The best way to follow up after an open house is to make it a standing appointment. Put Follow Up Monday on your calendar, go into the office, and make 10 phone calls to the people who stopped by. This is the approach Alan Hernandez teaches in Week 5 of our BET training, and we cover the short version in a companion video.
What is Follow Up Monday?
Follow Up Monday is a recurring block on your calendar, not a task you do when you feel like it. In the session, Alan put it plainly: after the open house you are going to follow up, and "that is the name of the game." The point of putting it on the calendar is that it stops being optional. An open house that never gets a follow up call is just a few hours spent standing in a house.
Why make the calls from the office instead of home?
Alan was blunt about this one. He said you should come into the office because "I know you ain't going to do it at the same pace and same way at home." At home, there is the laundry, the couch, and the phone you keep putting down. In the office, you are surrounded by other agents who are also working, and the calls actually get made. If you struggle with consistency, changing where you do the work is a simple fix that costs nothing.
How many calls should you make, and what do you say?
The target from the session is 10 phone calls. The script is deliberately simple, and it works as a conversation, not a pitch:
Start with thanks: "Hey, thank you so much for stopping by. What did you think of the house?"
If they say they loved it, move forward: "Fantastic. Are you interested in making an offer?"
Then widen the question: "Are you thinking about this house for someone else?"
That last question matters. Someone who walked through may not want the house for themselves but may know a family member, friend, or coworker who does. Alan's summary of the whole approach was "Have a conversation. That's all it is."
What if you feel too nervous or busy to call?
This connects to a bigger theme from the same session. Alan asked agents to be honest about what kept them from taking action in earlier classes, whether it was fear, forgetting, or not caring enough. He said that if something is holding you back from daily action, you will have a hard time, and he cited the 87% of agents who fail because action is low. Follow up calls are a perfect example. They are not complicated, but they require you to do them. Name the excuse, then let the calendar block and the office do the work for you.
How does open house follow up fit with the rest of your marketing?
The same session covered other ways to keep a listing working for you. One was telling the neighbors about a sale. Alan described downloading the data and emailing something like "congratulations to your neighbors, they just sold." He pointed out an advantage of email over postcards. With a postcard, you have no idea who looked at it. With an email, you can see who opened it and who clicked. That makes your Monday calls smarter, because you know who is paying attention. He also noted that AI can handle much of the nurturing now, while agents remain the data gatherers who have the real conversations.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I follow up after an open house?
The method taught in the session is Monday, scheduled in your calendar in advance. Treat it as a recurring appointment rather than something you squeeze in when time allows.
How many people should I call?
The session's benchmark is 10 phone calls in one sitting. Open house visitors are warm contacts, so a focused block of calls is more effective than scattered attempts.
What should I ask besides whether they liked the house?
Ask whether they are interested in making an offer, and whether they are thinking about the house for someone else. The second question can surface a referral you would not have found otherwise.
Why does Alan recommend calling from the office?
Because most agents will not keep the same pace or focus at home. Being in the office makes it much easier to actually get the calls done.
Want to see this kind of training in person? Text "Training" to 832-532-9229 or grab 2 free tickets to our next Tuesday BET training, which includes a free lunch and CE hours. If you would like help letting AI handle follow up so you can focus on the conversations, take a look at our 101 AI Prompts for Agents. No pressure, just an open invitation.