The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

 

We’re into October.

And this is usually around the time of year when something starts to happen in real estate that has very little to do with interest rates, inventory or whatever the latest market headline happens to be.

People start mentally checking out.

Maybe not completely. They’re still working. They’re still answering emails, dealing with active clients, posting on social media, going to the office and doing all the things that make them feel busy.

But somewhere in the back of their mind, they’ve started looking toward next year.

They’re thinking about their 2027 business plan. What they’re going to do differently. The new marketing idea they’re going to try. The CRM they’re finally going to clean up. The prospecting they’re definitely going to become more consistent with.

January becomes this magical reset button … except it’s still only October, and there is a lot of year left.

So before you start worrying about what you’re going to do differently next year, there’s a much better question to ask yourself right now: Who have you forgotten about?

 

Before you go looking for more

 

We spend an incredible amount of time in this business trying to find new people.

More leads, followers, website traffic, people walking through the open house … more names in the CRM, more marketing, more advertising.

And obviously, we need to continue meeting people and growing our databases … but I want you to think about something:

How many people have you already met this year who gave you some indication that they wanted to do something in real estate … but never did?

Go all the way back to Jan. 1.

The buyer who started looking and then disappeared. The seller who told you they wanted to wait until spring. The couple who couldn’t qualify at the time. The person who came through your open house and had a home they needed to sell first. The past client who casually mentioned that they might downsize. The listing presentation you went on but didn’t win. The lead who told you, “Not right now.”

What happened to all of those people … do you actually know?

There’s a huge difference between someone saying “no” and someone saying “not now.”

And I’m willing to bet there’s a whole lot of “not now” sitting inside databases across this industry that eventually turned into “nobody ever called me again.”

That’s a problem.

 

Intent changes everything

 

I’m not telling you to randomly open your CRM and start calling everybody in it.

You already know how I feel about working your database consistently. You should be doing that anyway.

This is different.

I want you looking specifically for “intent.”

At some point this year, who gave you a reason to believe they were considering buying, selling, investing or making some kind of move?

They may not have been ready then, but their circumstances may have changed, their timing may have been wrong back then.

Maybe rates were the issue, or they didn’t find the right property, or maybe they couldn’t get the price they wanted for their home … maybe life simply got in the way.

Fine. But circumstances change.

And unless you’ve stayed close enough to know what’s happened since that conversation, you’re making an assumption that the opportunity disappeared.

Maybe it didn’t … but you did.

That’s the part to lean into right now.

 

Follow-up usually doesn’t fail all at once

 

I’ve spent a lot of time coaching Realtors over the years, and one thing I’ve noticed is that follow-up rarely falls apart because someone consciously decides they’re never going to call their prospect again.

Instead, it happens slowly.

You have a great conversation with someone on Tuesday. You put a note somewhere to follow up in a couple of weeks. Then an active deal gets complicated, or another listing comes up … or, like me, your kid has a game … you just get busy.

Two weeks becomes three. Three becomes six. Eventually enough time passes that calling them starts to feel awkward.

So you just don’t.

Then one day you’re scrolling Instagram and see a picture of them standing in front of their new house with another Realtor.

And that’s when you remember.

We’ve all had some version of that happen.

The frustrating part is that it probably had very little to do with the other agent being better. Instead, they were simply there. That’s it. They were present when the opportunity came back to life.

And this is why follow-up cannot live in your head. You simply have too much going on … we all do.

Your CRM needs to tell you who you’re supposed to speak with. Your calendar needs to tell you when you’re supposed to do it. And you need to have enough discipline in your day to actually make the call when the reminder shows up.

Nothing revolutionary there.

But apparently it needs to be said, because a lot of business is being lost for exactly this reason.

 

Stop assuming you need more leads

 

This is where the conversation needs to go deeper:

If your business is slower than you’d like right now, your first instinct may be that you need more leads … OK, sure, maybe you do.

But before spending another dollar trying to find strangers, I’d want to know what happened to all the people you’ve already met.

