What we learned at The Mastermind Retreat 2026 in Myrtle Beach, Hosted by Chesapeake Homes, that will help YOU increase sales

We had an amazing retreat last week, thanks to our gracious hosts at Chesapeake Homes, Cassie Smith, Audrey Leer, Naomi Wright Bellamy, and Jeanice Ford. Plus our generous sponsors, who are mentioned in detail below, and the lively, knowledgeable, and fun owners and managers who attended. We had an amazing time and enjoyed walking through three world-class sales centers, 15  beautifully merchandised model homes, and the Chesapeake state-of-the-art Design Studio, designed by national expert Jane Meagher.  

We connected, laughed, and learned from each other. We had so much fun on the bus singing karaoke on the way back to the beachfront hotel. We enjoyed the delicious seafood dinner at Hook And Barrel, accompanied by lashings of specialty adult beverages and wine.

I was so touched that Jenna Parker of Stevens Fine Homes and Naomi Wright Bellamy of Chesapeake Homes decided to make an impromptu speech at the dinner. Click on this link to hear their heartfelt words. 

After the Design Studio tour, we sat down for round table discussions and learned current “Best Practices” from each other, as well as from our industry-leading sponsors. Here are some of those incredible assets for you. Please let me know what you think.

Alex shared his winning formula for Grand openings, gleaned and perfected from Kevin Oakley's “Presale Without Fail” book and concepts. Alex discussed:  

• Having the discipline to stick with a launch strategy,  
• Building a home in the sky first, 
• Creating pent-up demand for an event, 
• Hosting the launch event at the neutral but effective space of his design studio, 
• His whole plan is brilliant and worth its weight in gold; well done, Alex.   

* If you would like his detailed plan, please email me at Roland@newhomesalesplus.com and type MMG 2026 Assets.  

How to leverage the Economy and sell homes with payment, not price. 

Bill shared economic data (*His slides are attached) and three buyer concerns:  

1. The price they pay for the home 
2. The payment or rate they will carry 
3. Whether their job will be there in twelve months 

Bill discussed Guild's “Forward commitments” to lock in the rate at 4.9% and promote this to drive traffic and sales. 

The Guild Mortgage team may have just solved the American home affordability problem with their revolutionary ”Land Lease” program called “Estately”. This has been released in just one state and will be released to many more in January. 

** If you would like his detailed plan, please email me at Roland@newhomesalesplus.com and type MMG 2026 Assets.   

Contact Bill for more information at Bill.Rodriguez@guildmortgage.net.

Bob shared how we had an issue with luxury townhomes ($600 to $800K), where no one wanted the two-story townhome in the middle, selling only the ranch-style homes on the end. We had a group meeting, and someone said that the home is really a Ranch plus a loft and a bed and bath upstairs.  I liked the way this sounded, and suggested we call the homes “Ranch Plus”, and Bob and Bernadette, his sales partner, agreed to ask potential clients:  

They have since sold six of the Ranch Plus plans, as older buyers let go of their negative bias about two-story homes and are excited to learn about the “plus”. Another great victory for carefully crafted sales language. Well done, Bob!

Cassie and her team of Audrey, Naomi, and Jeanice were our hosts and shared so many great ideas with us.  

Their signage, sales centers, sales props, and model homes were all perfectly executed. We walked through three neighborhoods and viewed 15 model homes and learned so much from being there.  

Design Studio Tour - We had a wonderful tour for the design consultant of the World Class, Jane Meagher-inspired Design Studio.

Accountability form – Cassie shared how every single sales team member signs a “Mutual Accountability Agreement”. They agree to abide by the company’s values, actively participate in training, prospecting, follow-up, and more.   

Brick House – Cassie created a visual way for each region to focus on their sales goals brick by brick.

Jacobi is a true expert in creating social media content that actually drives traffic, with over 40,000 followers, and provably increases sales.  

He will be speaking with me, Jenna Parker from Stevens Fine Homes, and Jason Farmer, owner of Riverstone Construction, and showing videos next week at Bob Whittens SMA Summit in Orlando.   

Follow Jacobi on Instagram at @Jacobisoldit. 

Tammy shared how every month, her salespeople turn in their marketing plan with a budget of $250.   

*Please email me at Roland@newhomesalesplus.com and type MMG Retreat Assets if you would like Tammy’s Prospecting plan.  

