The Real Estate Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

You’re Losing Clients You’ve Already Earned

If only 8% of sellers use an agent they’ve worked with before, it means 92% of your clients are choosing to list with someone else.

Picture the last ten people you’ve worked with. Nine of them will list their house with another agent.

In other words, you’re losing clients you’ve already earned. Deals you already had in the bag.

These aren’t new leads we’re talking about. These are past clients who already know you. People who trusted you in the past to guide them through one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.

And 92% of them are listing with other agents.

Want to know how much income this is costing you?

Take the deals you won last year from return clients, and multiply that number by 9. That’s how many deals you’re losing out on.

Here’s the kicker: retention is cheaper, faster, and easier than chasing new leads.

So when you lose out on existing customers, it deals an outsized blow to your business growth.

But before you can start to fix the problem, you probably need to understand…

Why Is This Happening?

Here’s the truth no one likes to admit:

Most agents disappear after the deal closes.

In a sense, it’s easy to see why. After all, your client just bought a house. It’s likely to be years before they’re ready to sell. The easiest thing is to back off and tell yourself, When they’re ready to sell, they’ll call me.

Unfortunately, that’s just not true.

Competition in the real estate industry is fierce. Your clients are being bombarded with ads, emails, and postcards from new agents promising them the moon.

Even if you crushed it the first time around, helping them find their dream house at a great price, that’s still not enough to guarantee they’ll come back to you again.

You have to keep in touch if you want repeat business.

Otherwise, they’re going to sign with another agent—one who makes more of an effort.

Here’s a truth the industry isn’t saying loud enough: if your income is tied to the number of conversations you’re having, then the biggest threat to your business is silence.

Don’t fall silent.

What we’re saying here is simple: Most agents fall short in the communication department. They don’t keep the conversation going.

And even when they do, they’re not having the right conversations (more on this huge miss in a minute).

The real estate business is personal and high-stakes. People want an agent they trust to show up early, communicate often, and guide them with confidence.

This isn’t about being pushy. It’s about being present.

You don’t need to hound people. You just need to stay in their world. Keep showing up in small and meaningful ways. Remind them you’re still there, still helpful, still the right person to call when they’re ready to make another move.

Not Every Conversation or Touch Point is Created Equal

Let’s face it: just “staying in touch” isn’t enough. Sure, it builds rapport, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if that’s where it ends, you’re leaving opportunity on the table.

Sadly, too few agents ever get beyond “checking in.”

Here’s the problem with that. Let’s say you reach out to a past client to “check in” and end up talking about the score of last night’s game or some neighborhood drama.

That conversation doesn’t help you move that person closer to a sale.

This sort of thing is so common in our industry.

What actually drives results are high-intent conversations. You need a real reason to reach out—something relevant, timely, and valuable. When someone wants to talk about interest rates or where prices are headed, that’s a signal. They’re thinking about making a move.

It’s your job to spark those conversations by sharing useful insights and asking the right questions. This practice will help you solve the Follow-Up Crisis once and for all.

And if you do that, then there’s good news…

Another Agent’s Crisis Can Be Your Opportunity

If 92% of sellers choose to work with a new agent, rather than one they’ve worked with before, it means that most agents are missing out on a lot of repeat business.

There’s a bright side, though: the bar is low.

It means there’s a lot of opportunity out there for agents who are willing to go the extra mile.

If you start doing even a little bit to engage intentionally with past clients and your sphere—reaching out, providing value, keeping top of mind—you’ll instantly set yourself apart from the competition.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You don’t need complicated funnels or shiny software.

You just need to know what to say to re-engage past clients, nurture warm leads, and keep the conversation going with the people who matter most to your business.

You need a system.

If you want to generate more listings and closings from the contacts already in your database, we’ve got a blueprint for that—and it’s already working for 1,000+ agents around the country.

It’s called The Conversations to Deals Playbook.

source: keeping current matters