Follow-Up That Wins Business

We ask Elise Whitmore how she runs fast, human follow-ups that turn uncertain leads into loyal clients. From two-minute callbacks to personality-based notes, she shares the cadence, tools, and boundaries that keep a pipeline full without burning trust.

• Two-minute response to new investor leads
• Three-day check-in then tailored cadence
• “No” treated as “not now” with three-month recontact
• Phone-first follow-up, email or SMS as backup
• Box+Dice tasks and rich notes to track context
• 20–27 daily follow-up calls with clear next steps
• Reading personalities to balance rapport and direct asks
• Strong pricing discipline and walk-away criteria
• Weekly email updates and Instagram as proof of activity
• Handwritten touches that strengthen retention
• Focus on three channels done well, not seven mediocre
• Consistency and micro choices building long-term momentum

PM COLLECTIVE - GUIDE AND SHAPE AN ENJOYABLE FUTURE

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Transcript

Meet Elise And The Focus On Follow-Ups

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Okay, today we are on a chat with Elise Whitmore, who is going to be our guest speaker today about follow-up phone calls, because I have a lot to explore in this space and I want also for people to hear from someone who does it, who's very specific and intentional with their follow-up calls. So I'm very excited to have the conversation with you today. Elise, welcome. Thank you. Now, can you just give everyone a bit of a brief history about sort of yourself, your history, what you do now, and then your current role?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

I've been in the industry for 10 years this year. That's horrific to say that. I started in reception, moved over to sales, paid it, went back to PM, and I've never really left. I've been a BDM, I'm gonna say for about four or five years now. I still manage a small portfolio at the same time though. Apparently, we'll in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Amazing. With the small portfolio that you manage, are you finding that it is sort of more higher-end clients or just specific owners? Like how had that sort of developed as opposed to BDM full-time?

Role Overview And Portfolio Approach

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yeah. So the portfolio that I have are clients that I've had with me for about probably six or seven years. So I keep them. I've got a couple of commercial on there as well, but the rest of them, and I basically list it, lease it, do the entry. And once the tenants have been in there for a month, I then send it over to the property manager.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah, fantastic. So I saw a post the other day, that's why I reached out to you, and it was you doing a whole heap of follow-up phone calls. And I thought, I this is something that I don't think I've ever nailed consistently. And so you look like you do it like a pro. So I thought, what a great opportunity to ask you questions on how that looks like. So the first question that I've got with follow-ups is you have, you know, you've got the client, they're in your system, they've either been sent, you've either done the appraisal or you've sent them the initial paperwork. What stage do you do your first follow-up? I want to be quite specific with sort of how you do it. So what's the first, yeah, first day that you do?

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah, so the the process that I have at the moment is we have a huge database of investors that has basically been untouched. So I'm slowly working through that. But if I get a lead, come in, I'll call them within say two minutes of a coming in. I think being really, really fast on the ball is essentially what drives you to get the business quicker. I then meet with them and then I'll leave it two to three days, three days maximum, to them follow up and see how they go. If I walk into an appraisal, that's a very, very different process, obviously. But from that initial contact, it's within the three days. I don't want to leave it that long that another agent's gonna swoop in and just grab it because of my inability to contact them back, basically. So that will be the first one, and then it's you know, two days after that. Some of them obviously take a little bit longer to sort of convert and get going. So there are a couple that I've been chasing, but one sitting on my screen right now that I've been chasing for about five months. So yeah, it depends on a person, the situation, and obviously where they live. There's different examples.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Would it be fair to say that unless the client gave you a no, I'm not interested, you would keep them in the follow-up process?

First Touch Timing And Cadence

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Even if they do give me a no, they are still in my follow-up database. I'll check in with them three months later, and then from there. Because I mean, yeah, it's a no, but at some point in that tenancy or some point in that management, someone's gonna drop the ball and there's always an opportunity. So it's not a no, in my opinion. I think it's just a not now. So I just keep persisting with them. So if something happens, my name's front of mine.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah, your follow-up calls are they always on phone, or do you get to a stage where you change it to SMS or emails, or how do you is there any set rule for that?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

