How to Stay in Touch With Past Clients: A 12-Month Plan (+ Scripts)
Give every past client two tracks: personal dates (close anniversary, birthday) and a 12-month seasonal calendar where you send each month's text only to clients it fits. That works out to 6 to 8 personal touches a year, about 4 texts a weekday for 150 clients.
Nine in ten buyers say they would use their agent again. Yet in the same survey, NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, only 18% of buyers bought through an agent they'd used before. The two numbers don't measure exactly the same thing, but the gap between them is where most agents lose repeat business. The client liked you fine. They just didn't remember your name when it mattered.
A bigger newsletter won't close that gap. What does is a small number of personal messages, sent at moments that make sense, for years. This guide gives you the calendar and the words. Copy them, change the details, send them from your own phone.
If you want the thinking behind this approach first, read how to follow up with past clients without a boring newsletter. This post is the working version: dates, filters and scripts.
Fast facts:
66% of sellers used an agent they'd worked with before (28%) or one they were referred to (38%), per NAR's 2025 profile.
The median seller had owned their home for 11 years, an all-time high. Whatever plan you pick has to survive about a decade.
The plan below has two tracks: personal dates that float per client, and one seasonal hook per month.
Most clients should get 4 to 6 of the 12 monthly texts, not all of them. A relevant text every other month does more than a generic one every month.
For 150 past clients, that's roughly 20 personal messages a week, or 4 per weekday.
Image: Staying the neighborhood agent long after closing
The two tracks
Every past client sits on two schedules at once.
Track 1: their dates. Close anniversary and birthday, plus anything else you know: a kid's graduation year, a pet's name, a renovation they planned. These come around once a year on different days for every client, so they spread the work out naturally. They're also the touches nobody else sends.
Track 2: the calendar. One seasonal hook per month, each with a ready text. The trick is the filter. A homestead exemption reminder only makes sense for someone who just bought. A hurricane prep text only makes sense on the coast. Send each month's message to the clients it fits and skip the rest.
Add the first 90 days after closing on top of that for new clients, and that's the whole system.
The first 90 days after closing
The relationship is warmest right after closing and cools fastest in the first few months. Four touches set it up.
When | Why | Copy-paste text |
|---|---|---|
Day 3 | They're surrounded by boxes | "Hope the move went okay! Anything you can't find a number for yet, like a plumber, internet, a locksmith? I've got names." |
Day 14 | Small house surprises show up | "Two weeks in. Any surprises with the house so far? Some things are normal in the first month, some are worth a call to the seller's warranty. Happy to help you tell the difference." |
Day 30 | They're settled enough to need vendors | "Here's my short list of people I'd actually send my own family to: [electrician], [handyman], [landscaper]. No kickbacks, just people who show up." |
Day 90 | The right moment for a review | "Three months in the house! If you were happy with how things went, a quick review would mean a lot: [link]. And if anything wasn't great, I'd rather hear it from you." |
After day 90 the client joins the regular plan below.
The 12-month calendar
Each row has a hook, who should get it, and a text. Edit the bracketed parts. Keep the rest short; a text that fits on one phone screen gets read.
Month | Hook | Send to | Copy-paste text |
|---|---|---|---|
January | First tax season in the house | Clients who closed last year | "Hi [Name], first tax season in the house! Your lender's mortgage interest form should arrive by the end of January, and your tax preparer may ask for your closing disclosure. Want me to resend a copy? I have it on file." |
February | Homestead exemption deadline | Recent buyers in states with one | "Quick reminder: if you haven't filed your homestead exemption yet, the deadline here is [date]. It can take a real bite out of your property taxes. Here's the county link: [link]." |
March | Clocks spring forward | Everyone (light touch) | "Clocks change this weekend, which is my annual reminder to test the smoke and CO alarms. Mildly annoying, takes five minutes. Hope you're all well!" |
April | Spring sales on their street | Clients 3+ years in, or anyone who's asked about value | "[Number] homes near you sold this spring, between [low] and [high]. Not a sales pitch, I just thought you'd like to know where your place stands. Want the details?" |
May | Outdoor projects | Clients who mentioned a project | "Did you ever get to the [deck / fence / backyard]? If you're starting this summer, [vendor] did great work for another client of mine." |
June | Storm season or AC season | Coastal clients (hurricane season starts June 1) or hot climates | "Storm season starts this month. If you want a hand checking your insurance coverage or finding someone for the shutters, let me know." |
July | Mid-year home value check | Clients who've asked for numbers before | "Mid-year update on your neighborhood: median sale price is around [figure], and homes are selling in about [days] days. Your place is probably worth [range]. Happy to do a proper number any time." |
August | Back to school | Families with kids | "Big week! Is [kid] starting at [school] this year? Hope the first day goes smoothly." |
September | Fall maintenance | Everyone (vendor list) | "Fall is when my clients book furnace checks and gutter cleaning before the rush. If you need someone, [vendor] is reliable and doesn't upsell." |
October | Client event or pop-by | Local clients | "I'm doing [pumpkin pickup / pie drop-off / client party] on [date]. Would love to see you. Want me to save you [one / a spot]?" |
November | Thanksgiving card | Everyone, handwritten, mailed | Card: "[Name], thank you for trusting me with [address]. I think about that [detail from the deal] every time I drive by. Happy Thanksgiving to you and [family]." |
December | Year-end check-in | Top clients and anyone you haven't talked to this year | "Before the year wraps up: anything with the house you're planning for next year? Refinancing, a project, maybe a move? I'm a good person to think it through with, even if it's nothing for a while." |
Download the 12-month calendar and all scripts as a spreadsheet (CSV)
A few notes on using it. Homestead deadlines differ by state (Florida's is March 1, Texas's is April 30), so check your county before sending February's text. The July value text only works if your numbers are real; pull them from your MLS that week. And the November card goes in the mail. It's the one touch a year where paper still beats a phone.
