← Estate of Mind — The Art of Selling Luxury Real Estate
Estate of Mind — The Art of Selling Luxury Real Estate
Luxury Agent Branding : How to Stay Relevant, Authentic, and In-Demand
00:50:44
In this episode of Estate of Mind, luxury real estate expert Tami Simms sits down with Institute member Jerry Hammond to explore what it truly takes to build a luxury real estate brand that resonates in 2026. You’ll learn how top-performing agents refine their identity, elevate their marketing, and create unforgettable client experiences that position them as trusted advisors—not salespeople—in the luxury market. Jerry shares real-world strategies on: ✔ How to modernize and refresh your personal brand ✔ The branding lessons luxury agents should borrow from global high-end brands ✔ Understanding affluent buyer psychology ✔ Why storytelling is essential in luxury marketing ✔ How authenticity and consistency fuel long-term success ✔ The right way to break into luxury without alienating your core business ✔ How to prepare your business, team, and brand for 2026
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- [00:00]
Jerry Hammond
No, don't be intimidated. In order to go out to the marketplace, what was really important to understand was I had a good mentor at the time and he always said, listen, don't go out unprepared. So in other words, if you're going to make a good first impression, make that first good impression. You're not going to have a second time to make a second impression if it's not a good first impression. So if you're going to make the break, you can't be everything to everyone.
- [00:27]
Tammy Sims
Today's podcast is brought to you by Interlux Auctions. Your solution to guarantee competitive offers on your luxury listings with no compromise to commission. Visit InterLuxe.com today to find out more. That's I N T E R l u x e.com.
- [00:50]
Welcome to A State of Mind, a podcast series all about motivating, inspiring and educating you in the art of selling luxury real estate. The podcast is brought to you by the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. I'm Tammy Sims, lead trainer for the Institute and a full time real estate professional in St. Petersburg, Florida for more than two decades. In this episode, we're going to focus on elevating your brand for 2026. Now joining us again today is our guest, Jerry Hammond with Hammond International Properties Ltd. Based in the Greater Toronto area in Canada. Jerry's a fellow Guild elite member of the Institute and his AW winning company specializes in luxury residential properties and developments around the world. Welcome back, Jerry.
- [01:38]
Jerry Hammond
Well, thank you very much and what a pleasure to be back here. It's such an honor to be back here in such a short period of time. So I hope we can both benefit from today's session.
- [01:47]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely. And it truly was by popular demand because as we concluded our last, our last episode, you made mention of the importance of reinventing yourself periodically and refreshing your brand. And so that prompted us to, to come back today to, to explore that. So I'm curious to hear your thoughts on branding and your personal image and this whole concept of revisiting that periodically.
- [02:17]
Jerry Hammond
Sure. You know, it's a great question and I don't think a lot of people really give it a lot of thought and they don't look outside of the industry to get the ideas. And I think that's what you have to do. So in other words, if you want to brand yourself, find out what the greatest brands in the world are doing and take out some of the ideas, whether it be a color coordination or whether it be a certain font. I mean, it really starts at that level and then decide who you really are as an individual and what best represents you as a brand. And of course, maybe the company you're working for or the company that you own.
- [02:53]
Tammy Sims
And that leads me to your thought about relatability to your target audience. So, for example, in the luxury space, I often tell people to look at the luxury brands that the advertising and the marketing that those clientele are seeing every day and use that as a benchmark. And so tell us what you mean by relatability to your target audience.
- [03:20]
Jerry Hammond
Well, there's a natural law of the universe called like, likes like. So if you like to be like others or if you like to be like another brand, then you have to emulate that in some way or find the distinguishing factors that make that brand so great and that make it what it is to the marketplace for that consumer. So that could be, you know, the language that they speak or the caption that they use for their branding or a certain font or for a certain color that they use that attracts people. And then, of course, you can then decide, where's that going to take me? What's that going to look like five years from now, ten years from now? But branding is a very interesting thing. So once you come up with your initial brand coordination, and that includes everything from coordinating your website, your descriptions, how you want to sound to the consumer, then you have to reevaluate it every few years.
- [04:14]
Tammy Sims
Exactly, yeah.
- [04:16]
Jerry Hammond
And decide, is this best suited to who I am today? And is the consumer base still attracted to the brand? Brand, and is it as relevant as it was a few years ago? That's a very important distinguish. Yeah.
- [04:29]
Tammy Sims
Distinguishing factors. Distinguishing factor, Yes, I think that's right on. On target. And in my experience, throughout the years, I've had a lot of interaction with some of the major international brands, household names that have built luxury divisions that. That are specifically geared towards that audience. And periodically they will refresh that brand, change the typefaces, and really try to identify with the contemporary consumer. And at the same time.
- [05:03]
I see some other agents that are kind of stuck in the. If you're in the luxury space, everything needs to be cursive and showy and that sort of thing. And so I think you're spot on in terms of making sure that you're reevaluating that and the audience as it changes.
