What’s more important in your market right now
Specialist · Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 8 votes
Better lists or better follow-up?
I’ve seen average lists outperform “premium” lists just because the follow-up system was tight.
Curious what others are seeing.
Follow-up wins, hands down. Not even close in my experience.
I've tested this exact thing. Ran the same lists with two different follow-up cadences - one was 3 touches over 2 weeks, the other was 7-10 touches over 6-8 weeks with mixed channels (call, text, voicemail drop, maybe a handwritten card on high-equity targets). The extended follow-up pulled 3x the responses, and more importantly, the leads that came in on touch 5, 6, 7 were often MORE motivated than the day-one responders. Those sellers needed time to process their situation.
The premium list thing is mostly marketing by data providers. A "premium" absentee owner list and a regular absentee owner list are pulling from the same county records. The difference is usually just stacking filters. You can do that yourself for way less money if you learn how to pull and stack your own data.
That said, list quality does matter in one specific way: making sure your data is accurate and updated. Bad phone numbers and deceased owners kill efficiency. But that's data hygiene, not list exclusivity.
Bottom line is I'd rather have an average list with a killer follow-up system than a perfect list with weak follow-up. The deals are in the 4th, 5th, 6th touchpoint.
What channels are you using for follow-up right now?
Follow-up wins, hands down. Not even close in my experience.
I've tested this exact thing. Ran the same lists with two different follow-up cadences - one was 3 touches over 2 weeks, the other was 7-10 touches over 6-8 weeks with mixed channels (call, text, voicemail drop, maybe a handwritten card on high-equity targets). The extended follow-up pulled 3x the responses, and more importantly, the leads that came in on touch 5, 6, 7 were often MORE motivated than the day-one responders. Those sellers needed time to process their situation.
The premium list thing is mostly marketing by data providers. A "premium" absentee owner list and a regular absentee owner list are pulling from the same county records. The difference is usually just stacking filters. You can do that yourself for way less money if you learn how to pull and stack your own data.
That said, list quality does matter in one specific way: making sure your data is accurate and updated. Bad phone numbers and deceased owners kill efficiency. But that's data hygiene, not list exclusivity.
Bottom line is I'd rather have an average list with a killer follow-up system than a perfect list with weak follow-up. The deals are in the 4th, 5th, 6th touchpoint.
What channels are you using for follow-up right now?
That 3x response difference with extended cadence is exactly what most investors underestimate. The psychology shift between day one and touch six is real — by then they’ve had time to think through the situation instead of reacting emotionally.
Also agree on the “premium list” angle. Most of it comes down to stacking and data hygiene, not exclusivity. Clean data + structured cadence usually beats expensive filters.
Right now I’m seeing the best consistency from multi-channel follow-up — primarily call + SMS early, then spacing it out into longer nurture touches. The channel matters, but the discipline behind it matters more.
Are you spacing the later touches evenly over 6–8 weeks, or adjusting cadence based on seller signals?
Good question. I dont space them evenly, I adjust based on signals.
The first 3-4 touches are tighter, usually days 1, 3, 7, maybe 14. After that I stretch it out more, maybe every 10-14 days for the next few touches.
But I also layer in trigger-based touches. If someone opens an email or clicks a text link and doesnt respond, thats a signal to bump them up the list for the next touch. Same thing if they initially said "not right now" or "maybe later" - those go into a longer nurture bucket with monthly-ish touches until they re-engage or ask to be removed.
The key is matching intensity to intent. A lead that said call me back next month gets a different cadence than one who ghosted after showing interest. CRM tagging and basic automation helps a lot here, otherwise it gets messy fast.
What CRM are you running your follow-up through?
Good question. I dont space them evenly, I adjust based on signals.
The first 3-4 touches are tighter, usually days 1, 3, 7, maybe 14. After that I stretch it out more, maybe every 10-14 days for the next few touches.
But I also layer in trigger-based touches. If someone opens an email or clicks a text link and doesnt respond, thats a signal to bump them up the list for the next touch. Same thing if they initially said "not right now" or "maybe later" - those go into a longer nurture bucket with monthly-ish touches until they re-engage or ask to be removed.
The key is matching intensity to intent. A lead that said call me back next month gets a different cadence than one who ghosted after showing interest. CRM tagging and basic automation helps a lot here, otherwise it gets messy fast.
What CRM are you running your follow-up through?
That’s a smart way to handle it — matching intensity to intent is where most follow-up systems either win or fall apart.
On our end, we actually help set up and manage a lot of this for investors — list pulling, multi-channel outreach, tagging logic, and cadence structuring inside their CRM. The tool matters, but the segmentation and timing usually make the bigger difference.
I agree it gets messy fast without automation layered properly.
Are you mostly managing that in-house, or do you have someone running point on the CRM side?