The Follow-Up Mistake Costing Agents Thousands

本站添加: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]80% of realtors [clears throat] and lenders do not have a proper follow-up.

[00:00:04]It's why so many of us are not sitting in the top 1% of closings. It's because we just lack systems and follow-up.

[00:00:10]Motivation is not discipline, but systems help keep discipline in place.

[00:00:15]The point of having a system is learning how to connect better, which is what builds proper business growth. This is absolutely what is going to lead into stronger databases and more income with less work and more enjoyable work.

[00:00:34]All right.

[00:00:36]Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us today from the mortgage industry.

[00:00:43]Alexa DePaulo is here with us today to share with us the industry secrets that can literally change your business trajectory. She built a thriving career helping others turn their grit into momentum. And with over 16 years in lending and reputation for inspiring action, Alexa now empowers real estate professionals, entrepreneurs, and sales teams to master mindset, build sustainable systems, and create businesses that they love.

[00:01:16]So, with that said, get your notebooks ready because we're going to dive into mastering a simple yet high-level prospecting system designed to help agents to stay focused, increase output, and follow up with confidence so you can list more properties and take control and grow your business. Thank you.

[00:01:38]Awesome. Again, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

[00:01:43]And I am talking about the high-impact prospecting systems. It's a daily structure that really drives real results. And what I've learned is it's it's not just about scripts. This is about systems, right? Having the right systems in place. And this presentation we specifically designed for real estate agents with unpredictable schedules. And on the lending side, we know what it's like to have an unpredictable schedule as well. And so that's why these systems work for both of us. It's also we we also build our business, well at least I do. I build my business very similarly to what realtors do.

[00:02:19]I build my business from the client directly. And so these systems are designed for that, right? It's designed for you cuz it matches the way you guys build your business.

[00:02:27]Now, the real problem with most people is not skill, but it's actually true structure. There's too many options, no clear priorities, reactive days instead of intentional mornings, and follow-up tends to fall through the cracks because of it. So it's in inconsistent effort can lead to inconsistent results. And it's just because again, in this business we are pulled in so many different directions and it ends up creating inconsistencies, which then creates the inconsistencies in our results, which is why we cannot predict what next month or next year is going to look like from an income standpoint. it comes from not lack of skill. Most of us have the skills to be able to do it, but it's a lack of structure.

[00:03:05]So a lot of times this can lead to overwhelm, avoidance. Sometimes we feel guilt or shame, and it's normal.

[00:03:11]Actually, I do not know anybody who does not either hey hasn't felt this or doesn't still feel this. And we tend to feel really alone in those emotional responses, right? We're feeling guilt that they're doing what they're supposed to, but I'm not. Most people aren't doing what they're supposed to. Or we get so overwhelmed that we just start to avoid it. But it's very common, and it's actually it's not failure. And this is what we need to know because when we start associating it with failure, we start feeling more guilt and shame in it, and then that creates even more consistencies cuz then we get stuck in that.

[00:03:41]But the cost of inconsistencies is you lose momentum, you have long dry spells, and then there's lower confidence in the follow-up, right? We get really out of practice. I'll use an example when rates started to increase. So, business for lenders in 2020 and in 2021 was very reactive. I didn't have to do anything to be proactive. I could walk into a room and just say, "I'm a lender." and I could get 10 deals.

[00:04:06]But, when 2022 rolled around and interest rates started to increase on us, it felt so much harder to just pick up the phone and be proactive with my work. I was out of practice. Right? So, then my confidence is down and then I lack in the follow-up and then I have these dry spells and I I lose the momentum because it's not something that's coming naturally to me right now and then it just creates this emotional roller coaster, but also an income roller coaster, if you've ever felt like that. If you've ever had a great week uh or if you've ever had a great week and then followed by a quiet one, right? The inconsistencies of the business. It's very very normal to see this and it it happens to all of us. So, that is the That's the cost of inconsistencies. Most of us go through it. I would say probably 80% of the business, but there's ways to avoid this.

[00:04:55]And it's it really comes down to systems. Systems are always going to beat motivation. Motivation is unreliable.

