Leading with consistency and authenticity makes your follow-up more effective and ensures you always keep yourself top of mind when dealing with leads, writes coach Darryl Davis.
This is a scenario that most agents are aware of. There is a list of contacts of cold people and mostly warm people. People who raised their hands asking for information on a home, scanned a QR code at an open house, or perhaps added to your farm after a recent sale nearby.
They are not hot leads. But they are not nothing either. They have expressed some interest, but know that follow-up can make or break the deal.
So, you can use AI to help you plan. For example, seven-touch campaigns customized for each type of contact. Video about touch three. Segmented messages to buyers, nosy neighbors, and farm contacts. Clean, professional, and scalable.
And life gets busy. And the system will collapse. Also.
Sound familiar?
The segmentation trap
The customization instinct is great. A neighbor who scans a QR code out of curiosity about nearby properties has a different brain than someone who fills out a form saying they want a home worth $300,000 or more. The messages probably won’t be the same.
But this is where agents run into trouble. Agents take their better instincts too far.
10 exposure categories x 7 exposures equals 70 pieces of content. It’s not a follow-up system, it’s a side job. And the more complex the machine you build, the more likely it is to break down at the moment you get busy, when you need it most.
Any practical fixes? Collapse categories. Look for things that are common to different groups. Limit it to 3-4 buckets at most. Then customize two or three of the seven touches to suit your group. The rest applies to everyone.
That’s a light lift. But that’s not the real lesson yet.
What AI tools are doing wrong
Ask an AI assistant how to build a cold contact follow-up strategy and you’ll get a thorough, well-organized, and completely logical answer. Split the list. Customize for each persona. Build your campaign. Automate your touch.
That’s not wrong, but here’s the problem. It’s a corporate thing. This is something every marketing coach will tell you (and they do, because guess where that got your plan from?). This is probably what all competitors on the market are doing as well.
The reason AI won’t tell you is because it can’t. That said, the most powerful follow-up sequence isn’t even a sequence at all. It’s you.
flip
Consider how Louis Vuitton operates. They aren’t running campaigns that try to reach every type of potential customer with messaging tailored to each segment. They are clear about what they are and the right customers will find it.
That’s attraction marketing, and it’s available to all agents who want to take advantage of it. Rather than organizing your entire strategy around your contact segments and their specific needs, flip it. Make yourself your organizing principle.
What makes you different? What does it actually represent? What kind of agent are you, and more importantly, what kind of agent are you not?
When you lead that consistently and with integrity, something changes. Matching contacts will be automatically selected and non-matching contacts will be moved away. This saves time you would otherwise waste tracking down incorrect fits.
major and minor
This doesn’t mean abandoning segmentation completely. That means knowing what your major and minor are.
Your major: Being unmistakably yourself in every touch. your values. your energy. A true dedication to the people we serve. It’s not a performance of professionalism, it’s the actual person who owns the license.
Your minors: There are several parts where you acknowledge group details. The nosy neighbor gains playfulness and neighborly love. Buyer intent contacts give you something relevant to the market.
But those are just sprinkles and icing. But what about cake? That’s you.
more difficult questions
Most agents ask these questions when building follow-up campaigns: “What do my contacts need to hear?” That’s not a bad question. But a better question is, “What do I want to be known for and am I saying it?” How could I say it better?
Your best brand is not a campaign. It’s not a seven-touch sequence. Not even the great BombBomb or BigVu videos. It’s a version of you that consistently shows up that doesn’t look or sound like any other agent in the market, and that’s what makes the right people think I know exactly who I’m calling when I’m finally ready to buy or sell.
Build the system. Take advantage of AI. Automate what you can, but don’t let machines drown out what actually generates business: the fact that no one else is you.