- [05:24]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah, you know, there's a modern audience. There's a. There's a. I guess you have to know who the demographics are to establish that, but I find that you do have to stay current. Current creates, you know, an opportunity for you to stay relevant with the consumer base and for you to refresh and renew awareness with what you're doing. So in other words, you know, you, you've got to, you've got to be able to stay within trend or create the trends so people realize that there's a differentiating factor between who you are and have to offer. And it has nothing to do with what you're selling. So it could be a product or service, but it has everything to do with you staying on, on top of mind. You know, years ago I went to a conference and they essentially said, so what cola do you drink? And the gentleman, and the gentleman says, you know, choose one and there's no right or wrong. Well, some chose Coke and some chose Pepsi and you may not even drink the brand. But what those brands have essentially done is they purchased a piece of your mind and they become top of mind awareness. And it's that Dr. Drip campaign that keeps you relevant to the marketplace. And that's just an interesting little story that I had from a conference that I went to years ago.
- [06:34]
Tammy Sims
I love that because it is, it is that, that immediate recognition. I remember hearing some years ago that Mercedes Benz. So now if you see an ad for Mercedes, right. Likely it's just one photograph of one piece of the car that has their emblem. But when they were first introduced into the United States, they had to educate the consumer about why they should pay more for a foreign automobile. And they, they had to build that brand and they had to tell the story to create that, that level of recognition. And I don't, I don't know that we want to have listings long enough to have to, to build that, that kind of brand recognition. But when we're talking about ourselves as real estate professionals, you want that kind of longev of instant recognizability.
- [07:29]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah. You know, we, we separate branding from the corporate side to the individual housing side. So we believe that every home becomes a brand within itself. So when you're branding the home, it has to be within keeping of the corporate branding, of course, so it can extend through the marketplace and people recognize who's representing the product. But at the same time the two are very different. You know, one is done for longevity and one is done to get instant recognition from the marketplace in order to sell the product. So the timelines as you made mention of, are quite different in terms of, you know, the, the, I guess the, the intention behind it.
- [08:08]
Tammy Sims
Sure, sure. And, and that's, that's really important to point out because sometimes that Package. The, the corporate consistency can be a little bit too restrictive in terms of just plug in pictures and different words for different properties. You do have to tell the story of individual listings, particularly those that you specialize in, that have such epic personalities and styles. But that underlying corporate brand consistency needs to, as you say, make it quite clear who's representing the property, because that's, that's important.
- [08:51]
Jerry Hammond
You said the exact right word because today it's all about the storytelling. So if your story is consistent with the corporation as well as the product that you're marketing, so if you integrate lifestyle and if you integrate vignettes in your photography and your video composition, maybe you add a few actors, you know, maybe your storytelling is a little bit different with each and every property. Maybe your voiceover becomes more alive and you can use a certain voice to sort of distinguish that property in a different way. All these little touch points that we utilize can help change the dynamics, the trajectory and of course, your analytics in terms of where that property is being shown. And that's all part of brand storytelling. So branding, we're sort of getting away from how we got started, choosing our fonts, choosing our colors, choosing what the corporate messaging really means and whether that can change over time to see the values of the consumers and how they're changing and adapting change and then of course, into the product that we're selling. And if the two coincide and work cohesively, the corporation, the brand and the people within the company will follow along that journey. And of course, you know, that becomes the story that's being told time and time again.
- [10:07]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely. So what kind of things do you consider when you're revisiting your branding.
- [10:15]
When you're, when you're looking at your typefaces? I know you said that you look at what other luxury brands are doing or relevant brands, and so what is it that you're looking for? And how do you distinguish between something that, that's going to be a passing trend and something that's going to, going to have some life for five years, 10 years, as you, as you mentioned.
- [10:37]
Jerry Hammond
Well, for us we only looked, looked at the most expensive brands and what those brands have to offer because we feel that they're at the leading edge of what's popular and sexy, if you want to call it that, or in trend. And they're also leading the way in terms of creating demand for the consumer that doesn't necessarily understand that.
- [11:00]
They'Re earning their product. I'm sorry, they're earning the right to understand that brand. So Sometimes it's not unlike Steve Jobs. So Steve Jobs created the iPhone not because the consumer demanded it, but because they didn't know what they wanted. And then Steve Jobs created it for the consumer, and now they realize they need that product. So it's sort of, you know, you got to reverse engineer the way you look at things.
