Welcome to the team builder show where the most successful team leaders share, how to build scale organize and ultimately maximize your sales team results. Hey welcome back to the team builders show i am so fired up about today's guest. We are going to talk big ideas, growth, culture, while you're scaling and the two things you wish you knew before you started a team jen dillard. Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me, i'm so excited to be here. I am so pumped so. Okay, i have to ask you first and foremost: how old are you? I am 37. I had to think about it.

Yeah i like that you had to think about it. So, for the person that's uh, that's maybe listening audio. Only jen is just this vibrant powerhouse. Um tell them first of all you the name of your team and where you guys sell like where, like for the people that don't know where hood river oregon is like explain that absolutely so um.

The name of my team is the jen dillard real estate team. We go by jdre, we just kind of developed that acronym and then we are in hood river oregon, like you said, which is 45 minutes east of portland oregon, so we're on the columbia river. So we serve service both sides of the columbia, river, oregon and southwest washington, love it, and and what is it about that region, that's causing it to boom? So much is it? Is it wine? Is it resort like what kind of what kind of real estate environment is it it's kind of all of the above, so the columbia river gorge is um, the number two windsurfing mecca in the world, so just huge, windsurfing, town, kiteboarding, world-class mountain biking, um amazing hiking. Just skiing, of course, mount hoods right right at the base of mount hood right.

So it's a recreational town so during covet, especially it's really boomed, because you know we've all found during covid that why not, if you're, going to be working from home or working remotely, why not live where you love to play so right, yeah, right, love, it so! You're in the heart of it all so, as i mentioned with everybody listening, i want to talk about big ideas: growth, culture, while you're scaling and the two mistakes or things you wish. You knew. So, let's talk about big ideas: right, like you're, a big thinker, give give people context for uh the size of your team. Um just give them context their size of team transactions and volume, just so they're, clear yeah.

Absolutely so we are. We have 12 agents on the team, including myself, i'm an active, very active agent, myself, yeah um, and so it's primarily women, which is just by coincidence. There aren't 10 women and then two men. I started off just myself and then i added one and then i added another we've just completely grown completely organically i've, never recruited yeah, i've never had to um and so yeah we're at 12 right now.

So how many transactions and volume will you do this year? Yeah so um in 2020 we did 21 million in sales. In 2021 we did 78 million in sales wow and yes, and then this year we're on track to do 100 million in sales. Congratulations so just gives people context. So so what big ideas are inspiring? You right now with your team with your business, the world.

What are you thinking about gosh? I just feel like the team um. You know we have such a strong culture and i feel like there's, there's no limit. Um we've just talked about maybe expanding into other markets, um that are that are within our. You know, that are sister markets.

If you will um and so that's a that's, definitely a thought. We never. I never think about growing the team because i don't want to recruit so yeah. I love the idea of when amazing people are.

I come across amazing people - i absolutely am my door is open, i'm so interested in talking with them and with bringing them on the team if they're the right culture fit. But i don't like to go out and look for people, because i found that when i do that, i end up with the wrong people right right. I love it well also, when you build something that is attractive, people want to be a part of it right. So so there is like you are recruiting by building something attractive right.

Absolutely so when you went from 21 to 70 plus million what were some of the growth like like? I was you know. I have these bricks always in front of me, and it's like like: did you add more sales people? Did you add more marketing and lead generation? Did you improve, like you, think, about the the three drivers right sales, people, lead generation, conversion and then the fourth one is systems? What were the building blocks of that growth year? All of the above, so we definitely did add sales people, yep um. We also added um, you know we added a back office support which we didn't have so we've added an in-house transaction coordinator. We have we're.

One of our employees is soon gon na be our listing coordinator. We have um, you know, i have a full-time assistant. We have marketing, so it's all in-house and i think, having those people in place and being able to support all of us has given us more time to be able to go out and support our clients. So so it's funny um, you know chatting with your coach and and just you know, knowing like your energy, you are to me like jen you're, one of those people.

That's like this. Let's go and we'll figure it out as we grow. Is that a fair assessment? Absolutely why do you think some people are so afraid of that, like some people just have to be so maniacally organized first, a perfect crm, perfect, recruiting strategy? Where i see others like you that just go, let's just go we'll figure it out. What's the difference, i think it's perspective.

I think that i failed before so i have failed and i've bounced back. So i know that if i fail again everything's gon na be okay, i'm gon na bounce back again yeah, and so i feel like i'm like a cat. I have nine lives so um. You know.

I think that once you are have gone through, that fear mindset. You've gotten out of the fear and scarcity mindset and you're living in the abundance mindset. I feel like everything changes yeah, so that's probably where i'm at how many lives down. Are you right now, if you're, the the cat with nine lives? Maybe three i've got a lot to go.

