How do I follow up with a lead who said "not yet"?
Call on the day you said you would, open by naming what they told you last time, deliver what you promised, ask one question that tests whether their timeline moved, and end with the next date and a reason for it.
Read the transcript
- Oh, hi. Yes, I remember you.
- Honestly, nothing has changed since we spoke.
- We're still not ready to sell.
- No problem, I was just checking in to see where you're at.
- The market is moving fast, so now could be a really good time to list.
- After every practice call, your card arrives: what worked, and the one thing to fix.
- The call trains four moves. Open from memory.
- Deliver what you promised. Ask one question: has their timeline moved?
- End with the next date, and a reason for it.
- Not yet is a timeline, not a no.
- A call with a reason is welcome.
- A call to check in is noise.
- Be the one agent who remembers what they said.
- Practice it until it sounds like you.
- Each call runs as long as the conversation needs,
- and you can make as many as you want.
- Practice free at 10before10.com/try.
Drafted with AI by the 10before10 team, reviewed and approved by Grant Freer and Gia Freer, licensed Florida real estate brokers. Updated October 26, 2026.
What is really being said
“Not yet” is not “no.” It means the timing is wrong and the agent question is undecided, and both of those change. Most agents hear a no and drop the lead, or hear a maybe and call every week with nothing to say.
The seller who said not yet in January lists in April with whoever is still calling in April with something useful in hand.
Inside every not yet is a timeline. The roof needs doing. The transfer news comes at the end of the month.
The tenant is out on the thirtieth. Your first job on the original call was to find that timeline and write it down. Your job now is to call on it, at the time you said you would, and be the one agent who remembers what they said.
Follow-up is not persistence for its own sake. It is a promise kept, repeatedly, with a reason each time. The seller can tell the difference between an agent who calls because the calendar said so and an agent who calls because the thirtieth has come and gone.
Only one of those is welcome.
What to say
These are examples in plain words, not lines to memorize. Say them the way you actually talk.
"Hi, it's your name with your brokerage. We spoke on the twelfth. You said you'd know about the transfer by the end of the month, and I said I'd call this week.
Is this still a good time?"
Four things in one breath: who you are, when you last spoke, what they told you, and that you are doing what you said. This is the opener that separates you from every other call they get. It proves you listened, and it proves you keep your word, before you have asked for anything.
"I sent over the three sales on your street with the dates. Did that reach you, and was any of it useful?"
The promise is named and checked. If it never arrived, own it: that is on you, you will resend it while they are on the phone, and what is the right address. Never step past a broken promise without saying so.
"Last time the plan was Denver, because of the new job, by summer. Has any of that moved?"
This is repeat and approve applied to their timeline. Where, why and when are what change between calls, and the shift is the whole point of the call: the job came through, the roof is done, the tenant gave notice. Ask it, then be quiet.
"Then here's what I'll do. You said the tenant's out on the thirtieth. I'll call on the first, around nine, and before then I'll send what else is for sale near you so you've seen it before we talk.
Does the first work?"
A date, a time, the reason for that date in their words, something useful in between, and their yes. Every call ends this way, whatever else happened. Write it down while they are still on the line.
What not to do
Do not open as if it were a first call. "We've spoken before" is the worst thing a prospect can say to you, and it happens whenever an agent works from a list instead of from notes. If you cannot remember what they told you, look it up before you dial.
Do not manufacture urgency. Nothing about where the market is going, nothing about what will happen if they wait. You do not know, and they know you do not know.
A follow-up call carries evidence with a date, a sale nearby or a change in what is competing, or it carries nothing at all and is honest about that.
Do not pitch after "nothing has changed." Ask what would change it, answer that, and set the next call to a day and time, then thank them.
A second pitch after a clear not yet is the fastest way to become the agent they screen.
How to practice it
Have a colleague play a prospect from a previous call, holding a card that says what you promised, whether it arrived, and what their timeline was. Run two versions: the package arrived and was read, and the package never arrived. Your job is to open from memory in one breath, check the promise, ask one question about the timeline, and end with a date and a reason.
Five rounds, then swap. Read your card and the call's transcript for the moment you keep talking after a not yet. That is the habit to break, and 10before10™'s card listens for it on this drill.
Honest answers
Related answers
Make one practice call. See your card.
A prospect who sounds real raises this exact moment. Ten minutes, in the browser, no account. The scorecard tells you the one thing to fix.