There's no set rule, so to say. I'm a phone girl. So I'd rather pick up the phone. If I can't get them, I'll send them an email saying, hi, I've just left your voice message, we'd love to reconnect something along the way, Rhines, but it's always a phone call. I think um email and SMS is really impersonal, and it's just so easy for me to sit there and just click them off and it loses that personal touch, I think.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Yeah, okay, awesome. Your database that you currently use, I think on your Instagram it was, I don't know what it was, but you were sort of scrolling with all the follow-up calls that you were to make. So, what system do you actually use to track the follow-ups?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Yeah, so I I'm on box and dice. So the sales team always they use out of as well. So any leak that they get, it'll go into my category basically, and that's where I work at all. I know a lot of people use IRE BDM, but this works really well for me. It's just got detailed notes of the last conversation, what's happening all in one place, and I just set the task to follow up callback on this day, call back three months later, and they pop up daily.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Yeah, and on average, how many like would you roughly do which were follow-up calls?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Follow-up calls today every 27. It generally sits between that 20 to 25. So I've got a huge got a pretty big thing that I'm working with at the moment. So yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Yeah, so the difference then for follow-ups versus cold leads, like if you've got a big sort of untapped database, you've got like I guess is the idea that the whole database eventually becomes a follow-up process, i.e., you've got to make that first phone call first at some stage, and then they go into that. Like, how do you have a number of new calls that you make as well?

No Versus Not Now Mindset

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Well, I've actually already called 90% of the people that are in our database. Sorry, director up there. Um I've already called all of them, like nearly all of them. So the ones that are, you know, just general calls, they're obviously not falling into that category. Um, but once I've actually spoken to them on the phone, then it becomes a follow-up. So it's not just a call and then follow up from nothing. It's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Yeah, okay. And I like being that you know, you've been specific with the numbers because I think when we have conversations about follow-ups, and people might say, Yeah, I do follow-ups, but it's also really interesting to find out like physically how many people are doing. And it I I think comparison sometimes is a good thing because it can either, you know, you can either say to yourself, Oh, well, I'm doing you know 20, so I'm on the right track, or maybe you're someone who's only doing two, and then you're like, Oh gosh, okay, maybe I've got a bit of room to improve. So healthy comparison, I think, is really good, especially sort of um you knowing those numbers is is really great. So thank you for sharing. When you do a follow-up call, so for me, I because I'm not a caller, so I always get fascinated by people that love it, is like for me, I think as a non as a non-caller, I would be more likely to fluff around the conversation and and very much relationship building and and probably tap dance around the actual question of do you need something or not? You strike me as someone that's probably pretty skilled, efficient, you know, you've done it thousands of times. You'd probably just be a little bit more direct than what I would. And so I'd love to sort of hear how you treat her and balance that relationship versus getting to the point as well and what the conversation might look like.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah, it's it's all dependent on the person that I'm speaking to. So if there's someone that I can tell, you've got to be able to read people really well, and that whether that be on the phone or in person, and sort of get some, you know, I like how things, but if someone is the same as me, then I'll just relationship builds to a point because there's a very fine line with building that relationship using refreshment sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Sorry, at least I'm gonna get you just speak a little bit closer to the microphone because it's sort of crackled and I'm not sure if people are gonna get it if it's just me. Can I be really annoying get you to repeat that?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

No, okay. It sounds like there's a helicopter or something there.

Phone First, Email Second

SPEAKER_00 8:53

I'll move it here. Is that better? Oh, that might that might have been what it was, maybe. Hold on. Yeah, just move a little bit closer. Sorry, I'm gonna be annoying get you to repeat that just because I think it's yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

So I tend to, you've got to read the room. Sorry, whether it be on the phone or in person, you've kind of got to engage people's communication styles and how they work. So their personalities are a big factor. And if there's someone that's a very, you know, softer, more reserved client, you've got to cater your communication style to meet them. Whereas if there's someone that's very direct, like I am, we'll still have that a bit of banter, have those chats, but then it's sort of okay, well, I mean it's a business, so how can I help you in this? Or what are you what are you requiring in an agent? Just jump straight into it. It's just sort of reading the person that you're communicating with. Some people take a really long time to sort of break those walls down, but others are just straight in.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

And do you use any like codes or filters in your notes to identify what each type of person is, you know, so that you know when you speak to them the one or the other, or you're just pretty good at your notes?

SPEAKER_01 10:00

I don't know, so I just I will literally put into my notes. Really lovely lady, very softly spoken, uh, how to chat about her son that's in China or something like that. It's all in there. So if someone's very direct, I say very, very direct, quite abrupt conversation there. So they're all their personality types are sort of noted in the notes that I put in.

Systems, Notes, And Task Tracking

SPEAKER_00 10:20

And last question for you would you know what the conversion rate is? I mean, it must be successful, otherwise, you wouldn't be doing it. So, conversion rate, do you know what that would be?

