The Sweet Strategy That Built a 100% Referral-Based Business

One Realtor’s Touch

David Gallup has been a Realtor for 42 years. He invited me to dinner to catch up, and I asked him what one thing had endeared him to his clients. Without even blinking, he said Diana's cinnamon rolls.

He explained that, over six weeks each fall, Diana would bake four days a week, and he would deliver freshly baked cinnamon rolls each evening to clients all over the Greater Orlando area, with some of his delivery routes extending as far as 90 miles!

He would hand-deliver approximately 800 tasty treats—one per person per household—in a single season. This became a cherished annual tradition for 30 years and, in November of 2015, even earned a front-page story in the Orlando Sentinel.

The cinnamon rolls became so beloved that families rearranged their schedules to ensure they were home to receive them. Teenagers who had grown up with the tradition would ask their parents when David would stop by. In an uncertain world, the rolls brought more than sweetness—they delivered consistency, care, and a subtle but powerful reminder of hope.

I asked David what Diana put into her cinnamon rolls. He said the two most essential ingredients made all the difference. He began to walk me through her intentional process of preparing the dough, waiting for it to rise, punching it down, waiting again, forming it into a roll that would continue rising, cutting the dough, and creating each roll before placing them in the oven.

With a desperate look, I asked what the two ingredients were. The first one, he said, was love. The second? Prayer. I asked, please tell me more.

He explained that as Diana prepared the rolls, she knew which families David would deliver to that evening. She would pray over those families, lifting them one by one as she worked. I looked at him with utter shock, but I got it. These weren't just cinnamon rolls. They were vessels of hope, made with intention, delivered with kindness.

They became such a part of family tradition that when children went to college, some parents would freeze their child's roll for their next home visit. Some even overnighted them to wherever their sons or daughters were living.

This kind of gesture—connecting with individuals through food—is a beautiful example of the Platinum Service Principle: keeping them loyal with acts of kindness.

David shared that the true reward of his decades of work is building hundreds of meaningful relationships, helping as many as three generations in a single family buy or sell a home. They remember him as the man who brought cinnamon rolls. And when it's time for someone they care about to make the biggest purchase or sale of their lives, they remember David.

After more than four decades, his business is 100% referral-based. He isn't just transacting real estate—he's anchoring trust, inspiring loyalty, and spreading hope, one relationship at a time.

So, as you think about your business—or your life—ask yourself:

What's your cinnamon roll?

What small act of love, prayer, or presence could ripple through generations?

Because that's what the world needs now, more than ever before—radical kindness rooted in hope.