Hi Reader,

Back in 2019, some Sephora stores in Europe put two stacks of shopping baskets by the door.

Red meant: I'd like some help.

Black meant: I'd rather shop on my own.

A shopper posted a photo, and it went viral. Most of the replies came from people tired of hearing "Can I help you find anything?" every few feet. Finally, a way to say "I'm good, thanks" without saying a word.

Here's what I love about it. Nobody walked into that store cold. Everyone came in wanting something. They just wanted it in different ways, and the store let them say so at the door.

Now think about the last stranger who became your lead. A website inquiry, maybe, or an open house sign-in.

Most of us treat every one of those people like they grabbed the red basket. Call. Text. Call again. "Just checking in!"

The red-basket people love it. The black-basket people go quiet. And we file them under cold.

They didn't go cold. They were telling you how they wanted to shop, and nobody handed them a basket to say it with.

So hand them both in the first message.

Send New Leads the Two-Basket Text

Hi [name], it's [you] with [brokerage]. Thanks for reaching out about [the home / the neighborhood]. One quick question so I don't drive you crazy:

Reply 1 if you want me in your corner now. I'll send homes, and we'll talk this week.

Reply 2 if you'd rather look on your own. I'll set you up with a search, check in once a month, and stay out of your way.

🔴 They pick 1: Call today. They asked.

⚫ They pick 2: Send the search. Put one check-in on your calendar 30 days out. That's it.

Let them pick the basket.

Pull up the five newest leads who stopped answering you. Send them the text message above.

Then do exactly what they pick.

The hard part is the 2s. Leave them alone anyway. That's the deal you offered, and keeping it is how a black basket turns red on its own schedule.

Have a great weekend,

Alice

P.S. If you use RealScout, a Search Link makes a good black basket. It's a shareable link to a live, curated set of homes they can browse on their own, and when they click, save, or come back, you learn something useful. Use that in your reply to the black baskets, and they will be automatically set up on that search.

If you want to see exactly how to set this up, check out the replay of our webinar this week.

The Heist · Marketing playbooks for real estate agents, stolen from every industry except this one.

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