Every database has leads who were active once and then went quiet. Many of them still plan to buy or sell, just not yet. This playbook shows you how to find them, give them a reason to come back, and spot the moment they do.
Why it matters: You have already paid to win these leads. Bringing a quiet lead back costs far less than finding a new one, and the lead who reappears after months of silence is often getting ready to move.
Step 1: Find Your Quiet Leads
Buying Buddy has ready-made lists for this. Open and use these Work Lists:
| Work List | Who is in it | Best response |
|---|---|---|
| Gone Quiet | Leads who searched for homes but have not visited in 30 days or more | A fresh listing alert, a campaign and a personal check-in |
| No Touch 7d | Leads added in the last 30 days with no call, email or meeting in the last 7 days | Call now, before a new lead goes cold |
| Never Spoke To | Leads where no call has been answered yet | Try a different time of day, then email or text |
| Buyers: Dormant / Sellers: Paused | Deals you have marked as on hold | A gentle check-in every few months |
Your Dashboard Home Lead Health counts point to the same gaps: No Alerts, Expiring Alerts, No Campaigns and Never Called.
Step 2: Fix What Is Stopping Them Hearing from You
A lead cannot respond to emails they are not getting. Before you add anything new, check for delivery problems:
- Click Bad Emails in Lead Health, or the Bad Email quick filter in More Filters. On each Lead Dashboard, the Email Is Invalid suggested action has a Fix Email button.
- On the Lead Dashboard status bar, Alerts Paused or Campaigns Paused means the email address is invalid. Opted Out means the lead unsubscribed, so respect that and call instead.
Step 3: Give Them a Reason to Come Back
1
Refresh or Add Listing Alerts
New homes are the best reason to return
Select the leads on Lead Summary and use Set Up Listing Alerts. For leads who already have alerts, check the Alert Engagement Low suggestion: if they stopped opening alerts, the criteria may no longer match what they want. Compare with their Property Engagement and update the alert. See How to Set Up New-Listing Alerts.
2
Enroll Them in a Re-engagement Campaign
Stay in touch without the manual effort
Select the leads and use Assign Campaign. A short campaign with useful market news and a friendly question ("Are you still thinking about a move this year?") works better than a sales pitch. See Attaching Campaigns to Leads.
3
Offer Sellers a Market Report
Homeowners want to know what their home is worth
For leads with Seller interest, use Assign Market Report (when market reports are available for your account). A monthly report on their area keeps you in front of them until they are ready to list. See Playbook: Working a Seller Lead.
4
Call the Best of Them
A personal touch for the leads that matter most
Sort the Gone Quiet list by Properties Viewed (Most First). The leads at the top were your most active browsers. Call the top few personally.
Step 4: Catch Them When They Come Back
You do not need to keep checking. When a quiet lead becomes active again:
- Their Activity Score rises within minutes, and they appear in Hot Leads on your Dashboard Home when it reaches 70.
- Their Lead Dashboard shows High Engagement Today in Suggested Actions.
- You can filter the Activity Center by Buyer Deal Stage: Dormant or Seller Deal Stage: Paused to see on-hold deals that are active again.
When a dormant buyer or paused seller is back, call them and move their deal stage back to an active stage.
Put It to Work
Example: Waking Up Last Spring's Buyers
A 20-minute campaign
- Open Gone Quiet and add Interest: Buyer. 38 leads.
- Select all and choose Set Up Listing Alerts, then Assign Campaign with your "Still looking?" campaign.
- Sort by Properties Viewed and call the top five.
- Two weeks later, three of them are back on your website and one shows up in Hot Leads after saving two homes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I do this?
Once a month works well. The Work Lists update automatically, so you only see the leads that need attention now.
Should I archive leads who never respond?
Give them a few months of alerts and campaigns first. If there is still no activity and no reply, set their Contact Type to Archived. They stay on record but stop cluttering your lists. See Archiving Leads.