Every agent knows they should be following up their pipeline more consistently.
Yet reminder after reminder gets postponed, and promising prospects slowly go cold.
Caroline Bolderston believes the real barrier isn’t technique – it’s the limiting beliefs that make the call feel impossible before it even starts.
“Agents have this overall belief around follow-up,” Caroline says.
“Especially when the people they’re following up don’t have any short-term real estate plans. This is where they get really stuck.”
The pattern is familiar to anyone who’s worked in real estate – a reminder pops up, the agent glances at their notes, sees something like “not doing anything for a few years,” and hits postpone.
So the call never happens.
And when that person’s circumstances eventually change – as they inevitably do – someone else gets the listing.
Belief One: “They’re Not Doing Anything”
The first belief Caroline tackles is the assumption that a prospect’s current plans are permanent.
“Some agents even write NDA – not doing anything,” she says.
The problem with these absolutes is they become self-fulfilling.
When an agent reads “not doing anything” in their CRM, they’ve already decided the call is pointless.
The reminder gets pushed back, and the relationship doesn’t move forward.
The shift Caroline recommends is to replace “not doing anything” with “things change.”
“That was what the client thought at the time we spoke, but things change,” she explains.
“Knowing that things change means we’re going to resist the absolutes.”
Life doesn’t follow set timelines.
Health crises, relationship breakdowns, unexpected job offers, inheritance – any number of events can suddenly make someone a motivated seller.
The agent who maintained the relationship is the one who gets the call.
Belief Two: “I Don’t Want to Be Annoying”
The second belief runs deeper and affects almost every agent Caroline works with – the fear of being perceived as pushy or salesy.
“That’s the big belief out there – if I call people too often, I’m just being annoying, and they won’t like it,” she says.
But much of this anxiety is self-created through vague commitments.
When agents end conversations with “I’ll keep in touch” or “I’ll reach out down the track,” they’ve set no expectations – for themselves or the prospect.
Later, when it comes time to call, they have no framework for why this contact makes sense.
The solution is taking control of the next steps at every interaction.
“If the agent’s not in control and setting the expectation of when they’ll next be in touch, they might have a recent sale that would be a good reason to call,” Caroline explains.
“Because I haven’t set that up, they’re reluctant to call.”
Instead of vague promises to “keep in touch,” be specific.
Tell prospects you’ll contact them when something relevant happens in their area, or that you’ll check in quarterly, or that you’ll send through any properties that match criteria they’ve mentioned.
Now the call has a reason that both parties understand.
Belief Three: “This Person Doesn’t Want to Talk to Agents”
The third limiting belief forms after difficult interactions.
A prospect is short on the phone, seems irritated, or cuts the call off abruptly.
The agent writes notes like “not friendly” or “hung up on me” – and those notes become permanent character assessments.
“This is the belief thing around that person is an angry person who is not interested and doesn’t want to talk to agents,” Caroline says.
“Where in fact, we can all be like that.”
She asks agents to consider their own behaviour when interrupted at the wrong moment.
“If we get a call from a telemarketer or whatever it might be, if we are under stress, we’re probably short to those people too. It’s not just people don’t want to talk to real estate agents. It’s what have we interrupted here?”
But a single interaction is not a permanent verdict.
Someone who was curt on Tuesday might be perfectly friendly on Friday.
By writing off prospects based on one moment, agents close doors that were never really shut.
“Writing notes about that leads to call reluctance, lack of follow-up, or they won’t call again because they’ll read that note,” Caroline warns.
“That will basically sabotage their ability to build trusting relationships.”
Why This Matters More in a Challenging Market
These three beliefs exist in every market, but they impact agents harder when conditions are difficult.
“When the market is strong, agents are happier to talk to prospects because they’ve got good news,” Caroline observes.
“They feel confident about making these calls.”
When prices are rising and properties are selling quickly, every call feels like a gift. But when the market is uncertain, agents add another layer of resistance: “I don’t really have much good news to tell these people.”
This is where the mindset shift becomes critical.
Caroline argues there are always opportunities – it’s about reframing what you’re offering.
“Is it an underbidder from an auction on a different property? Is it a property you’ve just sold down the road and you had lots of people through, but they want something with a pool – and yours has one?”
The opportunities exist; the question is whether agents are in a mental state to see them.