- [11:25]
Tammy Sims
You know, that's an interesting point, and it makes me think about the idea. One of the principles that we teach in the luxury training, the institute's training, is that the affluent buyer is often spontaneous. They may not have realized when they woke up this morning that they were going to be making an offer and purchasing a luxury home. But when that opportunity presents itself, it's kind of like when we talked about the soirees on our last episode. You create that fear of missing out. Right. Or the fear of not having something that's exclusive. Yeah, the scarcity. That's a perfect way to put it. And, and so if you, if you present that to the right audience, they can react. I think it's a great analogy that you used on the, on the iPhone, because now, you know, you have to have everything that, that Apple produces the newest, flashiest version. And you really didn't need to upgrade your phone. But, you know, now, now you're going to. Because there's a new one there.
- [12:31]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah. You know, it's, it's a fascinating world that we live in currently. I mean, first of all, it's moving at light speed, you know, beyond our comprehension in a lot of cases. And by, you know, understanding, like, I'm going to New York in December and I'm going for Christmas, and I'm only going there to really do research. I'm going to be walking by all these lovely stores, understanding what they're doing, displaying in their windows, what they're doing for the holiday season, and then taking a walk through some of these places just to get a real understanding about what it means to be in that luxurious space. You know, understanding how they're relating to the consumer base. And, you know, that becomes, now I take that home, I bring back some of the ideas, we talk to our marketing team, and then we adapt some of those traits and ideas into the organization to make sure that we capture the audience that they're capturing.
- [13:23]
They both coincide and are cohesive in terms of who the audience is.
- [13:27]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, you have a shared audience, for sure.
- [13:29]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah, there's no doubt. So, you know, if you, if you're adventurous enough to really go out there and to look at other great brands and understand what they're doing. You can implement some of those strategies into the psychology, into the coloring, into the way they're doing their videography, and then incorporate it into what you're doing, because all the ideas exist out there, and it's just a matter of you adapting those traits and now bringing them into your organization and then adapting them to real estate.
- [13:58]
Tammy Sims
I think that's brilliant. And number one, New York City at Christmas time is just unbelievable. Right? And number two, this is also a really strategic way to make a business trip out of a trip to New York City at Christmas. Right?
- [14:16]
Jerry Hammond
Yes, you're right.
- [14:17]
Tammy Sims
But. But if we give ourselves permission to do some exploration trips like that and treat it as a business, a business opportunity. I can think of so many places around the country, around the world, where one could do that, you know, and depending. Depending on where someone is in their career, in their budget, you know, it could be. It could be within an hour, or it could be.
- [14:47]
Across the continent, but could have really, really similar impact. I think that's brilliant. I just pictured myself sitting in a fine restaurant analyzing how they present their menu and how their servers are describing the entrees. Right.
- [15:07]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah. I went to this restaurant talking about a great restaurant experience. I go to this restaurant and I go with my accountant, and we have a wonder experience. And there's a lady there who has this really specific title. Like her, her title was only to go to each and every table to make sure that everybody was satisfied with their meal, making sure that they understood the menu, and that if there was anything else that she could do to provide service at that table, that's what she. That's her responsibility. And I was so impressed. She was so well spoken. She was so well suited to the job. She was very gentle in her approach, but it just, it made you reassure that, you know, they were providing you great service and that the experience that they expected, that just her coming around to the tables was going to elevate, you know, the entire experience. And of course, we had a wonderful evening. And to this day, it's still a very memorable evening. And I've already told a few other people about this place just because of the way they serviced. So service is key.
- [16:07]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely. And creating memorable experiences for where you have been made to feel as though you're important and you are valued is. Is a great way to. To keep that top of mind and build referral business. And so I think that level of service also plays into our branding. Would you agree with that?
- [16:29]
Jerry Hammond
There's. There's no doubt in Fact, service is probably the. One of the major components for branding. And, you know, what does that service adaptation look like? You know, how's that going to be integrated into your company? How's that going to be filtered down leadership to the balance of the community and the organization, you know, and how are they going to deliver that to the consumer? Because at the end of the day, the consumer is judging us. And your front lines have to, you know, adapt to, you know, your way of doing business and understanding that, you know, you're all on the same mission. And so if they're delivering the same messaging, time and time again, we've had people out, you know, owners tell us, oh, we've received this from your office. And, you know, we see you and what you're doing and how you're displaying it. And so it's certainly standing out and it becomes recognizable. They remember it, of course, and when the time is ready, they make the call and call us for the service.
- [17:22]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, and that also makes me think.
- [17:26]
We started talking about your imagery, your colors, your. Your. Your typefaces, that sort of thing. But I think one of the most important keys is to blend that with your messaging. Right, because the messaging has to resonate with the consumer.
- [17:45]
Jerry Hammond
Yes. So in our particular case, we're very fortunate. We have two marketing companies, but one company that we deal with is more of a PR company.
