The Plan Busy Agents Skip (and Regret Later)
If your pipeline feels like feast-or-famine, it’s rarely a “market” problem—it’s a “no plan” problem. The fastest way to steady, scalable growth is a strategy-first marketing plan you can run in one page and one weekly rhythm. Here’s how to build yours—grounded in direct response marketing (not vanity metrics), and designed for agents who want more listings, better clients, and less chaos.
Strategy Before Tactics (Always)
Brand matters. But brand without response is just expensive wallpaper. Direct response marketing asks your audience to do something now—opt in, book a consult, request a valuation—and it lets you track and measure what works. If a tactic isn’t trackable, measurable, and tied to a specific offer for a specific audience, it’s not your highest-leverage move.
Quotable: “If it isn’t trackable and measurable, it’s not a strategy—it’s a hope.”
Step 1: Define Your Target Market (and Score It)
Niche beats noise. Choose a target you can truly serve—then score it to avoid shiny-object drift.
Clarify the niche
- Demographics & psychographics: stage of life, values, motivations
- Pain points and desires: what’s hard now, what they want next
- Where they spend time: platforms, neighborhoods, groups
- Buying behavior and influencers: how decisions get made
- Geography: where they live now and where they want to live next
Score your options (1–10 each)
- Personal fulfillment
- Value delivered/valued
- Profitability
Pick the highest total. That’s your market for the next 90 days.
Step 2: Craft a Message That Mirrors Their Pain
People don’t buy “I did 900 deals.” They buy relief from a problem. Frame your message in three beats:
- Problem (name it precisely)
- Solution (what you do—simply)
- Result (life better on the other side)
Example:
“If you’re tired of maintaining a large home, I specialize in smooth downsizes so you can spend more time traveling and with grandkids.” That wins over “I’m #1.”
Quotable: “Empathy is the edge—market to pain, not at people.”
Step 3: Select 3–5 Lead Sources (Max)
Commit to a few you can dominate—not fifteen you dabble in. Mix paid, owned, and earned.
Examples to choose from
- Sphere & past clients (referrals, events)
- Open houses & sign calls
- Content (YouTube, Instagram, blogs, market reports)
- Direct response ads (home valuation, property registration, Google LSA/PPC)
- Networking/JV partners (lenders, relocation, vendors, agents)
Step 4: Turn Lead Sources into Lead Measures
Lag measures = closings. Lead measures = controllable activities that predict those closings.
Define weekly minimums for each selected source, e.g.:
- 2 open houses (Sun), with mid-week follow-up block
- 3 short-form videos + 1 long-form local guide
- 2 email campaigns (database + segment)
- 25 relationship touches (calls/texts/handwritten notes)
- 1 neighborhood mailer or door-knock route
Track these in a simple scorecard. If you hit lead measures, the lags follow.
Step 5: Capture Every Lead (No Leaks)
Clicks aren’t clients. Build specific landing paths that trade value for info:
- Open House Sign-In (QR + mobile form)
- Individual Property Pages (with “See Similar Homes” forced registration on ads)
- Search Registration (saved searches and open house maps)
- Seller Home Valuation (“What’s my home worth?”)
- Just Sold Pages (hyperlocal proof for farming)
- Content Landing Pages (guides, checklists, relocation kits)
- Appointment Scheduler (buyer/seller consults)
Each page has one job and one CTA. Then route leads to your CRM instantly.
Step 6: Nurture Like a Pro (Before You “Sell”)
Nurture turns interest into intent—before you ask for the appointment.
Build your 3-track nurture:
- Market Intelligence: monthly market report, neighborhood stats
- Behavior-Based E-alerts: price drops, new matches, open houses
- Personal Touches: day-3 call, day-10 check-in, 30-day value email, welcome kit
Goal: educate, motivate, and predispose leads to choose you—so the “close” feels like the next logical step.
Step 7: Deliver a World-Class Client Experience
A “wow” experience today is tomorrow’s free marketing. Systematize each stage:
- Onboarding: timeline, expectations, VIP vendor list
- Weekly Updates: what happened, what’s next, what we need
- Milestone Moments: offer made/accepted, appraisal in, clear to close
- After-Close Care: move-in checklist, home maintenance calendar, invite to client community
Outstanding businesses build tribes—raving fans who amplify your message far beyond paid ads.
Step 8: Engineer Referrals and JVs (Don’t Just “Hope”)
Referrals aren’t random when you ask well and often:
- Direct Ask: “Who else should be on our market update list?”
- Post-Closing: “If we earned 5 stars, would you introduce me to one person who could use this level of care?”
- JV Flywheel: identify who serves your client before and after you (financial planners, organizers, contractors, senior-living advisors) and create value both ways—co-branded content, seminars, and warm intros.
Your 1-Page Business Generation Plan (Template)
Niche: (e.g., Downsizers in [ZIPs])
Message (Problem → Solution → Result):
Lead Sources (3–5):
- ____ 2) ____ 3) ____ 4) ____ 5) ____
Weekly Lead Measures:
- Source A: __ per week
- Source B: __ per week
- Source C: __ per week
Capture Paths: (URLs/QRs for: OH sign-in, Valuation, Property, Content, Scheduler)
Nurture Tracks: Market updates | E-alerts | Personal touches
Experience Systems: Onboarding | Weekly updates | Milestones | After-close
Referral/JV Plays: Ask script | Partner list | Monthly co-marketing
Scorecard (Mon–Sun): □ □ □ □ □ □ □
90-Day Target Outcomes: Appointments: __ | Agreements: __ | Closings: __
Print it. Post it. Run it for 90 days. Review and refine.
A Simple Weekly Rhythm
- Monday: set appointments; publish market note; confirm weekend OH
- Tue–Thu: record/post video content; 2 database emails; prospecting blocks
- Friday: send open house invites to saved-search leads and sphere
- Weekend: host 1–2 open houses; capture; same-day text and Monday follow-up
- Daily (45–60 min): CRM follow-ups, new lead speed-to-lead, JV touches
Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Too broad a niche: Score markets first; pick one for 90 days.
- No single CTA: Each page/piece should ask for one action.
- Inconsistent lead measures: Protect your prospecting blocks.
- No nurture: Educate before you pitch.
- No post-close plan: Client experience is a growth channel, not an afterthought.
Bring It Home
You don’t need more hustle. You need a repeatable client engine: the right niche, a pain-aware message, a handful of proven lead sources, disciplined lead measures, airtight capture, thoughtful nurture, unforgettable service, and deliberate referrals. Build it on one page. Run it every week. Refine it every quarter.
If you’re the kind of agent who’s always looking to grow, collaborate, and refine your craft—you’ll fit right in here. Let’s connect for a quick, no-pressure chat about what life at Denovo Realty could look like for you.
