No New Leads? Here’s What to Do Instead

You're refreshing your email, scrolling Instagram, checking the MLS… and nothing. No DMs, no new inquiries—just crickets. But here's the kicker: you might not need more leads. You might just need to work the ones you already have.

In this episode, I’m walking you through what to do when it feels like your business is slowing down—without spending a dime on leads or ads. It’s time to stop chasing strangers and start reactivating the goldmine that’s already in your sphere.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why "no leads" is often just a follow-up problem in disguise
• How to audit and reactivate your sphere (even if it’s been a while)
• The 3 types of outreach texts you can send today
• How to build a real referral system that isn’t just vibes and Canva graphics
• Monthly marketing touchpoints that keep you top of mind (without burning out)
• Why consistent, human content beats perfect content every time
• Why talking about referrals shouldn’t feel icky—and how to do it well
• A sneak peek at my new membership: Referrals on Repeat 💌

LINKS MENTIONED:

• 👉 Join the Referrals on Repeat Waitlist: www.happyagent.co/referrals-on-repeat
• 👉 Get the Free Social-Free Marketing Blueprint + 8 Lead Gen Ideas: www.happyagentco.kit.com/socialfree

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Chapters

• 0:00 Lead Drought or Follow-Up Drought?
• 4:19 Relationship Audit: Reactivating Your Sphere
• 7:24 Marketing That Pulls People Back
• 9:46 Building an Effective Referral System
• 13:54 Working By Referral: Making It Natural
• 16:53 Closing Thoughts and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:35

Hello there, welcome to another episode of the Happy Agent Co podcast. I am Lindsay Dreyer, your host, founder of Happy Agent Co and brokerage owner at City Chic Real Estate in Washington DC. We are going to talk about a thing I am hearing from a lot of agents recently, which is I have no new leads. So we are going to get into what you can do when you just feel like the pipeline is running dry. Picture this you are staring at your CRM, dms are dry, the inbox is quiet, you are refreshing your MLS, instagram and your email like something magical is about to happen and, honestly, nothing is happening. You are just sitting there and you're like crickets. First of all, I want you to know you're not alone. Second, you actually may not need more new leads. What you do need is to work the leads, work the relationships and work the reputation that you already have. In today's episode, I'm going to show you how you can stop chasing new leads and strangers and start maximizing the goldmine that you're already sitting on as professional firefighters.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Real estate agents are notorious for not following up and not being consistent, so I want you to think about do you not have business or do you need more leads because you have not been consistent on your follow-up. So many agents focus on just getting new leads, but they are not focused on converting them. Conversion is so crucial to selling more homes, so you probably don't need 100 new people in your database. What you need is 10 better conversations. How do you have better conversations? Asking great questions and really listening to the answers. Having quality conversations. I love Ninja Selling. For this. They have the FORD method. So if you want to have a quality conversation with someone FORD is an acronym for Family, friends, occupation, recreation and Dreams. If you don't know how to have conversations, let's start there. You need to really focus on how to go deep with people, really find out what's going on in their life, in their work, and what are they dreaming. What are their plans for the future. So having 10 quality conversations is light years above getting 100 new leads.

Speaker 1: 3:24

Here's the honest truth is that your last 24 months of clients are a referral machine. If you turn it on, so many of you are ignoring those relationships that you've built and you are not nurturing them. So we are going to dive into how to audit and reactivate your sphere. I know, I know so many real estate coaches gurus out there tell you that you need to reactivate your sphere, stay in touch with your sphere, and so many of you and I know this excuse because I hear a lot of coaching clients say it which is I haven't stayed in touch and I feel bad about it. Here's the deal Get over yourself. It doesn't matter If you haven't stayed in touch. You just have to own it and then make a concerted effort to reconnect and stay in touch. It could be as simple as hey, I totally dropped the ball. I'm so sorry I haven't been in touch. This year has been bananas for me, professionally and personally, but I want to make a better effort to stay connected with you going forward. It can be honest, vulnerable, it's okay. We are human. People get busy, things happen, but reconnecting doesn't have to be this weird, awkward thing that so many real estate agents make it out to be Sending. That text or message that I literally just said can be that way to rekindle a relationship.