[00:05:04]Today I might wake up and I might feel motivated to do it, but tomorrow I might not, which again is going to lead to even more inconsistencies. But, the systems create default action even when I'm not feeling motivated to do it. It creates a structure and then it removes decision fatigue. I think all of us can probably relate with decision fatigue.

[00:05:23]At least [clears throat] I know I do of being a mom and being a business owner and running a lending team, decision fatigue is so real. So, the structure allows me to avoid decision fatigue. I know what I'm doing every morning. I know what I'm doing every afternoon. I know what I'm doing in the evenings and it just becomes automatic. That's what the point of consistencies are, right?

[00:05:40]The point of building in systems. It's so it becomes automatic for me. And I I've I really want to press on this.

[00:05:47]Motivation is not discipline, but systems help keep discipline in place. A lot of us will only stay disciplined when we're feeling really motivated, but those are not the same thing. You we have to have discipline even when the motivation lacks. So, you know, you you don't have to rise to motivation, you just fall to the systems. That's that's what you need to do. This it's a very important baseline to remember is don't try to always feel motivated to do it.

[00:06:13]Just always lean put the right systems in place and then always lean on those systems to create that consistency for you. It's it's the strength that top producers have in their business.

[00:06:23]The four pillars of high-impact prospecting, these are my rocks what I I refer to as rocks. Some of you may have heard that.

[00:06:30]A rock in the schedule the analogy behind what a rock means is if I had a jar and I was going to pour sand in that jar and then I was going to try to put rocks inside of it, the rocks are no longer going to fit. But if I put rocks in the jar first and then I pour sand into the jar, both the rocks and the sand will both fit, okay? So, it's really important to have non-negotiable daily structures and that's always what I refer to as my rocks. And these this I always put like the most What is going to be highest impact prospecting prospecting into my day? So, I do a lot of flexible time blocking as well. I have non-negotiable time blocks and then I have flexible time blocks. So, what that means, I'll give you an example, is maybe from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. is a non-negotiable structure, right? I have I have breakfast with the kids. I'm taking them to school. This is family time for me. Maybe this is setting my intentions for the day. But then after a certain time, I've got let's say 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. This is going to be a flexible time for me. This is time where I don't necessarily have anything booked into this time frame, but I can do all my last-minute appointments. I can do a last-minute showing. This is when I can be really flexible with lunch meetings that happen last minute. Those are specifically blocked out, so that way my rocks don't get interrupted, but then my flexible hours I can throw some last minute stuff in there. That again is going to be high impact. That's really important because obviously as realtors, you can't just time block everything. You don't know when someone's going to need to show to see a house. You don't know You don't always know what that their schedule's going to look like with every client.

[00:08:04]So, what I think is really important is introducing the non-negotiables and then introducing time blocking for last minute stuff that you need to be able to add in there. And if you end up not being able to fill that time during the week or during the days, then we fill it with different rocks, right? We find ways to fill that time. Or if that's something that you need If you need to take a break to take care of yourself, then we take an hour to do that. You need to be able to take care of yourself as well. So, those flexible time blocks are really important as well.

[00:08:32]And then a simple follow-up system.

[00:08:34]Habits that you really want to be introducing habits that protect the momentum. Okay, so these are the four pillars of high impact prospecting. So, I'm going to go through it again. It's a non-negotiable daily structure, so what I call is my rocks. Non-negotiables, we don't move them. I create time blocks either on days or like a full day. This whole day is going to be a really flexible. I can throw whatever I want into this day. Or I do it for portions of the day, right? A few hours a day, these are my flexible time periods. So, you can do one or the other. And then you need a follow And then you need a simple follow-up system. And then this is all going to lead to the fourth one.

[00:09:10]These are habits that protect your momentum, okay? Because without creating the habits, you you're going to lose all of it. The point of creating these systems is to create the habits. It's to create strength in the high impact prospecting.

[00:09:24]Now, top producers before noon, this is really important. What do top producers do before noon? Prospecting happens early. I I don't know what it's like for you, but I know for at least in my world, I would imagine again that it's pretty similar, is once I let the afternoon get too late into the day, if I haven't already done my prospecting, I'm getting interrupted at that point.

