Chelsea Hamre – Building your Database & Touchpoints

Anthony Lamacchia  00:21 : Hello, and welcome everyone to the Crush It In Real Estate Podcast. I am excited to be here with an awesome guest, Miss Chelsea Hamre, who is just killing it up in Ottawa, Canada. She is killing it with sales. She’s killing it with videos. And I decided about two weeks ago, I said I need to have Chelsea on our podcast to find out how she doing all this business. So here we are today. Welcome, Chelsea. 

 Chelsea Hamre  00:44: Thank you, Anthony. And thanks for having me. I appreciate it. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  00:46: Well, I’m excited to have you. You are doing very well in the business and you know, I don’t normally talk about age, but you started in this business very young, you’re still very young. And I mean, I started at 23 I believe you beat me right? 

 Chelsea Hamre  00:59: I was 23 as well. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  01:00: 23, ok good.

 Chelsea Hamre  01:01: When I started selling.  

 Anthony Lamacchia  01:04: I know you’re on a team with your dad and your uncle. 

 Chelsea Hamre  01:06: Yeah, so I’m a third-generation Realtor. I work alongside my dad and my uncle and then we have another salesperson, Karen as well, who has been with the team for more than 17 years. So it’s been, it’s been great. I started in the business about three years ago, starting as I did a marketing internship while I was in university, and then decided that I’d be a great fit for the business, and then hopped in and it’s been just under two years of sales. So I did start with when I was 23. So just like you. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  01:37: In 2020 tell the audience in 2020 – how many sales you had. 

 Chelsea Hamre  01:41: 48 

 Anthony Lamacchia  01:42: 48 sales in 2020. And if I’m not mistaken, that was your second full year in the business?  

 Chelsea Hamre  01:47: My first full year. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  01:50: Okay, so wait a minute, walk me through this. So you started selling when? 

 Chelsea Hamre  01:56: August 2019. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  01:59: August 2019. 2020 was your first full year in the business? And you sold 48 homes? 

 Chelsea Hamre  02:05: Yep. Pretty exciting. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  02:08: It’s very exciting. And I’ll tell you, I don’t think I’ve heard of that. We have a few agents in our company who have done extremely well in their first year, the second year. But 48 in the first full year, I believe is a record. So congratulations on that. I also want to add and then I’m going to kick it back to you. Those of you that are listening and thinking, Well, of course she works with her dad works with her uncle. Let me just tell you all, I know these guys and yes, of course, they’re teaching and she was lucky to grow up around it like I was lucky to grow up around business, but believe me when I tell you, her dad is providing her with no shortcuts. I know this guy. And he doesn’t play that game. So she is earning it. 

 Chelsea Hamre  02:45: Absolutely. Thank you. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  02:46: Well, I wanted to point that out because people are always quick to look for excuses as to why someone is successful. It happens to me, happens to our top agents and I did a Crush It video just the other day on that I think you may have commented where I said, you know, are you focused on your customers or are you focused on your competitors? And too many people are focused on their competitors, so I just had to mention it because I know what people are going to automatically think. 

 Chelsea Hamre  03:11: Yeah, and you said that in your video too, especially when it comes to family. They blame the success on something else. But it’s, it’s earned. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  03:19: Oh, I know that believe me. I know your dad and I know that. He’s like me, he’s like me with my kids they want money they need to earn it. Right? 

 Chelsea Hamre  03:27: You guys are two peas in a pod. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  03:29: Well, I can’t wait till I meet you and them face to face. I’m really hoping to have you guys. I know you’re already planning on coming to our event in August down in Fort Lauderdale, so I’m excited to finally meet you face to face, but let’s take people through the journey. You started in August of 19. You’re getting leads from where? You’re getting online leads? Give me some background. I know you got onto our training. Maybe a year ago. Let’s walk through that. 

 Chelsea Hamre  03:54: Yeah. So I’ll have to think of the timeline a bit. So August 2019 really started. The leads were from not necessarily like online leads, but they were from our listings, and through realtor.ca, so when we have a listing, getting those leads, and being able to show them and then following up with those leads and building those relationships, that was key. And from the beginning, relationships and follow-ups was key and touchpoints. Not just meeting them and then never hearing back from them. Like you say that’s your job. It’s not their job to get back to me. It’s my job to get back to them. Right? And so that was a big part of it. I was doing many open houses as well, so that was a good way to get in the business. Get some lingo started also getting out there and meeting people. And then within those first few months, I did four sales. One of them was somebody I went to school with and then two were online or not online leads but leads from listings and then another one was a referral within the team. From there, I got to build my REMAX network as well, which really gave me a big boost with my, with my leads and building clients, building my client database. So went to a networking event there got to build relationships with other Realtors and building that trust and that was a big part of my business last year, and then let it grew from there. So a lot of it was leads from our previous listings, leads that I was converting through a lot of like my sphere of influence, not necessarily just my friends, but reaching out I remember I spent like a whole week going through like my whole Facebook list and sending everybody messages and just letting people know I was Realtor. that I was never afraid to do video and that was a big thing too. So started mostly doing Instagram videos, just on my stories, if I’d had a quick thought or something exciting happened and then that transitioned to now doing Facebook live videos, which has also been great, great for the aspect of other agents noticing that you’re in the business and being top of mind for that, but also for that sphere of influence and being on social media and reaching out to those people in that aspect to and just reminding people that I’m a Realtor, and I work in Ottawa, and, you know, I’m your go to gal. 

