Episode Summary
In this special live episode of the Ninja Selling Podcast, Eric Thompson records in front of a live audience at the first Ninja Installation of 2026 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Eric is joined by Denver agent Dave Hettrick of RE/MAX Professionals and Dave's Ninja Coach, Julie WIll. Dave had his best year yet in 2025, growing his business 62% year over year in a market that was essentially flat, and he broke through a major income milestone by earning just over $300,000 for the year.
The central theme of the conversation is flow, specifically hyper flow, and how Dave creates massive results without asking for referrals. Dave is known in the coaching community as Mr. Gratitude, and he shares how leading every coaching call with wins and gratitude keeps him in a powerful mindset that helps him see opportunities, stay positive, and show up better for clients. Eric and Julie highlight that Dave's breakthrough came as he learned to trust the process, lean into consistency, and stay committed to incremental progress rather than perfection.
Dave explains how he has structured his life around live flow through intentional networking groups, coffees, lunches, and social time with friends, turning everyday connection into a predictable business engine. He shares how he built clarity and focus by knowing his numbers, maintaining a database of 426 people, and identifying a top 100 "client base" who receive extra attention and meaningful experiences such as an intimate annual pie party. He also shares the strategy that made his pie party so effective, emphasizing that the real power is in the touches before and after the event, including calls, texts, handwritten notes, and personal deliveries.
Julie shares how Dave's growth accelerated when he stopped rushing out of conversations to handle lower value tasks, and instead stayed present in relationship building while delegating operational and marketing tasks to his wife, Christine, who now works full time in the business. Dave closes by sharing his 2026 goal of 95 transactions, along with the visual accountability anchors he is using, and the creation of a "President's Club" travel reward system that celebrates their success and reinforces the life they are building.
Key Takeaways
Gratitude is a performance advantage and Dave uses it intentionally to fuel mindset, energy, and opportunity awareness
Trusting the process creates momentum and Dave's results grew when he stopped forcing what he thought he should do and committed to what works consistently
Flow fixes everything and live flow in particular becomes a predictable engine when it is scheduled and protected on the calendar
Hyper flow does not require asking for referrals when relationships are nurtured with genuine care and consistent connection
Incremental progress beats perfection and Dave does not miss twice because anything missed gets scheduled and corrected the following week
Know your numbers because your database is your primary asset and Dave can immediately state his database size and what matters most within it
Focus on a top 100 client base and give them extra love through deeper experiences and more intentional touches
Events work best when you maximize the before and after touches because invitations, reminders, thank you calls, notes, and follow up visits create multiple flow opportunities
Personal delivery creates outsized impact and Dave generated seven referrals from delivering cookies and handwritten notes to people who could not attend his event
Networking groups are only the beginning and the real value comes from turning brief interactions into coffees, lunches, dinners, and deeper relationships
Delegation increases flow capacity and Dave's wife took over tasks that do not require a license, freeing Dave to stay in high value conversations
A strong warm list is built by listening for change in FORD and Dave is consistently adding people each week because he is in frequent live conversation
Anchors increase accountability and a simple visual reminder can keep a goal present and actionable every day
Coaching becomes leverage when it shifts from cost thinking to value thinking and when the cadence is customized to what keeps momentum alive
Memorable Quotes
It was not a strategy. It was a way of life
Trust the process
The most powerful form of flow is live flow
Consistency and just doing the same things every week
If you miss it once it is a mistake, miss it twice it is the start of a new habit
Consistency brings power
It is not just about the event, it is about what happens before and after the event
What is it worth, not what does it cost
Links:
Ninja Selling Podcast 
