Persistence: firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
A lot of agents don’t call their database contacts, nurture their leads, or follow-up sufficiently simply because they’re concerned it could make them look pushy, salesy, or sleazy. But on the other hand… following up, reaching out, and/or staying in touch could also make that same agent seem devoted, helpful, or hands-on. It’s boils down to your POV (i.e., your thinking).
Plus there’s a monumental difference between pushiness and persistence. Pushiness comes from a place of self-service whereas persistence is rooted in customer-service. Meaning… if your game-plan to convert leads or generate referrals is predicated on hassling people into making decisions that serve your interests, well then I suppose you may be coming off as pushy. But I highly, highly doubt that’s your operating method. I suspect—if your attitude is to serve as many people as possible, according to what’s in their best interest—then it’s going to show up positively in how you ask for referrals or seek to connect with leads.
We all know the money is made in the follow-up… so whatever the story is that keeps you from doing that, let it go.