[00:09:45]That's when most of my clients are calling me because they might be looking at houses that evening. That's when most of my realtors are calling me because they're submitting offers. The day gets crazy typically after 12:00 p.m. And so I do all of my prospecting and all of my non-negotiables before noon. I let most of my flexible times be noon and later because that's going to allow me to show up for the clients I need to show up for. I need to be flexible for that, but it's going to give me the time to make sure that my my non-negotiables don't change. So, I make the touch points before my any of my distractions start.

[00:10:17]The other thing I do here is I don't make any excuses for this. This is the This is one of the biggest issues that I see when I'm training lenders or realtors is there's a lot of excuses.

[00:10:26]And I I'm not a fan of excuses. Life happens to all of us, okay? Now, I don't mean severe excuses. I had someone on the team, they had two family members pass away back-to-back, and that is That's an acceptable excuse, okay? Like we have to be able to take care of each other. We have to be able to take care of our family. We have to be able to step out at times. But what I mean by no excuses is he also needed to be given given an appropriate amount of time to mourn, and then he needs to get back into the game.

[00:10:55]Otherwise, his career is going to plateau, right? It's going to fall short. So, he needs to be able to give himself those days, those weeks, and some some some sometimes those months to be able to emotionally recover, and then the no excuses start again. We have to be able to take care of ourselves, but that's different than making excuses. I actually time block into my day again another non-negotiable is me time. I always schedule in Alexa time and family time into the business schedule cuz that's what allows me to avoid burnout, but that's not me creating an excuse.

[00:11:25]This is what also takes care of me. I If I'm not okay, the business isn't okay.

[00:11:30]If I'm not okay, the family's not okay.

[00:11:32]So, taking care of me is a part of the business plan. That's not an excuse.

[00:11:36]What What gets dangerous is when you do this too often. When I make too many excuses to do everything except work.

[00:11:42]When I do everything except the follow-up and everything except the prospecting. That's when the excuse That's when making excuses becomes something that's dangerous, right? So, you want to really make sure that you're you're reflecting on, "Okay, what am I doing? Am I actually making excuses? Do I get caught up watching Netflix? Do I get caught up staring at my phone and doom scrolling?" What are you doing to fill the time? And are you actually protecting your non-negotiables?

[00:12:07]So, what this looks like for me is before noon, I have one primary must-do activity every single day. It's a It gives me like a clear start and a clear finish to the day, okay? Cuz I know exactly how I'm going to start it. I know exactly how I want to finish strong. And that doesn't mean that necessarily I close the deal today.

[00:12:23]Finishing strong is just I did everything that I need to do to make sure that business is going to continue to come in down the road. And so, I'm good. I finished today with a clear mind because I know that I did everything I needed to to create forward momentum in the business. So, I can I can wash my hands clean of today, spend time with the family, spend time with my husband, go to bed, and then start all over again tomorrow. It doesn't mean I needed to close a deal to feel like it was a win today. I just know that I needed it clear forward movement.

[00:12:50]I also spend my time on high income-based activities and not time-based, okay? The high income-based activities is where I spend my time. And it's for all of us. We are all business owners. I run my business, you run your business. So, it's really important that I spend my time on the high income-based activities. Because in this industry, we are worth more. Like, if you were to break down your hourly pay, you're probably worth more than you realize.

[00:13:14]So, that's where my time needs to be best spent. Is this income-producing?

[00:13:18]If I am going to spend the time doing this, staring at my phone for 2 hours is not high income-producing. So, I avoid that as often as I can, especially before noon. Okay? Now, here's a little bit of an example with some structure.

[00:13:34]Connect, nurture, follow up. So, that is what I do before noon is I'm going to do whatever I can to be connecting with people very authentically and organically. I'm going to make sure that I'm nurturing relationships, and I'm going to make sure that I'm doing follow up. Again, these are non-negotiables. I make sure that I do all of my natural follow up. If I've got a client who maybe is a year out from buying, I'm still following up with them on a regular because if they're ready a year from now and I haven't talked to them in 12 months, I am no longer relevant and they are going to forget about me. They're going to move on to the next lender or move on to the next realtor. So, I do consistent follow up. All right? Again, these are non-negotiables before 12:00 p.m. because connecting, nurturing, and proper follow up is high-income producing. That is it's guaranteed to make me money, and it's guaranteed to make me good money. So, that's where I spend my time.

