Lead generation is a huge focus for most estate agents. A lot of time, effort, and money goes into marketing, booking market appraisals, and delivering a strong valuation pitch. But where many agents miss an opportunity is in what happens next. The follow-up.

The reality is, most sellers don’t make their decision immediately on a valuation. Some are still weighing up their options. The majority need time to process the information, and some simply get distracted by everything else going on in their lives. Without a strong follow-up process, these potential instructions can slip through the cracks, often going to the agent who kept in touch the longest.

Research suggests it takes between five and twelve interactions before someone is ready to commit. Yet many agents stop at just one or two. The most successful estate agents I work alongside don’t just rely on a great valuation pitch. They have a system in place to continue the conversation, nurture relationships, and reinforce their value long after they’ve walked out the door.

I recently worked with an agent who was excellent at closing for the business on the appointment. If a seller was remotely ready to sign up on the day, she’d get the instruction more often than not. But if they needed time to think, she moved on. She assumed that if they were interested, they’d come back to her. The problem was, many of them didn’t. Not because they didn’t want to use her, but because in the time she went silent, a rival agent stayed in touch and won the business instead.

We implemented a structured follow-up system, regular touchpoints, tailored check-ins, and helpful content sent out over the following weeks. Within two months, her conversion rate had doubled. Not because she changed her pitch or her fees, but because she stayed front of mind long enough for sellers to choose her as their agent.

For the most successful agents, follow-up isn’t an afterthought, it’s a key part of their success. They don’t leave it to chance, and they don’t assume sellers will just remember them. Instead, they make sure that when a homeowner finally decides to list, there’s only one agent they think of.

If you don’t already have a clear follow-up strategy in place, now is the time to change that. If you’re not following up your clients like you know you should, you’re handing your competitors an open goal.

Chris Webb is the founder of The Estate Agent Consultancy