Most new agents don't fail at cold calling. They never start. They spend a week on the list, the CRM and the perfect script, and make zero calls. This is the setup we walk newer agents through in the Live Prospecting Room, in the order that gets you dialing today.
1. Get a list
You need homeowners with a reason to sell. Expired and cancelled listings are the best place to start: someone already wanted to sell, and something got in the way.
- MyPlusLeads is what most of us in the room use. It was about $50 a month when we checked, and the phone numbers and emails have been accurate in our experience.
- Vulcan is another option some agents use. It costs a bit more.
We don't get anything for mentioning either one. Use whatever gets you accurate numbers.
2. Keep it small
The first instinct is to pull every county you've ever driven through. Don't. One filter we ran in the room, three counties and everything that came off the market since the first of the month, gave 231 records. That's more than enough for weeks.
- Pick the area you actually want to work. You can always pull more.
- Filter by date. Recent expireds first.
- Leave out anything under contract.
3. Organize it fast, not perfectly
The export will be a wide spreadsheet with the phone numbers way off to the right. Don't fight it by hand.
- Ask AI to clean it up. Upload the file to ChatGPT or Claude and ask for a simple call sheet: name, address, every phone number, and a notes column.
- Or go analog. Print it, highlight it, cross numbers off. Then take a photo and have AI update your notes. Old school works if it gets you dialing.
- Get it into your CRM when you can, so notes and follow ups live in one place.
4. Write your own one-page script
Don't read someone else's script word for word. Pull the lines you like from a few, then write your own one page in your own voice. You'll sound like a person, and you'll find your way back when a call goes sideways.
Start with the expired and cancelled listing call.
5. Make 15 dials before you organize anything else
This is the whole game. Set a target of 15 dials: calls made, not calls answered. Most will be voicemail, wrong numbers and robots. That's normal. The point is to get over the hump today.
Moving slow is better than saying you'll do it later.
Honest numbers from one of our mornings: about 30 calls, 1 pickup, 1 lead. Another morning, 15 dials turned into 4 conversations and a listing appointment. You don't control which day you get. You control the dials.
6. Call every number on the record
"This number is not in service" doesn't mean you're done. Most records list several numbers. Put them all in your CRM and call each one. Sometimes the third number is the one that picks up.
7. Write it down, then come back
Every conversation goes in your notes, even "not now." Owners come back onto your list months later, and the notes are what turn a cold call into a warm one. You keep going back to them until it comes back to you.
Try it this week
Pull a list of 100 or fewer, write your one-page script, and make 15 dials. Then join us in the Live Prospecting Room and dial with people who are doing the same thing.