The Problem Isn’t Your Leads. It’s Your Follow-Up Process

Real estate struggles usually come down to one of two problems. Either not enough people are coming in, or plenty are coming in and not enough of them turn into deals. If you’re in the second group, the fix isn’t more lead spend. It’s what happens in the weeks and months after the first conversation.

That was the focus of a recent Labcoat Agents session with Gustavo of Power ISA, who works with some of the top teams in the country across Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, and beyond. Those teams treat leads differently. Gustavo says they see 5% to 7% conversion on Google PPC, where most agents land between 0% and 1%, and 20%+ close rates on high-quality Zillow Flex leads, where 10% to 15% is considered good.

Most Leads Aren’t Ready Yet, and That’s Normal

Agents are strong at the lead who wants to see a house today. The trouble is that this lead is rare. Gustavo’s rough math: about 4 million homes sell in a year against roughly 87 million homeowners, and the literature says 3% to 5% of leads are ready to act at any given time. The other 97% are browsing, starting to research, or nervous about the market.

Many agents fail at follow-up because they treat their job as scanning for that 3% and dropping everyone else. Gustavo’s reframe is that the job is to stay with people until they’re ready.

The data backs that up. In Zillow’s 2025 Consumer Housing Trends report, 52% of buyers said contacting an agent was the first step in their journey, well before pre-approval. And one team tracking Realtor.com leads found that 45% of their year-two closings came from follow-up six to twelve months out.

Consistency Beats Speed

Speed to lead is Gustavo’s own brand, and he still says that if he had to pick, consistent follow-up wins and it isn’t close. In a secret shopper study of 100 teams from 25 brokerages by Mike DelPrete, 47% of leads got no response at all. Among the teams that did respond, the median response time was 40 minutes. Gustavo’s point is that the bar is low: respond the same day, then keep going when someone doesn’t pick up.

The 3×3 System

For new leads, he recommends three touches a day for the first three days, then three touches a week for the next three weeks. If there’s still no response, the lead moves to a pond that gets touched at least monthly. It’s a more compressed version of the old 10 Days of Pain, and he says it matches what it takes to convert in 2026.

The same structure extends to the rest of the pipeline:

• Hot leads (likely to transact in the next month or two): weekly follow-up
• Nurture leads (everyone else): at least monthly by call, text, or email

One simple team habit he highlights, from Sunit Nagarwal’s book on lead conversion, is a dedicated Follow-Up Wednesday. One day a week, the team calls the pipeline together. Nagarwal describes that single policy as a business-changing one for teams that adopt it.

Add Value Instead of Checking In

When a lead says “call me in six months,” Gustavo doesn’t treat that as a timeline. He treats it as a signal that they don’t yet see value in talking to you. The fix is to give them a reason to respond. A few ways to do that:

• Send a hot listing that matches what they’ve been looking at
• Share a recent comp near their home
• Send a market update or a short piece of content on interest rates
• Share a case study, for example how you saved a deal after rates jumped mid-transaction

Once you’ve given them something useful, you’ve earned the right to ask how their timeline is coming along.

Lead With an Offer

Top teams also have a hook, something buyers actually want. Depending on the market, it could be access to off-market properties, builder incentives, or a guide to buying when rates start with a 7. Gustavo’s reasoning: 74% of buyers interview only one agent, so the goal is to be the first agent they have a real two-way conversation with, even if they say they’re a year out. Face to face is ideal, but FaceTime or Zoom works. Putting a face to a name makes a difference.

Interest Rates Are an Objection, Not a Dead End

Gustavo addressed the common fear that no one is buying or selling right now. His response: don’t make that decision for your leads. Rates were 8% in October 2023, and the country still sold about 4 million homes a year. He says fear-based objections are rarely based in fact, and the way to handle this one is to solve it with options:

• Rate buydowns (including 2-1 and 3-2-1 structures)
• Builder incentives, some of which include guaranteed lower rates
• Seller concessions, particularly where inventory is high
• Adjustable-rate mortgages
• Adjustments to down payment or gift funds

If Your Agents Won’t Make the Calls

Gustavo sees this as a systems problem more than an agent problem. A few ideas he shares:

• Set team standards. Agents who want inbound internet leads need to hit a conversion rate and a minimum number of touches per lead, and keep their CRM updated.
• Consider an ISA. Even a good calling session means 70% to 80% of calls go unanswered. An ISA absorbs that and hands agents qualified conversations, which is the work agents like.
• Keep humans in the loop. He sees AI producing more signals and conversation starters, but says consumers still prefer talking to a person.

Are the Leads Bad, or Is the Process?

When agents say leads are bad, Gustavo usually finds one of two things. Contact rate may be too low (inbound internet leads should land around 10% to 25%), which points to dialer or phone number issues. Or the script is aimed at the 3% ready to go, so it falls flat with everyone else. He also recommends looking at behavior rather than replies. A lead who isn’t answering but is active in your CRM or IDX is still showing intent, and tools that surface those signals can help teams with large databases decide who to call first.

Watch and Connect

Watch the full session replay: https://youtu.be/fkhz0L07HeI

Power ISA is offering Labcoat Agents members 50% off the setup fee: https://www.powerisa.com/lca

To get a copy of the slide deck, email info@powerisa.com with “hate follow up” in the subject line.