, why it works, it's low pressure. It's curiosity-driven messaging that can start a conversation. You can work the scripting in later. At number three, Sphere needs relationship first, then real estate. that should seem common, but, you know, your friends and your past clients don't necessarily want the newsletter. They want to hear from you, right? Sarah recommends using short video texts with a personal touch and burying the real estate pitch to build genuine care. So agents, check in first,

the business follows. Authenticity converts better than updates on interest rates. Number four, portal and social leads want value, not pressure. So portal leads, expect speed but not hard pitch social leads expect conversation not a close and for both sarah says simply staying casual asking pointed questions and providing revalue is the way forward so agents say something like just wanted to make sure you got what you requested that line opens a door and reopens it if it's been closed for a while better than any script will and at number five the secret sauce consistency over everything. You can use video. You can be authentic. You can offer value. But if you're not consistent with it, it don't matter. Most agents stop after one or two touches. Sarah stays top of mind until they're

ready to move. So agents, you'll get good by being consistent. You'll get great by being consistent long enough to learn what actually works for you. And if you are ready for more, this coming Friday Focus is all about the lead follow-up that gets responses. If you have leads sitting in your database, we will be hearing from top agents all day Friday on the follow-up strategies that they use to get customers re-engage. You can listen live to our six-hour deep dive or on demand on your time. Download our always free KGCI Real Estate on-air mobile app for iPhone and Android. Search KGCI in the App Store or Google Play and failing that. Be sure to subscribe to KGCI, wherever you're listening to podcast.

It's time now for real estate confessions, where we share the stories that you'd never put in a listing description, but definitely you tell your friends at Abbey Hour. These are the moments that prove that we're all just trying to keep it together in this wild world or real estate. And if you got a story of your own, set us a DM on Facebook or Instagram, and we may just feature your confession on our next show.

Just search KGCI on Facebook or Instagram. But before we dive in, we have to get one thing straight. Real estate confessions features stories from the wild world of real estate. Names and details may have been changed to protect the innocent, and occasionally the not so innocent. All confessions are shared in good humor and do not reflect the opinions of KGCI Real Estate on air, its hosts, or affiliates.

No agent's licenses were harmed in the making of this segment. Enjoy responsibly. All right, here we go. It's real estate confessions, because in real estate, truth is stranger than fiction. I accidentally tagged a client in my Instagram reel of their own messy kitchen. Caption said, staging matters. They untagged themselves.

We haven't spoken since. I uploaded photos of a listing that still had Halloween decorations up in March. I told a buyer I'd meet them at Main Street. Forgot to mention which town that was in. We ended up on opposite sides of the county and very confused. I once sent a happy closing email to the wrong client. They hadn't even put in an offer yet. They asked, should I be worried?

My lockbox code didn't work. Turns out I was at the wrong house. Twice. No judgment here. Just prove that even top agents have their moments. If you have a confession of your own, be sure to drop us a DM on Instagram or Facebook. Just search KGCI.

We read them all. We laugh along with you. And hey, we've probably done the same thing. once or twice. Like, follow, and tell us what went sideways because real estate isn't perfect. Sure is entertaining. And don't forget, if the market's feeling weird to you right now, you're not making it up. Inventory is up. Buyers are cautious. And yeah, those sellers are still pricing out here like as 2021. But agents who win in this market, they're not waiting for better conditions. They're getting sharper with their conversations. And that does start with

follow-up that actually works. Big thanks to Sarah DeLansig for breaking it down with us today on Real Estate on Air Live. If you miss any part of that conversation, catch it the replay on demand on your time with our always free Real Estate on Air mobile app. Just search KGCI or subscribe wherever you're listening to podcast. And hey, we're not done yet. This Friday, we're doubling down with our Friday focus on lead gen follow-up,

same topic with even more strategy. Make sure that you're subscribed. And if today's episode gave you something to think about, give us a follow on Instagram and Facebook. Just search KGCI. I'm Ian Wheatley. This is Real Estate on Air Live. Be good.