Speaker 1: 4:50

So what does reactivating your sphere look like? The first thing is I would do a relationship audit. Pull your last two to three years of buyers or sellers you can go back further if you want and then highlight who gave you a referral who had a great experience and who has been silent. Then you're going to send some targeted outreach. Three types of outreach. We could have your check-in text or DM or voice note. Hey, I was just thinking about you. How's everything going with the house? I would love an update. When you have a second Would love to hear from you However you would word it in your natural language. The second type of text could be I ran a quick market snapshot of your neighborhood. Prices have shifted since you purchased. Are you curious to get the update? That could also be sent as an email if you want. Then we have a referral. If you want to go like real bold, you could say hey, quick question. And this I would say is if you have maintained the relationship, if you have not go to one or two, quick question Do you know anyone thinking about buying or selling this year? I would love to get two or three more clients before summer hits full swing.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Asking for help is always a really, if you have the relationship already, asking for help is always okay and if you feel like it's kind of slow, it can remind people that you exist and that you work by referral. The key here is that you want to remind people that you are the real estate expert that they can go to. You are the go-to real estate person in their network. So it's I'm not here to sell you anything. I'm just here to be your resource. Whether you need contractor recommendations, mortgage lender information, market value information, whatever it is, I want to be your go-to resource for real estate, and then you make it happen. My next point is that I want you to make sure that your marketing is pulling people back in.

Speaker 1: 6:53

Consistent content builds trust, not just awareness. So talk to your past clients in your marketing, not just necessarily new ones. Share market commentary have frequently asked questions. Also, tell stories. People love stories, success stories. It could be a hardship that you turned into a success, but it reminds people that you are the professional that they've already known and they've already trusted.

Speaker 1: 7:21

The other thing is that multi-channel matters. So many real estate agents go all in on one channel, but there are lots of ways that we can stay in touch with people Email, the actual mail, text, dms, voice notes, phone calls, in-person meetups, social media. There are so many channels, so choose the ones that are easy for you to execute or the ones that you will actually execute on a consistent basis, because consistency builds trust and awareness. So here's some examples of content you could create that you could push out on any medium, any channel that you feel comfortable with. What I would do if I bought in 2021 and want to sell now that could easily be an email, a social post. It could also be a direct mail piece. Another idea why I still don't think it's a bad time to buy and this could be your hot take on why it could be a really great time to buy even though interest rates are high or maybe the economy is softening. Another idea is behind the scenes of prepping a listing. People love getting the behind the scenes take of what happens behind the scenes. So that could be social media. It could be an email, it could be a postcard, it could be any of these things. It could be a blog post. So, whatever channels you are using, these content ideas can be repurposed. I think so often we think it has to be an Instagram reel or it has to be a Facebook post, but don't ignore these other channels, because they are important and they are impactful.

Speaker 1: 8:55

What it really comes down to is don't disappear, don't ghost your clients and then wonder why no one is calling you or sending you referrals. If you are not staying in touch and nurturing that relationship, that is on you and it is the first place I would start. If you feel like you need new business, let's dive into the next thing, which is your referral system. That probably doesn't exist. Most agents think they have a referral system, but they really do not. They are posting a few just sold graphics online. They just assume that people know that you want referrals and then you wonder why they're not consistently rolling in. But here's the truth If your referral system isn't visible, personal and repeatable, it does not exist. We can definitely fix that in a way that's easy to sustain and actually feels good to do.

Speaker 1: 9:53

So there's three parts that I recommend when you're building your referable system. The first is to create consistent connection points, and referrals do not come from disappearing. We have already said that. Do not ghost people. They come from staying top of mind in a real, helpful, memorable and meaningful way. So I recommend, at a bare minimum, having a monthly email, and this is not just market stats. It is sharing something human what's going on behind the scenes in your life or business. It could be a little bit vulnerable, keep it casual, keep it real and keep it valuable. And I always think if you can throw in some behind the scenes, like how the sausage is made people love to see that or any lessons learned, even better.

Speaker 1: 10:45

But this has to be written by you. Yes, you could use your custom GPT if you want, but it needs to be something that actually happened in your life or business, because people want to hear from you. If you've built a relationship with them over time, they want to know what's going on with you. They want to know what's going on with your business. So that monthly email if you're a high achiever, weekly is really good, but at a bare minimum monthly. The next is quarterly check-ins, which could be just a hey, thinking of you, how's everything going, anything I can support you with this season, or it could be a CMA update.