Yeah, okay and - and i appreciate that i mean you know - i literally - was just on the phone with uh treasure davis right who's, a wonderful client from colorado springs. She said something interesting to me. She said you know tom, like i've grown so far outside of my comfort zone, like i'm beyond what i dreamed was possible and what i find in that moment, not not just with treasure but with so many amazing people that we're blessed to work with yourself included Is when you're in that place, where you're growing like crazy, you either go kind of one of two directions. You fall back on what you know and what is secure or you move forward with purpose right.

I see you as one of those four with purpose kind of people, so i want to ask you what drives you to work as hard as you do and support as many people as you support what drives you, i really have found. As being you know, starting this team, i've found that i love to mentor, so i love helping. I love seeing other people find not just success, but the happiness that i found doing what i love so when i can, when there are people that i come across, that you know are, for example, one of my agents. He was working in a coffee shop and i met him there and he was you know he.

He was working there and i had great conversation. He was i loved how engaging he was with his with the customers that came in and so uh. We had a conversation, we i asked him if he ever, you know had an interest in becoming a real estate agent. He said he had thought about it.

Long story short, i said, get your license and call me i'd love to mentor you and he did, and he was my first agent on my team and he has gone. He is now making six figures and from working in a coffee shop and not making great money to now, you know working. He now is making six figures. He owns his own home, he's supporting his family and, like those stories and being able to be a part of that, is right.

That's what drives me yeah! I get it it's it's interesting um when we talk about purpose. So another word is fulfillment. I think what we all want, i'm looking at my own team. We all want fulfillment and if you look at sort of the you know the way, many of my mentors talk about it.

It's like it's growth. It's contribution right, mentorship, giving back to others. You know being of service is what gives us a lot of that fulfillment, so you can see that for the person that's listening, you really should watch this on youtube to see what i see when you see her smile in her eyes like i can see it. So so let's go a different direction.

How do you maintain culture when you're growing as fast as you're growing yeah? Maybe maybe tell me a mistake. You made first tell me a mistake. You made first, so we have, you know, say they don't think you're like superwoman. I'm not superwoman no, and i have made a lot of mistakes and, like i said, i've definitely failed before um and will continue to fail and that's okay, but um yeah.

I mean, i think, that one of the mistakes that i made was you know not being for a little while i was like. Oh, this is great. I don't i'm not going to be in the office that much like i'm gon na you know kind of take. My foot off the gas and that's a big mistake because i feel like to be a good leader.

You have to be in the trenches with your team and um, and so you know being present and if i'm not present in the office. We even if, when i am, but we consistently have a group chat that we have going and so what that group chat does is we celebrate all the wins? The big wins, the small wins we talk about. You know when we're having a hard day. We talk about it and so being able to just like really be in it with the team and having us all be in it together, i think, really grow.

It helps us to to bond, and so we do that, of course, we also have you know our team bonding events. We go golf together, we spend time together and i think for myself as a leader being making sure that i um i let my team know that i care about them personally and not just professionally. It's they're, not just a number they're, not just you know how many, how many are you gon na close this week? It's not just about that! It's like how's, your family, is there anything that i can help you with personally or professionally. So i think that really helps them to know that i care about them and when you really care about people genuinely, i think that they, you know, want to work harder for you and so and for themselves yeah.

So, first of all, i'm just looking at uh, katie and brian on my team who i've been harassing relentlessly to go, buy real estate. Just a little reminder. It's it's the same kind of thing like we want. You know you you want to see people shine.

So do you do that um like do you have a schedule that you follow or is it like management by walking around like like? Is it? Is it pragmatic and organized hey? Every every week i meet with two people or every three weeks i meet with six people. Do you have something like that or is it just like you walk by and sense it and go hey? You me come here yeah, so it's a little bit of both. I have um, you know i i let the my whole team know we meet weekly. Of course, we have our meeting weekly, which i'm going to be jumping on after i'm done talking with you, so they're going to be excited to hear about this, but uh have our team meeting every week, but we also i let them know that i'm available.

If you want to schedule a weekly call with me - and we can, you know, touch base on whatever it is that you're thinking about. So i have two people current three people currently that are, you know regularly. We meet every week for 30 minutes to an hour. Um, but it's it's open to anybody, but then yeah.

I do have a schedule where i'm in the office, and but i like - i, i like people to put their - you know - put themselves on my schedule so that i can make sure that i can time block and really be present and give them all the attention That they deserve, i love it, love it. So, a little combination of both right, it's a little management by walking around and just kind of seeing the vibe yeah. So let's go tactical just for a second around uh marketing and lead generation. So what marketing and lead generation is driving the most results today in your team, instagram social media, what you're doing a hundred million dollars in volume? You did 70 million dollars.

You're telling me instagram is the number one driver. Please explain. Yeah i mean we. I think that instagram is making us top of mind and so using social media.

