Before words even matter, there's a frame. And your frame is everything.
You're calm — like you already won. You don't need the deal, but you want it. You're helping them win, not begging them to let you. That's the psychology underneath every Stage 2 interaction: I'm good either way... but this is your shot.
Most agents walk into conversations needy. The prospect feels it immediately. The moment you need the deal more than they need you, you've already lost the negotiation. Stage 2 starts with energy, not words.
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"I'm good either way — but this is your shot." That's the frame. Everything else is just execution. |
Every agent learns the systems first. The templates. The follow-up sequences. The scripts. Stage 1 is necessary — you have to learn the playbook before you can go off it.
But here's where most agents get stuck: they stay in Stage 1 forever. They send the same email to every prospect. They hit send, check the box, and call it follow-up. It's not follow-up. It's noise.
Stage 2 is simple to say and hard to execute: sell each person, for each contact point, every single time.
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Just sell each person you talk to. That is your next level. |
What Stage 1 Actually Looks Like
Stage 1 is not a failure. Stage 1 is how you build the foundation. You learn the CRM. You build the 300-name list. You use the templates because the templates are better than whatever you'd write from scratch at 7am when you have 40 follow-ups to get through before your first showing.
The template exists for a reason. It keeps you consistent when your brain is scattered. It keeps you professional when you're exhausted. It gets the message out the door.
But here's the problem with templates: they sound like templates. The person on the other end has received a thousand of them. They can feel the copy-paste. They know you didn't think about them specifically — you thought about the category they fit into. And the moment they feel that, you've lost them.
Stage 1 agents send messages. Stage 2 agents send reasons.
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The template gets the job done. The personal message gets the deal done. |
What Stage 2 Actually Looks Like
Stage 2 is not about writing longer messages or making more calls. It's about using the specific context of each situation to give each person a real reason to engage with you right now.
This is where AI becomes your weapon. You don't use AI to write a generic email faster. You use AI to take the specific details of a deal, a building, a buyer, a market moment — and build a message that feels like it could only have been written for this person, at this time, about this exact thing.
That's the shift. From broadcast to sniper. From sending to selling.
Here's what it looks like in practice.
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SCENARIO 1: BOOKING THE APPOINTMENT |
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✗ STAGE 1 (Template Mode) "Hi! Thanks for reaching out. I'd love to set up a showing — when works best for you?" |
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✓ STAGE 2 (Sell the Person) Them: Is it available? You: Yes. Month to month tenant in place. When would you like to show? Them: Saturday? You: Sweet. This is the best 1BR layout in the building — has the views and architectural detail. The others face brick walls. Owner is open to offers. |
That's it. You answered the question, gave them one real reason to care, and positioned the seller without ever sounding desperate. You didn't sell — you informed. That's the difference.
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SCENARIO 2: FOLLOWING UP ON A BUILDING |
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✗ STAGE 1 (Template Mode) "Hi, just following up on 215 W 75th. Let me know if you have any questions!" |
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✓ STAGE 2 (Sell the Person) "Have a listing in the building right now — actually in there today for a 3rd showing. Thought of you. Worth a quick visit?" |
You're in the building. That's your social authority. You didn't ask if they were interested — you gave them a reason to be. Three sentences. One hook. All context.
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SCENARIO 3: COLD OUTREACH TO A POTENTIAL SELLER |
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✗ STAGE 1 (Template Mode) "Hi, I work in your neighborhood and would love to chat about the market sometime!" |
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✓ STAGE 2 (Sell the Person) "Just closed on your floor. Have two buyers who missed it. Before I move on — worth a five-minute call?" |
No explanation. No pitch. Just a specific fact and one question. They either have thought about selling or they haven't. Either way, you planted the seed with authority.
The Framework: Four Questions Before Every Message
Before you hit send on anything — text, email, DM, voicemail — thirty seconds. Four questions.
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01 |
What do I know about this person that nobody else knows? Their timeline. Their hesitation. What they said last time. Use it. |
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02 |
What makes this message timely TODAY specifically? A price change. A new comp. You're physically in the building. Something changed — say what it is. |
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03 |
What's the one thing that makes this feel personal? One specific detail. One sentence that could only be for them. That's all it takes. |
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04 |
Have I made the next step obvious? Not 'let me know.' Give them a binary. Morning or afternoon. This week or next. Remove the friction. |
Where AI Comes In
The objection I always hear: 'I don't have time to personalize every message.' You're right. You don't. But AI does.
Feed it the context. The building. The situation. Make sure to give it full context in the prompt. What you know about the buyer. The one thing that changed today. Ask it to write like you already know the person — because through the context, you do. That's the personalization. You thought about what to give the AI. That's the rep.
Stage 2 doesn't mean more work. It means no generic message goes out when a specific one would have hit harder.
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Stage 1: use the template. Stage 2: use the context. The difference isn't effort — it's intention. |
One Thing. Starting Tomorrow.
Before you send your next follow-up, stop for thirty seconds. Ask yourself: does this message say anything that could only be true for this person, right now?
If no — rewrite it. Add one specific thing. One detail that makes them feel seen. That's it. One sentence.
Do it for a week. Watch your response rates. Watch your show-up rates. Watch what happens when someone calls you back and says 'I was actually thinking about this anyway' — because you gave them a reason.
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Get creative. Use the context around every deal to sell every person at every contact point. The agents who do this don't need more leads. They need the ones they already have. |
About Nile Lundgren
Nile Lundgren is the founder of The Lundgren Team at SERHANT., with over $500 million in career sales across New York City and South Florida. Cast member on Netflix's Owning Manhattan. Fox News contributor. Adjunct professor at Baruch College. Creator of the Jump Cycle coaching framework and founder of Lundgren365. He teaches agents how to stop processing deals and start winning them.
Ready to go from Stage 1 to Stage 2? Connect at Lundgren365 · nilelundgren.com · [email protected]