- [17:55]
To make awareness for the consumers and to make sure that we look good and sound good all the time when we're utilizing our social networks. And what they do is they implement these strategies to you, sort of enhance what we're all about. You know, our messaging, I guess, our tonality, our communication, how we look on camera, making sure that if we need to update our photos that they're not 20 years ago or 30 years ago, and we have the right photographer displaying, you know, how we want to look on camera. It's all these little things. So, you know, yes. As an individual, you become that brand. If you're branding yourself as a corporation, it's important for the corporate leaders of a real estate company to continue to, I guess, you know, recognize that things have to be changed and that the people in your organization have to stay up to date, because it's going to make the whole brand and the entire organization look a certain way. So we make sure that we do that within everybody here at the organization, just so they feel good about themselves. They feel like they're staying up to date. They're encouraged constantly. And that means that they're like an actor up on stage and they're ready to be up on stage and to perform out in the marketplace for the consumer.
- [19:08]
Tammy Sims
I think that's great. There's so many analogies that can be woven in from.
- [19:14]
Different industries, from different experiential.
- [19:19]
Environments. Right. And I think that if we're always looking out for those different benchmark standards, that, that, that definitely will help us. Now, I want to, I want to ask you a question that I get asked a lot, particularly if I'm talking to real estate agents who are looking to break into the upper tier. Right. They're looking to build their business and position themselves in the luxury space, but they have a great fear that if they go too far in the luxury zone that they can alienate their bread and butter business that they want to maintain until they, until they reach that level of success and performance in the upper tier. What would you say to those Realtors?
- [20:11]
Jerry Hammond
First of all, it's a daunting task and really sometimes it's just a comfort level. So do you have a comfort in talking to these different types of people? Obviously, you know, they're well spoken, they're better educated, you know, can you speak along those lines? Can you communicate effectively with them? You know, are you going to be able to build some sort of association where, like, likes, like, you know, which is the natural law? Can you understand where they're coming from? Can you respect where they're coming from? Can you serve accordingly? You know, these are, those are the, you know, the questions that you have to ask yourself. But in terms of making the break. So years ago I went to a conference and the guy said, listen, if you really want to succeed in anything, you got to find your niche and then you've got to create the niche and build on that niche. And when you perfect that niche, the market will value it very differently than everything else. So in my particular case, what happened to me was I realized I was only given 24 hours in a day and I had three young kids at the time and I was working, you know, right across the board, seven days a week, crazy hours a day. You know, we didn't have DocuSign to sign, you know, the paperwork. We had to go and do it by facsimile. We stayed up till 3, 4 in the morning until we negotiated the deal and then fell asleep, you know, maybe at seven o', clock, if you had the energy to fall asleep because you were all wound up at that time. And so, you know, the shift was made in my particular craze because I realized that My time was becoming more valuable, and for that reason, I had to increase my time. And the only way to do that was to increase the product that I was selling. But I never. I never thought about the extra zero, so to speak, or the extra couple of zeros to sell the product. I just thought, hey, it's another zero, and what's another zero? So, you know, don't be intimidated. Now, in order to go out to the marketplace, what was really important to understand was I had a good mentor at the time, and he's no longer around, but he was in a different industry, but he always said, listen, don't go out unprepared. So in other words, if you're going to make a good first impression, make that first good impression, and you're not going to have a second time to make a second impression if it's not a good first impression. So if you're going to make the break, you can't be everything to everyone. I mean, you either got to jump right in it and really believe in yourself and have the confidence to do so, or you're just going to stay within the masses. Because first of all, the consumer at the very upper end of the market understands how valuable real estate is in their portfolios today. It's a big part of the economic cycle.
- [22:58]
And of course, many luxury homeowners own multiple properties, not just for residential use, but also for enjoyment, you know, secondary residences, global, you know, global offerings in terms of, you know, where they want to live and allocate. Because what's happening is wealth has picked up, and for that reason, they are allocating a large part of their portfolio towards this, you know, sort of investment. And that's very important. It also has a lot to do with succession planning. So if you're succession planning and you're looking at global offerings, you know, and you're looking to relocate your currency to another country, for instance, just to safeguard on tax for tax reasons. People are also looking at those reasons today. So I'd say that in order to jump in, you got to really study the market and study luxury. And I think I mentioned this before in our last podcast, because if you study luxury and you study the consumer and understand the psychology, you'll see a trend within it. And that's when I think you're ready to sort of jump in and say, you know what, I can manage it and maybe start in the lower millions and then work yourself up. You know, it doesn't have to be in the double digits or triple digits, but certainly get to that stage, build up your confidence, build up your communication skills, build up your brand, because brands extremely important. And make sure that when you do show up and you're presenting that it's who you really are and what you. And you have to be very sincere and you have to be ready to serve at a very high level. Because I say doing what we're doing is no small task. We're serving at the highest level. We have to be candid with people. We have to be truthful with people in an environment the way it is today. They have to be educated about what the market is really doing. And then they'll make a logical decision based on that education. We're not selling for people at all. We don't even look at ourselves as salespeople. We look at ourselves as advisors. And then we'll provide them with the information they need to make a logical decision to move on with their life. These are people that are all moving in a very fast pace in a very efficient market with their own businesses. And so they need to make strong decisions as they move forward.
