You never know who your next customer is going to be. We meet people from all walks of life doing real estate. Furthermore, we frequently encounter people we peripherally know from the place we live who end up working with us.

It’s not uncommon to have a direct buyer call when we have a house for sale. That’s one of the many benefits of having listings. A buyer called me on a listing I had several months ago. I sold this house, not to them, and made it a point to keep in touch.

They were somewhat far away and were a bit wishy-washy about whether they wanted to buy or rent, and if they were going to buy, whether it would be near them or near me. I don’t do much in the way of rentals, but I happened to get a house rental to market that I did as a favor to someone in order to build the relationship. The house loosely fit what they were looking for. So, I reached out to them and just let them know that it was available. Turns out they were out of the country on vacation and couldn’t see it. I offered to do a virtual tour, but they weren’t totally into it. Fine. I leased it to someone else and moved on.

Fast forward another month or two and I’m interviewing for a listing in the same neighborhood as the listing I had earlier in the year. Turns out, this seller really likes the idea of selling off-market rather than going through the hubbub of bringing it to market. They have a work-related situation and they’d rather not have to explain the move prematurely.

I won the listing. Part of what won me the listing was being able to honestly say that I had at least one, and more like three, interested buyers who might be a fit. If they happen to be, this would solve the sellers’ problem and allow them to sell it privately without having to list it publicly for sale. There is the added bonus that it could be a direct buyer and I would double-side the sale. That’s $500,000 @ 6% vs. 3.5%. Not a trivial difference in terms of commission if it all went that way.

Today I brought that buyer through the house. This was our first time meeting in person. It was a good showing and a good meeting. Established good rapport with their family. Very positive. They first called in March. It’ll be September 1st in a few days. They may buy this house, or they may not.

In either case, I’m creating opportunity. We’re so fortunate in real estate because there is so much potential for opportunity. We sell a service that is consumed by a significant portion of the population everywhere. Consequently, there is an abundance of opportunity for business hiding everywhere you look.

I wonder about how many deals I didn’t close because I didn’t keep in touch with everyone that I met. I know it’s a massive number.

The importance of a functional CRM—that we actually use—can’t be overstated, in my opinion, and it’s something I could do a lot better with. But I do keep simple lists of people so I can glance at them and see everyone that’s currently relevant in terms of now business and who I should be touching.

Leads | Active | Contract | Closing | Closed | Let Go | Lost/Didn’t Keep in Touch

I have these categories on a KanBan-style board in Trello like the photo below. When they change stages, I just drag them to the appropriate card (column).

This basic tool is simple enough that I do it pretty consistently. I can glance at this while I’m driving (I’m not perfect), or easily add someone to it from my phone after a meeting. On my desktop in my office, it’s a pinned tab that’s usually always one click away.

I used to keep this same format on a whiteboard in my office. I’d look at it every time I looked up. It’s a practice I may return to again. I’ve found that this is an area where redundancy can be really useful.

Don’t let them slip away. The money is definitely in the follow-up. I just closed buyers (who were also sellers) I’ve been talking to for over two years. I have buyers currently who just emailed me about the listing described in this post that I’ve been talking to since 2019! Keep at ’em.