How many conversations did you have this year? How many open house visitors? How many online leads? How many referrals? How many people did you meet at community events, kids’ sports, networking functions or just through everyday life who mentioned “real estate”?

How many past clients raised their hand in some small way?

Where are they now?

This is one of the many things we look at with our coaching clients because it’s amazing what gets uncovered when you stop looking only at what’s immediately in front of you.

People are constantly chasing the newest opportunity while old opportunities quietly die in the background.

And then we wonder why business feels harder than it should.

Sometimes the fastest way to create more business isn’t adding another marketing channel … it’s going back and doing a better job with the opportunities you’ve already earned.

 

Run your own opportunity audit

 

So here’s your action step after you’ve read this … and thanks for reading, by the way 🙂

Go back to Jan. 1, open your CRM, open your calendar, look through your email if you need to …

Go through old leads. Look at listing appointments. Buyer consultations. Open house registrations. Referrals. Notes you’ve made throughout the year.

You’re looking for anyone who showed intent but didn’t transact.

Don’t overcomplicate this. Just make a list.

Who were they? What did they want to do? Why didn’t it happen? When did you last speak with them? And what’s the next conversation?

That’s your opportunity audit.

Some of the names will be dead ends. Of course they will. Someone may have moved out of the country. Someone else decided not to sell. Someone bought with another agent. Or someone’s financial situation changed.

Good. At least now you know.

But you’re also going to find people where you look at the name and immediately think, “Oh shit … I forgot about them.”

Those are the names we’re interested in. Somewhere inside that list are conversations you should already be having.

 

The call doesn’t need to be complicated

 

One of the reasons people avoid follow-up is because they make the call bigger than it needs to be. But you don’t need some fancy script. You don’t need to manufacture a reason. You already have one. You spoke before.

All you have to do is call them.

“Hey, we talked earlier this year about possibly making a move. I was going through some of my notes and realized we haven’t caught up in a while. What’s happening on your end?”

Then listen. That’s it. Maybe they’re ready. Maybe they’re not. Maybe the conversation opens another door entirely. You won’t know until you call.

And please don’t replace the call with a generic, AI-automated email because it’s easier.

There is a place for email. There is a place for text. There is a place for automation.

But this is a relationship business, and actual conversations still matter.

In fact, with everybody automating everything right now, I would argue that an actual conversation matters even more.

Pick up the phone!

 

There is still time

 

October is interesting because there’s enough of the year behind us to see what’s working, but there’s also still enough time left to do something about what isn’t.

That’s your opportunity.

You don’t need to pretend January through September didn’t happen.

Look at it: Where did your deals come from? Who did you meet? Where did your follow-up fall apart? Where did you get distracted? Where did you assume someone wasn’t ready instead of actually asking?

Then fix it right now!

One of the biggest mistakes people make at this point in the year is deciding there isn’t enough time left to make a meaningful difference.

But of course there is!

A conversation you have today could become a listing next week. A buyer who stopped looking in March could suddenly be ready again. A past client you’ve lost touch with could introduce you to someone tomorrow.

That’s how this business works.

The opportunity doesn’t care that it’s October. Remember that!

 

Don’t mentally move into 2027 yet

 

There will be plenty of time to plan for next year … and you should.

But don’t use planning for next year as an excuse to stop executing this year.

There’s a difference.

Before you start designing the new plan, buying the new system or promising yourself you’re going to become a completely different Realtor on Jan. 1, finish what you started!

Go find the people who raised their hands this year. Go back through the conversations that never reached a conclusion.

Clean up your follow-up. Reconnect. Ask questions. Find out what changed.

You may discover that you don’t need nearly as much new business as you thought. You just need to stop forgetting about the business you’ve already created.

So before today is over, go back to Jan. 1 and start looking … CRM. Calendar. Email. Old leads. Appointments. Whatever you’ve got.

Find the people who showed intent.

And then do the part that too many people keep avoiding: Call them.

You still have time. Don’t waste it!