Speaker 1: 11:22

But those texts that we're talking about earlier, those are really important. They can be text messages, they can be calls, they could be voice notes, whatever is going to resonate with your audience. Again, I've mentioned a million times I hate phone calls. I love a good voice note, love a good text message, and that's just as meaningful If you are keeping track of clients' birthdays or house anniversaries, sending notes out it's so nice. It could be a gift if you're going above and beyond, but at the very minimum, a text or a voice note or an email that you wrote happy house anniversary can't believe it's been five years. Hope you're still loving your house. Those go a long way that you remember to them. That's a really big thing for people.

Speaker 1: 12:07

And then the next is monthly postcards. I really am a firm believer in mail. Again, I don't know about you, but my mailbox. I get maybe like one or two pieces of mail every single day if I'm lucky. So I think mail is coming back in a big way and there's a really strategic way that you can use it staying top of mind, being helpful, being memorable. I really am a big believer in postcards and I know that that sounds very old school. I like to be innovative, but it's all about eyeballs and attention and the competition to get in front of your audience. And whatever you can do to get in front of your audience, you should be rocking and rolling.

Speaker 1: 12:49

You may have noticed I didn't mention social media. I don't think you have to be on social media to build a referable system If that is part of your system, go for it, but I do think that the algorithm there's no guarantee that content you're putting out shows up to the people you want it to. So if you're on social, just make sure that it's an engagement strategy, not necessarily a push strategy. Now what I'm finding is a lot of agents have a challenge in just executing this monthly, which is why I am creating a monthly membership program called Referrals on Repeat. What Referrals on Repeat is going to do is it will have a monthly email that is personalized, that doesn't seem generic, that you can then plug and play right into your email list. We'll also have a conversation starter either text, dm or voice note that you could send out to your database, as well as a monthly postcard template. So every month you'll get those three things and then you will also have a monthly bonus, which will be different every month, but it will be something that helps you get more referrals. The waitlist is open. So if you are interested in getting on the referrals on repeat waitlist, please check out the link in the show notes to be the first to know. There will be a very limited time founder's price, which will lock you in for the life of the membership. So definitely check that out.

Speaker 1: 14:19

Let's move on to talking about referrals, because I think this is really important. Yes, I think asking for referrals can feel kind of weird or salesy sometimes, but talking about the fact that you work by referral should feel natural, because it is Majority of your business should be, or could be, by referral. So make sure that you're talking about how you like to work by referral and sprinkle that throughout the process. It can be at your first meeting, it can be when you're touring homes, it could be at a listing presentation, it could be at any point. But talking about how you like to work by referral and how someone would actually refer you is a crucial step. To work by referral and how someone would actually refer you is a crucial step to getting more referral-based business. So two things I think you could say. These are just examples of things I love working by referral.

Speaker 1: 15:04

So if you ever hear of anyone who could use my help, would you feel comfortable connecting us and they'll probably say, yeah, oh my gosh, totally Okay, awesome. So yeah, if you run into anybody who could use my help, please feel free to connect us via text or email. Either is totally fine. So, really being intentional about having those conversations, it does not have to be gross and creepy and, honestly, you should not be asking for referrals, especially if you do not have a relationship where that is the case, but you can talk about how you work by. Have a relationship where that is the case, but you can talk about how you work by referral. I think that's really important. We should always be talking about that. 90% of my business service referrals, or 80% of my business is referrals, and I love working with referrals because they tend to be my favorite clients. So, whatever you can do, just sprinkle it, sprinkle it, sprinkle it. That repetition is really helpful in increasing the amount of referrals. You receive Big Results.

Speaker 1: 16:15

Eight Free Lead Generation Tactics for Real Estate Agents and I will put that link in the show notes. That also comes with the social free marketing blueprint, which runs you through those lead generation tactics and also how to build relationships. So if you're interested in that, I will also link that in the show notes. I want to close with that. You may not be in a lead drought. You might be in a follow-up drought and you probably have more opportunity than you think. You just haven't been focusing your energy in the right place. So, instead of panicking or paying for another lead service or downloading another buyer presentation, get in touch with your people, the ones who already know you, they already like you and they already trust you because they have worked with you before. That is your next client, that's where you're going to find your next referral and, honestly, that's your next paycheck. So go get it. If this episode has been helpful, please forward it to a real estate agent who might need to hear it. Also, don't forget to hit subscribe and until next time, stay happy.