SPEAKER_01 10:36

To be completely honest with you, I have no idea. Yeah, I can tell you the properties that I've lost since I started. I know I've lost seven. So seven.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Okay, low, so low numbers.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, praise. If I walk into a property face to face, there is a 99% chance that I'm walking out with an authority signed. Over the phone, it's a lot harder. So they're generally lose. Yeah, okay. There's properties that are being signed for three and a half percent management fee, and I'll I'll happily walk away from them.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

So yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the sorry, I'm not sure if I said before that was the last question. This will be the last question. The last question I've got for you is do so having a really great follow-up plan and and you know, somewhat cold core plan is great. Do you feel the need or do you supplement it with other another favorite process, whether it be social media, YouTube, email database or something, just to just to nurture that relationship using a different source? So the client's not receiving just the the phone call relationship. Is there anything else?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yeah, so I do weekly email blast out just to keep them updated with you know rental reforms or you know, uh I've leased this property in seven days. There's different touch points, but phone is always my first one. I do have quite a lot of clients on my Instagram page, so they do sort of stay up to date with that one. Yeah, I don't do YouTube. I think I'm I've I'm on TikTok, but I just don't really know if that's worth doing it. I think it's just more for your profile.

Daily Volume And Database Strategy

SPEAKER_00 12:12

So no one knows if it's worth doing on TikTok. We're all we're all the same.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yeah, it's just I think Instagram, Instagram is a big one. I actually get quite a few leaked off my Instagram page, so I definitely think that that's a big factor, but yeah, it's just your general. I mean, I'll go and drop off handwritten notes in their letterbox if it's their birthday or I'll send them out a card or something like that. So I track everyone that I've signed up, birthdays or that, and then they get it, and they're like, oh, this girl's great, like when they were fair business over. So I think it's just the small one percentage that really help with that.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Yeah, I think as well, like I'm someone who's always been very big with generally seven lead sources and you know, making sure we're capturing all options for new clients. But I also see value in being very specific and doing, you know, maybe three avenues very, very well. So, you know, your follow-ups amazing, your weekly email to clients and being consistent with that, that's a lot more than what I'm seeing other people doing because most people would sort of do monthly. And I think the you know, then if possible, redirecting to Instagram so they can see you there. And doing those three avenues really well, really consistently, is probably better than seven mediocre. So I love that.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah, I think it's just I mean, there's so many ways you could overcomplicate a BDM role, you know, trying to do too many things, and you're not really mastering any of it, and I don't want to do that, so yeah, I I just stick to what I know and what I'm good at. So it seems to be working pretty well so well. Yeah, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Yeah, yeah, no, no, absolutely, and I think it's wonderful. And again, I do appreciate you sharing, you know, the specific details because I think that sometimes a lot of that is missed in general conversations, and I think as well, like people who are listening will purposefully hear that I'm not interested or not hearing or not asking about the number of managements coming through either, because I think that getting the consistency and the process right to start off with is what's important. And I've spoken a lot about you know, those micro choices that you make every day will eventually get to that goal that you've got. So don't just be only focused on the goal, just think, okay, every day I've got to do this consistently or every week, and you'll get to that, and I think we lose focus. And so that's why I want people to hear the micro choices that you are making, not the actual end result you've got, which is actually irrelevant anyway.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

No, it is. I mean, so you say from November last year, I was obviously gearing up for the end of the year, it's always chaotic at Christmas time. I think we are, but I really locked into the prospecting side of things. So when I did come back now, I've still got the listings that are just gonna keep flowing, and it's not oh crap, I've got I've got no leads, I've got no listings, and then you start to start if you just consistent at it. It can be a little bit of a deterrent if someone is you know doing their things and not getting it, but it will come.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah, it's I call them the growth goal, so they'll they'll come eventually.

Directness, Rapport, And Reading People

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Yeah, yeah, no, it's awesome. How long have you been doing like consistent with your follow-up emails? And that process has that been like you just always have, or has it been something that you tweaked just more recently?

SPEAKER_01 15:27

So, in my uh look, in one of my roles, I'll say I was managing an entire portfolio, so I didn't really have the ability to actually lock in and have it consistent. So I've put this in place as soon as I started here, and it's yeah, it's working really well.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Amazing. Well, Elise, thank you. I appreciate your time and I appreciate sharing all that. And I know that'll be helpful to definitely to people that need to get a little bit more on track with their process, or maybe they're not doing follow ups and should introduce that as a strong, a strong point. So well done for showcasing that on your Instagram and sharing it with us today. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.