[00:14:24]And honestly, this clarity is going to help you remove procrastination. It is absolutely when you get really clear on where your highest producing income activities exist, that is going to help you avoid any sort of procrastination because now you're really clear on where where your focus needs to be.

[00:14:40]And it's not about working longer cuz that's not what this is about. I have more time I've made more money the last few years, and I have more time with my family because I've been able to create clarity and consistency and non-negotiables. So, it's not about working longer cuz that again creates the burnout. But this is not about let's burn everybody out. This is how do I work cleaner and smarter so I have more time to take care of myself, I have more time to take care of my family, and then I have more time to enjoy the business.

[00:15:10]So, one of the reasons I actually love Vulcan 7 is cuz they have systems to actually provide this. It's They're They're one of my favorite systems for realtors for this exact reason, right?

[00:15:19]Your prospecting system needs fuel.

[00:15:22]That's where quality data comes in. All Having quality data matters. You can buy leads anywhere, but quality leads is rare. And relationships are key in this business. So, I want quality leads and I want strong relationships with these people. Those are absolutely key for high income producing activities.

[00:15:41]So, what does that mean? Sometimes relationships start with clients rather than referral partners. I know for me, my business is similar to a realtor's business. Again, I build it from clients only. About 30% of my business comes from realtors, the rest of it is database, it's clients. And so, that's who my target market is. So, I build the relationships with the clients, and that's where it that's where it starts and where it builds, and then I get the most of my referrals from my database as well. I track all of my leads, so I know that that's where my time and money is best spent. And again, and it's very similar for realtors because that's where your guys' clients come from. It's I'm sorry, that's where your business come from. It's client directly. So, why we like Vulcan 7 is because it provides continuously updated seller leads, and they're always going to focus on quality leads. People who again, expired, Fizbos, circling prospects. This is really important because again, they are quality. These are people you can build relationships with.

[00:16:38]Um I know that Vulcan 7 also includes a dialer and a CRM, so that way you you can stay on track of the text systems, and it keeps it nice and simple for you. I am huge on a CRM.

[00:16:49]CRMs, my business lives and dies with my CRM, okay? It if I am I always refer to my database as like my baby, and if I feed it and I nurture it and I take good care of it, it's going to grow big and strong. That's my CRM. I put my database into my CRM. My CRM allows me to nurture it and feed it and keep it strong, and it's only going to grow. Because again, if I've got a client that really connected with me, they're likely going to refer me to their friends and their family, which is going to continue to build my database. And then to notate, this is where 70% of my business comes from. It's my clients or it's my clients' referrals. It's not actually realtor partners or other referral partners. So, that having immediate touch points having immediate touch points with these clients and and being able to stay on top of this with a quality lead is is absolutely vital in in business.

[00:17:41]So, the best fit for Vulcan 7 are agents or listing agents who thrive on consistency and measurable daily activity. It's really nice to be able to see and measure what I'm actually doing. It just helps keep us kind of positive and helps add to the momentum and that motivation.

[00:17:56]And the reason I love this is because it's Again, it's it's going to make the relationship with one person even stronger, which then leads to even more referrals. And it's it's This is what my business lives and dies with. So, if you've got a if you've got a strong relationship, you know how to make a if you know how to make good connections with people, it's only going to continue to strengthen your database, which is going to lead to more sales and more buyers and it's going to connect you to even more people, which only gives you more exposure. And that is where business strength is is lives and dies.

[00:18:28]I got I I just cannot stress that enough. It's absolutely vital. It's why we like Vulcan 7 because their messaging aligns with how we build our business.

[00:18:36]It's it's so strong for you guys. Now, when it comes to This is really important. When it comes to being able to avoid burnout, you really need to be able to stop doing everything. So, I do a lot of what I had to learn is I had to learn how to delegate. And what that meant is I was doing all the things. I knew how to do all the things. I built the business from the ground up. I knew how to do everything really well. So, I Why wouldn't I do it? Why would I go pay somebody else to do what I already know how to do? Well, again, I was burning out. And what I needed to realize is that my time was valuable.