- [25:20]
Tammy Sims
And they, they engage the highest level of professionals.
- [25:24]
Jerry Hammond
Absolutely.
- [25:25]
Tammy Sims
And trust them to guide them in those areas that are not their expertise.
- [25:30]
Jerry Hammond
That's right.
- [25:30]
Tammy Sims
But they, but they want that level of trust. And Jack and I use the term authenticity.
- [25:35]
Jerry Hammond
That's right.
- [25:35]
Tammy Sims
All the time.
- [25:36]
Jerry Hammond
All the time.
- [25:37]
Tammy Sims
And so that comes back to, to the branding as well.
- [25:42]
You have to be true to the messaging that you're putting out. Right. You can't be giving a message and setting an expectation that you don't deliver on when they meet you in person. So that's an interesting piece of that.
- [25:58]
Jerry Hammond
So when we provide our marketing proposal, we used to give a written format and we used to attach it to the listing schedule so they knew exactly what they were receiving. We report back to them on a 30 to 60 day time frame. So they know that we promised what we're delivering and that we're standing behind that promise. So it's all this positive reinforcement and to make sure that they trust us along this journey, you know, to continue the relationship and build the bond and build the understanding that you are providing good information. So they can make a proper decision.
- [26:30]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Managing expectations and.
- [26:36]
Delivering on your promises. That that's key in the messaging, in your branding. Right. So we were, we were talking a little bit about, about Miami before, before we went on air. And it's one of the places where I see more focus on the messaging of being bilingual.
- [26:59]
Jerry Hammond
Yes.
- [27:00]
Tammy Sims
And how many years you've been in the business. And to me that doesn't say anything about why should I choose you particularly for my most expensive endeavors. So the branding piece is really critical and often overlooked.
- [27:21]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah. So the branding turns into who you are, essentially. Right. So if you're doing the right thing and you've got a track record and you've got a history and you're showing great results, you know, people want you to go back to bat for them and so you're that representative. I often look at our field of business now is it's like hiring the best lawyer in a litigation case or the best surgeon. And you know, if you want the best surgeon, you're going to pay for it. If you want the best litigator, you're going to pay for that. And so in our case, we look at ourselves as, you know, a great real estate company. We market appropriately, we know how to negotiate, and that becomes who we are and the market has embraced it. And the more value we provide to the marketplace, the more we realize that they're embracing what we're doing all the time. As long as we're constant, as long as we're not off character, staying within character and who we are true to who we are helps with the branding. And that.
- [28:21]
Can'T be negative in nature, it can't be questionable. It has to align with the brand and the company's philosophy on why we're doing what we're doing and how we're doing it.
- [28:33]
Tammy Sims
You know, when you mentioned the idea of learning from other high end brands and things that are not necessarily real estate related, it reminded me of the importance of having those relationships with the best professionals in other arenas, other industries as part of that whole process of sharing with each other, what are the things that you're seeing among your clientele, what's most valuable to them? What do I need to know to cause you to continue to refer me to your most important clients?
- [29:14]
Jerry Hammond
Right. So one of my favorite lines is success leaves clues. So if you can find what's successful, what's working, you know, even if you don't like some of what you see, that's okay. You don't have to embrace it, you don't have to take it on. But certainly, you know, adapt and adapt to yourself what, you know, what makes sense and what looks good out there. And sure, you know, people are willing to share. There's a lot of industries out there that if you just go in and experience, even if you go for, if you go to Mercedes Benz, for instance, and you want to experience a vehicle, just walk through the process, even if you're not going to buy it. Just understand the process that happens. Listen to the salesperson. They've got some of the most amazing training behind them and they train all the time for the consumer. And I got to tell you, like, I don't think there's anybody better than Mercedes. Except when I was in New York, I did meet with the CEO of Rolls Royce and I understand where they're going as a company and they're just off on their own. So, you know, they leave clues. And when, and when you sit down and you talk to them and you understand what they're doing now with their consumers and how they're adapting personal change and personal design into the vehicles that they're designing. It's those little bits of information that if you adapt it through either psychology or even taking the idea and adapting it into your respective field, that's it's going to win somewhere else. Because wherever it works, somewhere, there's no doubt that it's not going to work somewhere else.
- [30:35]
Tammy Sims
That's right. That's right. That's right. You know, your, your comment about being in the fine automobile dealership reminded me. I was at, I was at an event once in the Nashville area and I was invited to this event that was at a luxury automobile dealership. And very nicely done. And I was looking at the materials that they were using to showcase their product. And if you think about it, even, even the most expensive luxury automobile is a fraction of the price of what we are helping people with. And the difference between the quality of the marketing, both of the brand and the specific product. So take one specific car versus one specific home. Really, to me, was astonishing. And one of the things that I think that in our industry we should pay more attention to those benchmarks, right?
