Galand Haas has watched the same cycle play out with real estate agents for decades.
An agent gets a deal. Then another one.
Business feels good, so they put their heads down and get those deals to the closing mark. There are inspections to handle, paperwork to finish, clients calling, and a dozen small problems that suddenly need an answer today.
Then the deals close, and there’s nothing behind them.
| “If you take a look at most agents, they’ll get a deal or two going. And guess what they do? They spend all their time getting that deal closed. And guess what they’re not doing while they’re doing it? They’re not marketing. They’re not out there looking for new business.” —Galand Haas |
The fix ≠ more marketing
The empty pipeline didn’t happen when the deals closed. It started two months earlier, when the marketing engine just…stopped. And the fix isn’t necessarily spending even more time and energy on your marketing campaigns.
It’s making sure a small amount of marketing happens every week, even when everything else in your business gets busy.
Closing work will always feel more urgent
That adrenaline-high closing rush is what makes the cycle so easy to fall into.
A client waiting for an inspection response is a big deal. A contract deadline gets priority. The photographer needs an answer. The title company needs a document.
Finding the client you’ll need 60 days from now rarely feels that way.
There’s no deadline flashing on your calendar. Nobody is calling because you didn’t add five people to your database this week. You don’t get an angry email because you haven’t published anything lately.
So marketing gets pushed to tomorrow. Then next week. Then after this closing.
But today’s calendar and your future pipeline are connected. If you stop creating and nurturing opportunities while you’re busy, you’ll eventually reach the other side of that busy stretch with fewer people to work with.
Galand has seen what happens next: “You’ve got a big fall off because you didn’t market for a couple of months trying to get a couple of deals closed. Then, you fall into this hole and your whole business is just ups and downs. Those expenses are still there every month, whether you’re doing business or not.“
That’s the two-month roller coaster ride the best, visible agents know how to avoid.
The slow month starts during the busy one
It’s tempting to think of a slower pipeline as a problem you solve once things get quiet.
By then, you’re already behind.
If you spend six or eight weeks focused entirely on current transactions, that’s six or eight weeks when fewer new people are entering your database, fewer conversations happen, and fewer existing contacts are hearing from you.
One way to catch the problem early is to look beyond the deals you’re currently closing. At the end of each week, ask yourself:
- How many new contacts did I add to my database?
- How many conversations did I have with potential buyers or sellers?
- How many appointments do I have scheduled with prospective clients?
- How many people in my pipeline have a clear next step?
If you’re closing three deals this month but haven’t had a new buyer consultation or listing appointment in several weeks, that’s worth fixing—stat.
You don’t need a complicated forecasting system, but it’s always wise to recognize when the activities that create future business have slowed down.
Action step: Protect two hours every week
Pick one two-hour block and put it on your calendar at the same time every week.
Treat it like a new home showing you can’t move.
It’s not the time you’ll use if nothing else comes up. Not something you’ll squeeze in Friday afternoon after everything else is done and you’re headed out of the office.
Protected time. Here’s one way to divide up your weekly session:
| Time | Activity | What to Accomplish |
| 0–40 minutes | Add new people | Work an existing prospecting channel and capture new contacts or conversations |
| 40–80 minutes | Publish one useful thing | Create and distribute a short piece of relevant content |
| 80–110 minutes | Follow up with warm contacts | Reach out to people with a useful reason to reconnect |
| 110–120 minutes | Update your database | Record next steps and identify priorities for the following week |
The exact number of minutes isn’t important. By the end of two hours, you’ve done something for both your current relationships and your future pipeline.
Phase 1: Keep adding new people
Your database needs new relationships coming in even when current clients are keeping you busy. Otherwise, you’re relying on the same contacts to produce every future transaction.
Start with a prospecting channel you already use.
That could mean following up with people you met at an open house, responding to website inquiries, reconnecting with a referral, or reaching out to people in a neighborhood where you’re trying to build your business.
The important part is choosing a specific activity before the block starts.
For example:
- Follow up with five people you met at last weekend’s open house
- Reach out to three past clients and ask how they’re doing
- Respond to recent website leads who haven’t had a personal conversation with you yet
- Contact two people who previously mentioned a possible move later in the year
These aren’t guaranteed sources of immediate business.
They’re ways to keep creating conversations that may eventually lead to appointments, referrals, and transactions.
And when you meet someone new, put them in your database.
Capture enough information to remember who they are, what they might need, and when it would make sense to follow up. A new name without any context isn’t nearly as useful as a contact with a clear next step.
Your goal: Finish the first 40 minutes having started or continued conversations that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Phase 2: Publish one useful thing
This is where agents often make marketing more complicated than it needs to be. You don’t have to produce a polished neighborhood guide, film a video, and write a pages-long newsletter every single week.
Pick one useful piece of information and share it. Start with something you already know.
Maybe three buyers asked about property taxes this week. Maybe a neighborhood just had several price reductions. Maybe you noticed that homes in a certain price range are spending longer on the market.
For example, you could publish:
- A short neighborhood update: “Five homes sold in Westover last month. Here’s what buyers paid compared with asking prices.”