 Chelsea Hamre  04:07: So that was really your beginnings? I mean, that’s how you got going. And it’s funny, you mentioned the you know, taking you set a whole day to go through your Facebook, because I just did a podcast with another agent in our company actually a little while ago that she said every Thursday morning, she has a habit of going through Facebook messaging people, writing handwritten notes, all kinds of activities as far as reaching out to peopl. Every Thursday morning she starts at 5am. So you did a ton of that in the beginning and I’m going to venture to guess you have some continual pattern of doing that. 

 Chelsea Hamre  06:53: Yeah, absolutely. You need to be consistent. I have notes right here. So just sold a home yesterday so now I’m sending out some notes. Handwritten notes, yes. They, they need to be handwritten. They need to stand out somehow. Stay consistent with that and staying consistent with touchpoints with clients. So when I meet somebody for the first time, or I haven’t touched base for them, and kind of like instead of Facebook, too, sometimes I’ll just go through my phone and Okay, who who haven‘t I texted in a while or who haven’t I spoken to in a while and either call them or send them a text video. I love text video. I find them a bit more personable than a voicemail or a text. So that goes a long way to and that’s also helped convert business because it stands out and it helps people remember who I am. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  07:39: Well, you did that to me. I mean, truth be told, I probably get 15 Facebook messages a day from Realtors and friends everywhere and there’s days that I can’t even keep up with them. And I saw you sent a video, and it got me to open it and you were very friendly. You just said hey, Anthony, how are you? Hope you’re having a good day. Wanted to say thanks for the training. And you got my attention differently than the other ones. So good for you doing that and I’m glad that you mentioned it. 

 Chelsea Hamre  08:05: Thank you. Yeah, so that, that’s definitely a big one. And consistency is key. And you talked about and we talked about it too and you need to be consistent for anything to work and that’s how you’re going to be successful. I also think reviews was also a big part of it to. Being present on we use rank my agent for reviews but a good portion of of my clients were from there too, which is good. People resonate with me and they get a glimpse of who I am before meeting me. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  08:35: Wait a minute, let me make sure the audience understands. When you say reviews, do you mean like Google reviews? 

 Chelsea Hamre  08:39: Like, testimonials. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  08:43: So you’re systematically asking people for those? 

 Chelsea Hamre  08:47: Yes. So as soon as we get a confirmed sale, I send an email, I have a template email with next steps and in there is the link for a testimonial review. And if they don’t do it within a week, then I just send a little reminder or when it comes to we do walkthroughs here. So if by that time to then I’ll say you know if you have five minutes, I’d really appreciate a review from you. I sent you the link if you didn’t get it or maybe it went to spam let me know. And then just a friendly reminder to do that too. Sometimes people forget. They get busy, but it’s  important for me so I want them to know its important. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  09:25: Well that’s a whole lot of good information about lead generation, the things that you’re doing. I love it and I’m not surprised to hear any of it because you’re a go getter. Let’s shift gears a little bit and talk about training. And I’m not, I don’t, I don’t want this to turn into a Crush It In Real Estate advertisement, but you have been very hard working in our training. You eat it up a from what I can tell unless you’re fooling me as fast as we put out new courses, you’re on top of them. Can you talk about that? 

 Chelsea Hamre 09:52: As you know I absolutely love your training I think you’re very entertaining to watch. And as I mentioned in my testimonial for you, it’s it’s easy to watch. It’s not dull, it’s more entertaining than Netflix and it’s important to keep up with it. And people notice when you are doing training, and I want to get better. I want to, there’s always like athletes train all the time so why don’t we as Realtors or anybody, whatever they do when their job, your you should always be working to get better. And the trainings helped with that It’s helped definitely like verbiage, confidence. You know sometimes and I said this before, I wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to say it and then you just lay it out either with your scripts or little blurbs here and there. And that’s what the training videos but sometimes too, it’s just your quick Facebook videos that you do or your YouTube videos too. So there’s you always have great content and I pick a lot up from that and I have a little notebook here and it’s filled with Anthony notes. 

Let’s take a quick break and hear from the number one loan originator Shant Banosian of Guaranteed Rate as he gives us his monthly mortgage tip. 

 Shant Banosian  11:04: Hey Realtors it’s Shant with Guaranteed Rate. I wanted to talk to you about our pre-commitment process. The housing markets have been harder than ever for the last few years with record low housing inventory coupled with extremely high demand, fueled by low-interest rates and highly motivated buyers. So what we’ve done is we’ve rolled out a pre-commitment process and a super-fast close that will help our buyers compete and win. Okay, what we’re doing is we’re rolling out our process called Red Arrow Express approval. This combines a pre-commitment is super fast close, it’s a step beyond a pre-approval. It offers a fully underwritten file for our borrowers. Having our underwriters review their credit income assets and their loan product of choice. It maximizes the confidence and certainty of our borrower’s ability to obtain the financing for everyone involved in the transactions. Sellers and seller’s agents love it. It eliminates weeks off the transaction by having the majority of the paperwork done up front allowing us to close lightning fast. Essentially all the paperwork is done. All we need is in title work and an appraisal. So have your clients contact us about getting a pre-commitment letter and allowing them to make a super competitive offer that closes quickly. 