[00:19:08]And there was parts of the job that I didn't love doing anymore. So, now I spend time doing high income producing activities only and I delegate non-high producing activities.

[00:19:19]If I'm worth $300 an hour, I am not going to do something that I can pay somebody $15 an hour to do for me. I can pay somebody to do that and I can pay them I can pay them next to nothing to have my time back. Why would I not pour into that? Cuz that just again opens up more time for my kids, more time for my husband, more time for myself. And then again, my business does better when I'm in a good head space because I've learned to delegate and I learned to spend my time where it's used highest and best capacity.

[00:19:49]So, your routine should be building your future and not maintaining your past. I control what I can and the rest of it's going to be fine. It just brings me more peace to be able to stay on top of things a bit again, a bit more peacefully.

[00:20:04]Now, uh when where money is actually lost, I think this is really important. A lot of us don't always realize where we're actually losing money and it is in the lack of follow up. It's It's not laziness. A lot of us will feel a lot of guilt and shame that it's going to come from I'm just being lazy and that's why I've lost the money, but that's really not where it's coming from. Like we just lack the systems.

[00:20:28]And we lack the system in structuring our days. We lack the systems in protecting certain time blocks of our day and then we might lack systems within the business. Again, maybe tracking leads or CRMs. This is so vital to your business is to be able to track this stuff and to be able to keep everything organized. This is where follow up failure exists. It is 80% of realtors and lenders do not have a proper follow up. It's why so many of us are not sitting in the top 1% and of closings. It's because we just lack systems and follow up. So, what's going to set you aside is going to be implementing proper systems. Again, flexible time blocks or flexible days, rocks in your days, and systems, proper systems that are going to allow you to stay organized and that way you can you are not just hoping for motivation. You are staying disciplined and you can always fall back on a system to make sure everything is always moving the needle forward.

[00:21:23]And when you do this, it's going to create your confidence, which is going to then lead to even more follow-up, and it's just going to continue to repeat.

[00:21:30]Follow-up should be something that's repeatable and boring. I should have a system that's like this is just what I do every single day. I can copy and paste messages to people, but I'm still showing up authentically. The point of systems, a lot of people struggle with this. The point of systems is not about learning to sell better. The point of having a system is learning how to connect better, which is what builds proper business growth. This is absolutely what is going to lead into stronger databases and more income with less work and more enjoyable work. This is absolutely most important. Again, it's one of the reasons I like Vulcan 7 so much and thank you so much for having me today. I love Vulcan 7 because because you guys create simplicity in the follow-up. You have the CRM. You have You have everything that they need to be able to make sure that you are staying on top of everything that you need to stay on top of. So, you guys can either maintain a top producer level or you can be a top producer. So, again, Vulcan 7, thank you so much for having me and feel free to scan the QR codes.

[00:22:30]This is You can follow me on my newsletter. You can follow me on Instagram. We talk about this stuff often and if you ever just want to touch base and get any tips on what I'm doing that might be a little different, you can always reach out.

[00:22:43]Hey, Alexis. Oh my Alexa I I'll tell you what, so many gold nuggets in this. I mean, I I don't know how you how you do it, but you covered so much and I think one of the things that I love is how you give everybody the flexibility and permission to adjust their schedule when they need to. And you know, if you're not having a good day and you know you need to be at an event 100%, you know, give yourself the ability to be flexible if you're able to and and so that you can rest or be there for your family. And I mean, that's such an important component to I think having that balance in life.

[00:23:26]Thank you. I'm really passionate about it if you can't tell. I really love taking care of us in this business and having the freedom and flexibility that the business allows for, but but protecting it at all cost. Alexa, thank you so much for being here today with us and we really appreciate you. Great stuff. And you guys, you need to contact Alexa.

[00:23:46]Connect with her on her website. Connect with her on Instagram. And if you need seller leads, please uh check out the Vulcan 7 seller leads so that you can be getting those every day and you have somebody to call every day. You don't have to think about it. They're there for you.

[00:24:05]Thank you.

[00:24:06]>> Thank you. See you all later. Bye-bye.

[00:24:10]>> [music]