- [31:44]
Jerry Hammond
So, you know, I was talking about how we used to present on paper and leave the paper behind as our marketing proposal. We've taken it to a whole different level. We actually, you know, found a company that created a video based book. We integrated the video presentation into the presentation and we recorded each and every video. I think there was about 10 in total or 12 in total. And each one is a touch point for who we are, what we do, what we represent, where we are, how we market. And that is. So we sit down with the consumer, we open up the book, we play each video back, and that becomes their experience. And we play it right in front of them. And they're looking at this technology going, wow, this is very Different. And to think now you've stepped away from your competitors in so many different ways, just through the experience. Experience. The technology. The fact that you've even invested in something that's such a, you know, a difference in terms of the communication with the consumer is already putting you leaps and bounds ahead of your competitors. So it's those little things. So you're right. And if you're not willing to adapt these things, you're just falling further and further behind. So reinvesting, you know, reapplying, you know, reinventing, as we spoke about, these are all important factors.
- [33:00]
Tammy Sims
Yep. I had a little vision in my mind of putting together marketing brochures for very expensive properties, what were very expensive at that time, 25 years ago.
- [33:11]
Jerry Hammond
Yes.
- [33:12]
Tammy Sims
Right. You would have the photos reproduced at the. At the Photo Mat, and we had glue sticks, and we were putting them on paper, and we were putting them in laminated sleeves. Right. And that set us apart from Tammy.
- [33:26]
Jerry Hammond
You and I are on the same. We're on the same page. I get it.
- [33:29]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But. But if we didn't pay attention to the advances and the changes, we might still be doing that. Right?
- [33:38]
Jerry Hammond
Well, I'll tell you, there's a lot of realtors still doing that, because at the end of the day, they're not investing. The company's not investing in progress, and unfortunately, the companies are not working in unison. So you're only investing in what the majority of your people are doing. So I find there's a disconnect, I'd have to say, between some of the organization, some of the people, and the organization itself. Are they all falling on track? Are they staying true to what their values are, how they're conducting business, the consumer base that they want to attract? I think that's where there could be a disconnect, too. So going back to your business or your question about the young person getting into the world of luxury, make sure that you're talking to the right organization that can give you an added advantage into the marketplace and their marketing product at the level that you're marketing. So at least you can learn from within, and they can adapt, you know, their best practices to you, and then you can take those out into the marketplace in order to better suit yourself.
- [34:43]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, I think that's. That. That's great advice. And. And that's gonna. That. That brokerage is gonna look different in different markets, of course. And for some, it's gonna be a known large brand, and for some, it's going to be a independent or regional Boutique. But I also think that in addition to doing a trip like you're doing to New York City and, and, and taking in those luxury spaces, I think that it's important for real estate professionals to attend luxury conferences.
- [35:17]
Jerry Hammond
Yes.
- [35:18]
Tammy Sims
Right. And so if someone's with a company that isn't affiliated with a, a big Lux, there are still many cross brand opportunities to be in the space of other successful.
- [35:33]
High end professionals, to hear from them. Panels, interviews, kind of like what we're doing now, but also to be exposed to the branding that exists in those conferences, get to meet vendors that can elevate one's brand or materials or that sort of thing. So I really think that one of the most important parts of this is just encouraging people to get out of their zone.
- [36:05]
Jerry Hammond
Their box.
- [36:06]
Tammy Sims
Right, their box. Their box. You know, there's so many realtors that just operate with the blinders focused on the neighborhood that they farm or the town that they're in.
- [36:19]
Jerry Hammond
And what makes that becomes so regimented, that becomes transactional. And really it doesn't become authentic anymore. It's, it's not authentic. You know, being authentic is part of your personality. You know, who you are, how you can talk to people. But going back to one of the points that you brought up about, you know, going to luxury conferences, so I will say this. I mean, we attend them all the time, you know, just to understand that world. But what's more important is, you know, if you can't afford to live in that world, you have to know how to serve it. But the best thing that you can do for yourself is to go out into that world and find out, you know, where they're eating, where they're shopping, you know, and understand who they're communicating with and then adapt those practices until you can live that lifestyle. You never want to compete with your clients because that's not what it's all about. But you want to, you know, like, likes, like is a natural law of the universe. And if they like you and you like them and they feel that you're like them, that's a much better way to fit into that, you know, that consumer base.
- [37:26]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I think that that's, that's very sound advice. Learning is absolutely key. And one of the, one of the principles that we talk about at the institute is that you don't have to live the same lifestyle.
- [37:40]
Jerry Hammond
That's right.
- [37:41]
Tammy Sims
It's a function of your competence right in that space and your confidence. And the more that you build your competencies, the confidence comes natural.