Personal-date scripts
These matter more than anything on the calendar, because they can only come from you.
Close anniversary, year one:
"One year in the house today! Hard to believe how close we came to losing it over [the inspection / the appraisal]. How was the first year?"
Close anniversary, years two to four:
"[Number] years at [street] today. Did the [specific thing they worried about] ever turn out to be a problem?"
Close anniversary, year five and later:
"Five years today! Homes like yours on [street] have gone from about [then] to [now] since you bought. Not a hint, just a fun number. Hope you're still loving it."
Birthday:
"Happy birthday, [Name]! Hope [family / the kids / Auggie] make a big deal of it."
Send birthday texts as texts, not an automated card from your CRM. People can tell.
Job change or promotion (you spotted it on LinkedIn):
"Saw the news about [new role]. Congratulations! That's a big one."
A promotion is sometimes the first sign of a move-up buyer, so note it on their contact and pay attention to what they say next.
Scripts for the awkward moments
You haven't talked in two years:
"I realized it's been way too long. No reason for this other than you came to mind when I drove past [street]. How's everything?"
Don't apologize at length and don't add a pitch. One line, a real reason, a question.
The yearly referral ask (once a year, right after a warm exchange, never cold):
"Really glad you're happy there. If anyone you know starts thinking about buying or selling, I'd love to help them the same way. I'll take good care of them."
They mention a move:
"Oh, interesting! No rush at all, but when you want to think it through, I'm happy to sit down with you. Even just to look at numbers."
Rates or market news are all over TV:
"You've probably seen the rate headlines. If you're wondering whether a refinance makes sense for you, I can connect you with [lender]. They'll give you a straight answer."
Running this for 150 past clients
This is where most plans fail. They're fine in January and gone by March.
Here's the realistic load. Each client gets two personal dates, 4 to 6 seasonal texts that fit them, and one mailed card. Call it 7 to 9 touches a year. For 150 past clients, that's 1,050 to 1,350 touches, or 20 to 26 a week. Spread over five weekdays, it's four or five texts a day. That fits in the time it takes to drink a coffee.
Past clients | Personal touches a year | Per week | Per weekday |
|---|---|---|---|
50 | about 400 | 8 | 2 |
150 | about 1,200 | 23 | 4 to 5 |
300 | about 2,400 | 46 | 9 |
At 300 and up, look hard at whether every past client needs the same plan. Some refer every year and some never answer. Our updated 33 Touch plan covers how to split contacts into tiers so the people who send you business get the most attention.
Two habits keep it alive. First, batch it: same time every weekday, one short list, done in fifteen minutes. Second, write things down at the time. The detail that makes an anniversary text land (the inspection, the dog, the deck they planned) has to be on their record the day they tell you, or it's gone.
Setting this up in Dex
Full disclosure: Dex is our product. It's a personal CRM, and here's how this plan maps onto it.
Start with close anniversaries. Add a yearly reminder on each client's close date and it turns up in your daily digest email, plus a push notification on the day. Birthdays live on the contact and appear on your home screen.
For the steady background cadence, put past clients in a group and give the group a keep-in-touch frequency, say every 90 days. When you text or email someone, the clock resets on its own, so Dex only nudges you about people you've drifted from. That works because your conversations come in automatically: iMessage sync runs through the Mac desktop app and WhatsApp sync covers 1:1 chats, so you never type in a last-contact date.
Some calendar rows work better as email. On the Professional plan, Mail Merge sends a personalized email to up to 200 contacts from your own Gmail or Outlook, with each first name filled in.
Image: Adding a reminder in Dex. Set it to repeat yearly on the close date and the house-iversary takes care of itself.
What Dex won't do: send texts for you, run drip campaigns or print cards. You still write and send every message. That's on purpose; it's why they read like they came from a person.
Image: The Dex home screen lists today's calendar events, birthdays, Keep-in-Touch contacts and reminders in one place
Who this plan isn't for
If your past clients are mostly investors, house-iversaries won't move them. They want deal flow, so send them off-market opportunities and numbers instead. And if you run a team with thousands of past clients and a marketing coordinator, you probably need automated mail and a lead CRM doing the bulk, with personal touches saved for your top clients.
For a solo agent with 50 to 300 past clients who wants more repeat and referral business, this is the plan.
FAQ
How often should you contact past clients?
Six to nine personal touches a year is a good target: close anniversary, birthday, four to six seasonal messages that actually fit them, and a mailed card. More than that starts to feel like marketing.
What should I text a past client?
Something with a reason behind it: their home anniversary, a deadline that affects them, sales on their street, a vendor they need, or a detail they told you. Avoid "just checking in." The scripts above cover each month.
When should I ask past clients for referrals?
Once a year, right after a warm exchange, such as when they reply happily to an anniversary text. Never in a cold message, and never in every message.
What is a home anniversary text?
A message on the anniversary of a client's closing date. It's the best past-client touch there is, because you're the only person who knows the date. Mention something specific from the deal.
Should I text or email past clients?
Text for personal touches like anniversaries and birthdays. Email for longer, useful updates sent to a group, such as a spring market summary. Mail one handwritten card a year.
How do I keep track of past client close dates?
Store the close date on each client's record and set a yearly reminder on it. A personal CRM like Dex surfaces it in a daily digest so you don't have to remember to look.
The bottom line
The agent who gets the repeat call is rarely the one with the prettiest newsletter. It's the one who texted on the anniversary, knew the kid's school and sent the plumber's number. Use the calendar, filter it by who each message fits, and give yourself fifteen minutes every weekday.
If you want the dates and reminders handled for you, start a 7-day Dex trial.
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