Thanks, Shant. Now let’s get back to the show. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  12:03: Let’s move away from our training. I just want to talk about training as a whole because remember, when I started I was where you are at one point we both said we started at 23. Except when I was 23 it was 2004. And you know, I seeked out training. I remember going to my first you might know of him Craig Proctor. He’s a trainer and he’s from Toronto. I remember going to his first one of his events, which was my first event, I didn’t know a single person, but I found training. I don’t think enough Realtors do that. They they have attitudes like you know, I know better. I don’t need it or it’s just crazy. And then people like you come in first full year in the business, blast out 48 sales and then people go Hmm, maybe I should get some training. So I think your overarching messages, find it and take advantage of it. 

 Chelsea Hamre  12:49: Yeah, do and you know, some people might resonate with a different type of training, just find what works for you and do it and take advantage of it. It’s out there, so why wouldn’t you? And it’s been great. And you can find different methods to like, it could be video, but it could also be podcast. So before pre Crush It, I pre being one of your clients, we like I found a lot through podcast, that was a good way for me to do my training and whether I was on the bike in the morning or in the car, that was a good way for me to to plug in and then listen in and kind of take notes. But then sometimes I would go back to it and then re listen and then really soak it in.  

 Anthony Lamacchia  13:33: Yep, no, that makes sense. And now let’s talk about work-life balance. How are you doing balancing, doing all this business and still having time to go out with friends and family and all that? 

 Chelsea Hamre  13:44: Yeah, so some weeks are harder than others. I’m lucky my fiance is very supportive. And always they’re like, I can’t make dinner he steps in. So that’s great. I tried to have a schedule and I think one big thing that I’ve come to learn is the power of No. Just like doctors, just like lawyers, they work certain hours, we can work certain hours too. Of course, sometimes you need to step in, but for the most part, they like, if you want to work with me, you’ll you’ll want to work with me and you can go with my schedule and it’s letting them okay, I’m available this time and this time and not asking them okay, what time are you free, because then all they’ll say all day and then you’re trying to work and then it can be all weekend. One thing that I’ve implemented this year is try to do a day with no showing. So either Saturday or Sunday. I might have a super packed Sunday, if I have nothing on Saturday, but I’d rather have one day to unplug and unwind and get some fresh air. And that’s important too and I’ve come to learn that this year because burnout can be real and you definitely need to take time for yourself and for for your friends and family too. I guess now with the pandemic, it’s a bit hard to see friends and family right now, because we’re not allowed. But when times are normal or such in the summer, then just working around my schedule and actually having a schedule. I don’t work 24 seven. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  15:13: Well, that’s good and you know, if you have gone through waves of, you know, potentially starting to feel like you’re burnt out, that’s normal. And that’s normal in the course of success. You’re going to go through some of that, and it sounds like you’re adapting and adjusting appropriately. How are you tracking year to date? Here we are talking at the very end of April, this will probably be released in a week or two, how are you tracking year to date with sales? 

 Chelsea Hamre  15:37: I’m at 25. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  15:38: 25 closed or closed and pending? 

 Chelsea Hamre  15:41: 25 firm sales. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  15:42: Wow, that’s amazing! And we’re not and this has been the most difficult start to the year that I’ve seen in many years. And it’s the lowest inventory we’ve ever seen in your market and here, so good for you. Congratulations, you’re doing some great things. Is there any other tips or advice that you’d like to give to maybe some newer agents or agents, three, four years in the business that are listening to this? 

 Chelsea Hamre  16:07: Put yourself out there. If you’re a Realtor, you’re probably not shy, so use that to your advantage. Put yourself out there, follow up with your clients. And you know, whether you’re out there on social media or other ways, like do what works for you, but definitely put yourself out there because if you’re not, then no one’s going to know what you do, and they’re not going to think of you either. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  16:29: I like that advice my friend. Thank you so much for coming on and talking and opening up about what you’re doing. I appreciate it. I appreciate having you guys as training customers and also having you here on this podcast. Thank you. 

 Chelsea Hamre  16:41: You’re welcome. We really appreciate you and your whole team. So thanks a lot and I appreciate you thinking of me. 

 Anthony Lamacchia  16:46: Thanks. 

Thanks for joining us on the Agents Who Crush It In Real Estate podcast. We hope you’ve learned some valuable takeaways. Be sure to take action and grow your business. You can check out the Episode Notes and more content from the show at CrushitinRE.com/podcast. And if you’d like this episode, and you’d like to hear more stories, please share with others, post on social media or leave a rating or review. To catch all the latest from Anthony you can follow him on Instagram at Crush It In Real Estate on Facebook and YouTube. Thanks again and we’ll see you next time.