- [37:50]
Jerry Hammond
That's Right. I often ask our agents when they first arrive here, I say, have you ever stayed in a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton? And they come back to me and some of them say yes and some of them say no. And I say, well, go back and stay in one and find out what they're all about. Because you're going to cut, you're going to see some key attributes that you can take into the world of luxury and just some touch points that they do. And it's very natural for them because it's part of the organization, it's part of their fabric, it's part of their DNA, if you want to call it that. And because it's part of their DNA, you can take some of that, you know, some of that material and some of those ideas and now bring it back out into the marketplace with.
- [38:26]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely. Makes me think of the, the, the one thing that comes to mind when I think of a high quality hotel stay like that was at a Ritz Carlton in Seattle. And some of our listeners will have heard me tell this story before, but this Ritz Carlton was just down the street from Pike's Place Market. And if you've ever been, they have the most unbelievable, riotous flowers there that are, that cost nothing. So you get a giant bouquet. Right. So I was going, I was attending a luxury conference and so I gathered up this giant bouquet of flowers that I was going to take back to my hotel room. And I'm thinking to myself, I can use the ice bucket, right? That's my ticket. And as I was walking through the lobby, the concierge called for my attention and said, would you like me to have a vase sent to your room?
- [39:22]
Jerry Hammond
Wow.
- [39:23]
Tammy Sims
And I thought, that's absolutely. Yes. Right. I didn't ask for it. They anticipated my need. Right. And delivered.
- [39:33]
Jerry Hammond
Yes.
- [39:35]
Tammy Sims
So all these great.
- [39:38]
Great anecdotes and, and, and different alignments with different, different industries.
- [39:43]
Jerry Hammond
So, you know, I just, I want to add one thing. Do not be just an avid learner because, you know, you become like this, this sort of, this junkie who just keeps going out there and going to these conferences because if you don't adapt them and build them into who you are as an individual and then of course, put them into daily practice there. It's just in your head. So whatever, whatever small takeaways that you can get from wherever it is, try to adapt it in your business practice and see if it works and see how you can adapt it so it can be your own and then you can speak to it. It's part of your storytelling. It's part of who you are. So that helps build your brand. Right, like that everything coincides.
- [40:24]
Tammy Sims
Yep, I think that's, that's very true. So, so as we look towards 2026, this is the, the time of year where we're doing that business planning. And I hope that I listeners will also take a look at their branding and that sort of thing. What's on your mind for, for your brand, for your focus for 2026?
- [40:46]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah, good question. Well, you know, we're, we're planning for 2026. In fact, we started planning for it last month. So if you look at any of our current contracts, they're taking us to the end of 2026. So we just picked up 30 new properties last week alone on, you know, different, different properties, three different owners. They've given us some development work to work on. And so now we've, that we're taking that into the end of next year. So that's part of our planning process. We're going to do some soft launching into this year and then do some more hard launching into 2026. And that'll take us to bring that. So that secures our cash flow position into the next year. We make sure that we have enough, I guess, inventory going into the next year. So we're not, you know, just reacting in early spring wanting to go to the marketplace. So I, I'd say our planning is about six months to a year ahead of schedule. In order to plan for that next year, it's very important for us because, you know, according to our budgets, according to how much we spend, we got to make sure we have the cash reserves and then build in the right budget for moving forward. And then we have to anticipate the market. What does the market look like? You know, where do we feel the highest demand is? You know, we had our Monday morning meeting this morning, and it looks like, you know, there's a lot of value out in the marketplace and people are looking for value. The consumer's looking for value in this environment. Now we're thinking to ourselves, okay, maybe we have to just lower our expectations in terms of our price point, because the new 1 and a half to 2 and a half to under 3 million seems to be moving quite rapidly in the marketplace. So we have to now shift and pivot a little bit to see if we can get that consumer base to make sure that we're, you know, right in line with the current trend in the marketplace. And we want to be where the pulse is of the market. And so that's just, you know, two of the ideas. A few of the other ideas is, you know, we're sitting there with our marketing team talking about where we're going next year. We've got some incredible, incredible things that we're adapting to the organization, things that are AI based, that are going to be very unique. And I don't think I've seen it elsewhere, especially in the real estate industry. So hopefully we're going to launch that in January and that'll help keep us relevant to brand and make sure that the consumer comes back and wants to focus on our organization and what we have to offer. So it's really, you know, planning ahead for the future, making sure that your marketing is in line, you know, for the future. Because our scheduling for marketing is an entire year, so we have a schedule, so we make sure that we fall in our dates and our, our timelines and our deadlines with all our marketing, so we're not falling behind. And then, of course, we've got to sell within that process because, you know, it's very important obviously to sell so you can reinvest and that's right, get back up and, and showcase the next set of homes that you're marketing. Marketing, you know, or those that haven't sold, you've got to now reposition those in the marketplace. So there's a lot of planning that takes place. You know, I'd say that we've taken the business very seriously and now we have a responsibility. We've turned it, we've turned it from being accepted into the