11.10.2025 PropStream
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice. Real estate marketing practices and advertising regulations vary by location. Always verify compliance requirements with your local real estate board or governing authority before implementing any outreach strategy.
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Key Takeaways:
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Your ideal client just listed their property with another agent, not because they didn't know you existed, but because that agent reached them first. This is the power of outbound marketing.
While some agents wait for leads to come to them, a strategic outbound approach puts you directly in front of motivated sellers and buyers before they ever start their search.
Read on to learn why outbound marketing still dominates in 2025 and the proven strategies that can turn cold prospects into closed deals.
Table of Contents |
Why Lead Nurturing Matters More Than Ever
The average real estate conversion rate is 2.4%, which means the typical agent lands a little over two sales for every 100 prospects they connect with.
Real estate leads may wait weeks or months before they hire you, and for particularly large transactions, the sales cycle can even take years. This is because whether or not a person is ready to list their home depends on a variety of factors, such as job decisions, family changes, or local market conditions.
Some leads can go months without showing any signs of readiness, and then, seemingly out of the blue, they are eager to sell. At that point, they’ll reach out to the agent they think of first or trust the most.
If you want to be the agent they call, it’s essential to prioritize visibility by touching base regularly and offering value. Some experienced agents recommend following up with at least five to seven leads per day to stay top of mind.
Below, we’ll explore ways to make lead nurturing easier and more effective.
7 Proven Strategies for Following Up With Leads
1. Follow Up Quickly
Generally speaking, the likelihood of a lead turning into a client hinges on your very first follow-up.
Don’t let leads grow cold on your to-do list. Reply as quickly as possible to capitalize on their interest. If phone outreach is part of your strategy, these cold-calling scripts can help you start conversations that convert. Leads may reach out to multiple agents, and the agent who responds the fastest often secures the sale.
2. Use Data to Personalize Communication
One of the quickest ways to lose a lead is to send a generic message. This can make them feel like a task on your marketing checklist instead of a human you want to connect with.
You can easily solve this problem with some personalization, such as highlighting their motivation for selling. Start with a simple property analysis, which will uncover a property’s condition, any signs of financial distress, and any recent changes in ownership.
Once you understand a seller’s motivation, run comps to let them know how much their property could sell for in the current market.
Both these searches are easy with PropStream thanks to our platform’s detailed search filters and accurate comps feature.
Next, segment your leads into groups, such as “hot,” “warm,” and “cold,” depending on how ready they are to sell and how they’re responding to your outreach. This will help you prioritize your follow-ups and set your communication cadence.
3. Diversify Your Follow-Up Channels
Instead of relying solely on calls or texts, consider a mix of channels for your outreach campaign. This can include phone calls, emails, text messages, postcards, and social media retargeting.
Keep your prospects’ ages in mind, too. Gen Z, for instance, often prefers emails, texts, and direct messages for initial outreach, which you can supplement with phone calls or in-person conversations later on.
Regardless of the communication methods you choose, the primary goal is to establish a consistent cadence. For example, you could schedule weekly check-ins or monthly updates with leads, depending on their position in the sales pipeline.
However, beware of consistency turning into monotony. When prospects begin to expect your messages, they’re more inclined to tune them out. Varied outreach helps maintain high engagement and prevents fatigue.
4. Offer Value, Not Just Pitches
Keep in mind that leads, especially motivated sellers, may regularly receive sales messages from other agents. Stand out by offering personalized insights, rather than solely pitching your services.
Follow-ups capture more attention when they offer value. For instance, you could share:
- Local market reports
- Estimated home values
- Renovation ROI tips
- Buying or selling tips
- Property data or comp snapshots
Watch the above demo to see the PropStream Property Analysis Tool in action!
These additional insights lend credibility as a real estate expert, positioning you as an advisor rather than just another salesperson.
5. Automate Without Losing the Human Touch
Tracking leads and follow-ups on a spreadsheet takes hours that could be spent on marketing or working with clients. This is where a customer relationship management system (CRM) can be particularly helpful, especially as your pipeline expands to include hundreds or thousands of leads.
You can also use smart dialers to schedule follow-ups and reminders.
| Pro Tip: Use BatchDialer to stay consistent with follow-ups and reach your lead lists faster. With multi-line dialing, call tracking, and built-in lead management, agents can contact more prospects in less time while keeping every interaction logged and compliant. |
While automation is a helpful and time-saving strategy, be cautious not to let your marketing become overly robotic. Be sure to personalize every message you send, or at least the first line, which is often what determines whether or not leads read the rest.
Most importantly, remember that empathy is what closes deals. You might use the most efficient client management system available, but if leads don’t think you care about them, they won’t want to work with you.
6. Revive Cold Leads Strategically
Reconnecting with cold leads may seem like a waste of time, but it can actually be a solid sales strategy. You can make these follow-ups less awkward by referencing new real estate data and neighborhood trends that indicate opportunities that are in their favor
One simple way to revive an old lead is to use PropStream to check if the property has any updated mortgage data or activity.
You can then use this information to strike up a conversation. For example, you might say, “I noticed there’s been an uptick in buyer demand in your area. Want an updated estimate?” or “I saw that property values in your neighborhood are going up again. Would you like a new valuation?”
7. Track Your Follow-Up Performance
Your follow-up strategy will evolve over time as you test new tactics and figure out what works best for you. You can streamline this process by analyzing your overall conversion rate as well as your various outreach methods, such as email, phone calls, or text messages. Start by tracking important KPIs like open rate, response rate, and click-through rate.
This will tell you what’s working and what’s not, allowing you to optimize your medium mix, follow-up cadence, and messaging.
Turn Leads Into Listings With PropStream
Improve your conversion rates and close more sales with smarter nurturing. With PropStream, you can find motivated sellers, distressed properties, off-market leads, and more.
You can also use PropStream to track property data, run comps, and stay connected with your prospects through automated follow-up campaigns.
*PropStream engages an independent third party to perform skip-tracing.