Tammy shared creative gifts for Realtors, such as a handheld fan, and the accompanying message “We are fans of yours.”  

Lastly, Tammy has a competition with the sales team to decorate their model homes and win a prize.  

We looked at wonderful photos of Christmas-decorated models and also Pumpkins for Halloween. 

Terri shared that their whole company has been transformed by EOS, which is derived from the great book “Traction” by Gino Wickman. They found a company called Strety, which helps them implement EOS at the highest level.

Dan and his partner Sofia have spent millions of dollars and many years perfecting Jome as a specialized AI voice follow-up for builders.  Here are some of the takeaways.  

• The results are astounding, gaining 3-5% appointments from leads marked as dead. (That’s not a typo; do the math!) 
• The AI reads the CRM and then creates specialized calling to match the builder's style and brand. 
• You can even choose male or female voices, any age group, and dialect to connect with your local buyers the best.  
• Their AI has recognized the three times a day that are optimal to contact leads in the database; it can make 100 calls at a time at these three peak times.   
• It has unlimited capacity and will call and email up to 18 times before marking a lead dead and marking this in the CRM. 
• The sweet spot is between 5 to 11 contacts, with 8 being the sweet spot. 
• It makes notes in your CRM and cleans up your database. 
• Resuscitated leads can be directed to salespeople or OSC’s.  
• This is not replacing humans, just accomplishing follow-up at a far more effective level. Humans are still needed for face-to-face sales.  

Think about this: Builders spend between $200 to $900 per lead that walks in the model. Let's say $300 is average. You have 10,000 leads in your database; that means you are sitting on a THREE-MILLION-DOLLAR untapped Gold Mine!  

Jome has a special MMG incentive for Masterminds:  

• Free analysis of your current AI.  
• Free setup of Jome AI  - Saving $2,000.   
• Just $2 per lead. So, for just $20,000, you can mine the 10,000 Golden leads in your database (reaching out to every single lead up to 18 times by phone and text) and fill your months with be-back appointments and clean up the CRM.  
• You can start with as low as 1,000 leads = $2,000 and always increase from there.  

Feel free to contact Dan at dan@jome.com. 

Shari and Sarah offer two valuable services for builders. Many of our masterminds have worked with them and have been thrilled at the service and results.  

• Outsourced OSC Services: They take hiring, training, and managing an OSC off your hands. They select an OSC that they believe will be a good fit for you; this OSC becomes an expert on your locations, communities, and homes, and you let them drive. 
• HubSpot CRM Integration: Many builders have been switching to HubSpot for their CRM. Shari and Sarah are official trade partners with HubSpot and can get you the best pricing; plus, for a very reasonable flat fee, they will help you migrate to this platform and train your team. 

Feel free to contact Shari at shari@shareddrive.com. 

Most of you know who Rilla is by now. Just in case, here goes. 

• Rilla provides a ride-along app service that listens to every single salesperson encounter, transcribes it, and then provides coaching to the salesperson in real time. 
• Managers can listen to every ride-along and provide feedback.  
• I have access to the Mastermind Builders on the Rilla Platform and often listen and offer coaching as well.  
• I have licensed my training program to Rilla for only our Mastermind clients. 
• Chesapeake Homes, our hosts, have 20 salespeople on the platform and are getting great results. 
• Arnav announced many new initiatives and self-guided programs for the sales team to role-play.    
• Arnav is offering a Free Rilla trial for 30 days for Masterminds. 

Feel free to reach out to Arnav for more info at Arnav@rilla.com.

Leslie wasn’t able to make the Retreat, but she has been a loyal MMG sponsor for many years.  

I have worked with Leslie for decades, and our clients love the quiet of her shops and the very well “Leslie-trained” shoppers.  

Clear Evaluations has a great service where managers fill in a complete backstory and profile for each community; as a result, our masterminds have found her shops to be of the highest benefit as a yearly or bi-annual coaching tool.  

Many clients we work with have Rilla and still invest in Leslie’s shops as well. 

Leslie can be reached at Leslie@clearevalutions.com.

Whew, that was a lot of info, and I am sure I only scratched the surface. We had another incredible retreat, and I know we're all exhausted when we got home. Please feel free to reach out to our generous sponsors or me with any questions. 

Truly, 

Roland Nairnsey