- A quick buyer tip: “Three things to check before touring a home with an HOA.”
- A market observation: “We’re seeing more price reductions in this part of town. Here’s what that means for buyers.”
- An answer to a common question: “Should you sell your current home before buying the next one?”
Focus on creating something genuinely useful, then share it through channels you already use, like your website, email, or social media. If you’re publishing on your website, consider questions potential clients might search for so the content can keep attracting visitors over time.
You can also repurpose the same idea across channels. A neighborhood update on your website might become a short email or social post, helping you reach more people without creating something new each time.
Your goal: Finish with one published piece of content that helps you stay visible and gives someone a reason to engage.
Phase 3: Call the people whose behavior changed
This is where your existing database can become one of your most useful prospecting resources. You may already have people who are interested in buying or selling.
They’re just not ready yet.
Look for changes in activity, where your website and lead-management tools make that information available.
- Who returned to your property search after months away?
- Who started exploring a different neighborhood?
- Who repeatedly viewed a particular listing or checked a home valuation?
Those signals don’t automatically mean someone is ready to transact. But they may give you a better place to start than calling random names from your database.
For example, imagine a buyer you met six months ago said they were planning to wait until spring.
Now it’s February, and they’ve started exploring listings again.
That’s a reasonable opportunity to reconnect.
You could say:
“Hi Sarah, I know you were thinking about starting your home search this spring. There have been a few changes in the neighborhoods we talked about, and I wanted to see whether your timeline is still looking about the same.”
Or maybe a homeowner previously asked about property values in their neighborhood.
You could reach out with a relevant update on recent sales and ask whether they’d like a more detailed look at their home’s potential value.
Use what you know about your contacts’ interests, timelines, and recent activity to make your outreach more relevant, whether that’s following up on a previous question, sharing a market update, or reconnecting as their moving timeline approaches.
Your goal: Finish with a handful of thoughtful follow-ups and clear next steps.
Phase 4: Make next week easier
Before you close your laptop, update your real estate CRM. Record who you contacted, what they said, and what you promised to do next.
Schedule follow-up reminders where appropriate.
Then make a short list of priorities for your next marketing block.
This matters because you don’t want to spend the first 20 minutes of every week reconstructing what happened last time. A little preparation makes the routine easier to repeat.
Your goal: End the block with an updated CRM, clear follow-up tasks, and a short priority list so you can get straight to work next week.
Automate what you can outside of your time block
Your protected marketing block shouldn’t have to cover every touchpoint. Some activities can keep running even when you’re busy with closings and client work.
For example, automated listing alerts and saved searches can keep buyers engaged with relevant properties, while market updates help you stay connected with homeowners. Website lead capture can also bring new contacts into your database while you’re focused elsewhere.
The goal isn’t to automate every interaction, but to keep your marketing working in the background so you can focus on conversations and relationships that need your personal attention.
Decide what needs you and what doesn’t
Start by separating recurring marketing tasks into two categories:
| Work that needs your attention | Work you can automate |
| Calling a buyer about their changing needs | Delivering relevant saved-search alerts |
| Following up after a personal conversation | Sending ongoing property updates |
| Advising a seller on pricing | Keeping interested homeowners connected to market information |
| Creating relationships with new prospects | Capturing inquiries through website forms |
| Deciding who needs personal outreach | Organizing available lead activity for review |
Automation doesn’t replace the personal conversations that build trust. It helps you stay connected between them.
Galand learned this early in his career. At the end of his second year, he hired an assistant to handle signs, lockboxes, and paperwork, freeing him up to focus on selling. He says the change doubled his business.
You may not be ready to hire someone, but the principle is the same: taking routine tasks off your plate gives you more time for work that needs your attention.
And if your follow-up process only works when you’re not busy, it’s time to rethink the system.
Build for the week when everything goes wrong
It’s easy to maintain a marketing routine during a quiet week. The real test is whether you can keep it going when you’re juggling inspections, closings, new listings, and client requests.
Some weeks, protecting two uninterrupted hours won’t be realistic. When that happens, use a 30-minute backup plan instead:
✅ 10 minutes: Review new leads. Check recent inquiries and make sure promising contacts are added to your database.
✅ 15 minutes: Follow up. Prioritize contacts who are expecting a response, approaching a decision, or showing renewed interest.
✅ 5 minutes: Check your automation. Confirm that listing alerts and other ongoing communications are running as intended.
You may not accomplish everything you’d planned, but you’ll keep your pipeline moving instead of having to restart your marketing efforts when things slow down.
What you can do right now
Think back to your last busy stretch. Did you stop prospecting, publishing, or following up with potential clients?
Identify what fell through the cracks (no judgment). Then, put a recurring two-hour marketing block on your calendar. Decide which prospecting activities you’ll prioritize, prepare one useful piece of content, and identify a few contacts worth reconnecting with.
Finally, review what you can automate. iHomefinder helps agents keep their websites working between conversations with IDX property search, lead capture, saved searches, and listing alerts.
That means buyers can continue exploring relevant homes while you focus on current clients, giving you more opportunities to reconnect when they’re ready to take the next step.