marketplace to now having a responsibility to the marketplace, which is a very, very different place to be in. We realize how important it is in today's economy and with the market being the way it is that we, we have, we have to be empathy. We have to have some empathy. We have a true understanding of people's positions. There's very, it's a very fragile marketplace here in the, in the Toronto area. And, you know, we have to be, we have to be in tune with that. And I said to our team this morning, I said, there's never been a time in real estate that's been more rewarding because it's not so easy when it's, you know, everybody has their license, they all jump on the bandwagon and they want to sell real estate. But in today's market, we really have to understand the consumer, understand the problem, the underlying problem, you know, what that means moving forward. How are we going to reposition their Property. There's a lot of thinking, it's a lot of like, I'm getting little sleep at night just thinking of all of this, this. And really, you know, you turn to the point where you really care about the people that you're serving and that, you know, you understand, you don't want to play with their money, you don't want to spend their money. Because if you're not giving them the right advice that they need to hear, then you're not giving them advice that they, you know, can necessarily make good decisions with. And that's a really important point. So on the planning process, there's so much going on here at Hammond. And you know, we have a year end, you know, goal setting workshop where we introduce everybody to our masterclass and we teach it from within and then they write down what their goals are for the next year. So we're going to introduce that in January. So they wrote down what they wanted to make last year. We're going to pull it out in January and see if they met their expectations. So now we can go into the new year with a new heightened expectation and then get them geared up for what they need to do next year. And from within, we ask a lot of questions. You know, we ask, what would you like? What would you need? You know, how can we assist you in any way? How can we make your job easier? I'm coming from a sales position. You know, I never got the help. You know, I went to my broker, he shrugged his shoulders.
- [46:14]
I said, well, what do I need to do next? Well, just keep doing what you're doing because it seems to be working. I mean, we don't need to hear those answers. I took the responsibility of saying, hey, listen, I'm the owner. I came from the sales world. I now own the brokerage. My responsibility is to the people and of course, making them successful. And so what does that mean? Well, if I had to look back at my career and sort of peel back, you know, the banana, so to speak, I have to find out, or the onion. I have to find out what's at the core. Like, what is it that you really need to succeed? And I think that's what we're doing here in our organization to help and assist the various agents in gaining momentum. I mean, last, you know, we're in a market where that's not so great. Last week we had a sale of $7 million. A few days ago we just had another sale of $6.5 million. Like, you know, that doesn't happen because we want it because it's just going to happen by circumstance. I mean, we're planning for all of this. We're in the, we're in another sale today that, that's about $2 million. But you know, it's an 85 year old woman who really has to sell. She just, you know, she bought a condo, she's in a bit of a situation. So, you know, it's all this little stuff where if you take it to heart and you take your business seriously and understand, you know, if this is your passion and this is the journey that you want to take and you know how to serve people, then it's a very rewarding field. And if you can adapt best practices. And for us, it happened to be in the luxury arena because we could really go all out in terms of, you know, how we showcase properties, how we write about them, what does the video look like, what does the photography look like? But we could have some fun and get creative. That's what gave us this, this openness to do what we're doing. And so that makes a lot of difference. So yeah, you know, in all the, in all this planning, as you talked about earlier, we just replan again. Like we're just planning again for next year. So it starts again.
- [48:12]
Tammy Sims
Do it again.
- [48:12]
Jerry Hammond
Yeah, to a full stop. And we say, okay, what did we do last year? Because we'll present that in January to the rest of the team and we'll, we'll say this is what we did this year and we'll show them all the things, everything we attended, all the new technology that we brought into the company, you know, all the new ideas, all our wonderful sales that we sold in that physical year. So they can get excited and say, you know what, this company has a great footprint, it's got a good stronghold on the market. Now I can take that confidence, right, and that know how and deliver it to the marketplace with confidence. And I said to my team, we have a responsibility here. You guys are representing a great brand, a great product, and you've got the strength behind you to carry that through into the marketplace. And all we're going to do is push you forward and continually push you forward in order for you to succeed. And they just like that, messaging. Well.
- [49:10]
Tammy Sims
And something that I'm taking away from what you were just talking about is going back to our topic, right? Elevating your brand. And so if you have a powerful authentication, excellent brand foundation, then that is going to allow you to do what you need to do to live that brand and to and to provide that level of service. I think that is a wonderful spot for us to wrap today's session on, and I am just always thrilled with our conversations. I think that our listeners are as well. And so I want to thank you so much for being here. And to our audience, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of A State of Mind, the Art of Selling Luxury Real Estate. If you're interested in learning more about the Institute, you can find more@luxuryhome marketing.com and if you like what you just heard, please share it with a friend. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review this podcast. If you've got a hot topic that you'd like us to consider for a future podcast, feel free to let us know. Send an email to infoluxuryhomemarketing.com thanks for listening.