Video posting all the things that we're doing is keeping us top of mind, and so people are saying even though yes, we're in the community people know our faces. You know all of that, but they go. Oh my gosh, i just saw your latest video and it reminded me that i wanted to call you or hey i've been following you on instagram and you know we were looking to buy a house. So i think that i'm looking at your page right now, i love it there.

It is yeah, so i think that i think that it really does. I think that it helps to keep us top of mind and drive. Of course, we don't put all of our eggs in one basket. Jason jason reminds us often is don't just rely on instagram and we don't.

We do. You know a lot of other marketing and lead gen, but i think instagram has changed our business yeah and is that? Are you finding that's finding out of town people, or is it the the more socially relevant way to connect with your past clients and sphere, or is it a combination of the two yeah yeah? We definitely have people moving from out of the area that are, you know we use. We definitely use the instagram we target for certain areas that we know we track the wealth and where people are moving from and then whoa whoa whoa whoa. How do you do that? Tell us more tell us more yeah, so um there is a website and um um how money travels or how money walks much, how many walks dot org, yes, yeah! So how many walks so we track the wealth and then we target those areas, yeah and um.

You know we make we send out our our newsletter and we send out new listings to agents in those areas and it definitely we've gotten so many referrals from agents outside of the area through doing these things, so so targeted campaigns by going to how money walks Um, so you know for the person listening or watching google that it's a government site that tracks money, migration right so you'll, see like cook county illinois is the number one place in america. People are leaving aka chicago, not a knock on chicago, but just like that's the spot, but you see the california people moving to hood right, like you see all the migration patterns and it's where they're moving to also, which is really interesting. Absolutely yes, so uh. So instagram some very tactical agent agent referral strategies.

Clearly - and i imagine your database, do you guys? Are you guys doing open houses? Are they back in uh in oregon? We are doing open houses right now, there's still snow on the ground um, but once they yeah once once the snow clears open, houses will be definitely definitely do open houses. We send out postcards, we do a weekly newsletter um. You know anything that we can do to stay top of mind so love it love it. Okay, last question: two or three things you wish you knew before you started this crazy team, yeah.

Okay, that was a good yeah, okay, um. I i think that i wish that i knew that um. You know i was capable of doing this. I think that i was.

I was living in that fear and scarcity at the beginning, and just was like you know: what can i handle having a team? This big yeah, you know - and i was doubting myself and i wish that i wouldn't have doubted myself so much, because i think that i would have done it sooner um and it's been such an incredible experience for me to you, know, be surrounded by such greatness And we really do um, lift each other up and empower each other, and it's such a beautiful thing. So i wish i would have no, you know known that earlier um and gosh what else starting a team. It's just been, i think, um knowing that. So we had a street front office.

I thought we absolutely had to have street front a street front office. Yeah turns out, we don't yeah, we got rid of that space. We moved up into a beautiful suite and that has been so good for our business because we're staying focused we're not having all these people walking in and asking for directions: yeah um! So that's another thing that i thought that we absolutely needed and we didn't what? What held you back from hiring um like transaction support and ops support sooner? That's a yeah! That's another thing i wish we would have done sooner. I think that we didn't find the right people, so we had tried.

We had hired some people and they just weren't the right fit, and so we kind of had to we had to strike out a few times and go through a few people just to find out that they weren't great people. They just weren't the right fit for the role, and so we finally found the sweet spot. We found people that are the right people for the roles and it's amazing what happens when, when you have the right people in the right positions right, so are you using disk bank insights? What how how? How are you identifying that they are the right people? I definitely yeah we do use the disk profile um and you know just i feel, like my intuition - has gotten pretty good so um, i interview them myself, but i also have someone else on my team interview them as well, because sometimes i find that i can Be a softie and i'm like: oh, they seem nice, but then they're like hold on you know, let's make sure that they are really the right fit for the role so right. I make sure that i get a second opinion: good, rigorous accountability, light accountability, no accountability with your sales team.

I would say that we have light accountability. Um, i don't. I don't hound them. I trust them, and i know that you know i can see what they're working on.

We are really we use monday.com, religiously and um, and so i can see what they're working on - and i know when they're busy - and i know you know - they're - all they're - all producing every one of our agents produces. We don't have one part-time agent, good um, and so i trust them. I know that they're working hard and i don't feel like me - breathing down their neck - is going to help them work any harder. I think it will put them in that fear and scarcity mindset, and so yeah love.

It love it hey. The whole goal of this show and jen you are such a star is - is just to get into the minds of these just bright rock star team leaders that are building these incredible businesses. So i just want to say thank you for being who you are being a part of the ecosystem, contributing the way you do and for being on the show today. So, thank you so much for having me tom, of course, of course, so closing thoughts from your standpoint that you want to share with the universe, keep being authentic, be yourself and um.

I love i love just getting on social media and being a goofball and producing these reels that make people laugh and in a crazy time like this in our world, just to be able to make people laugh and still be relevant to real estate. It's been a lot of fun, so i i concur so uh, so jen dillard team on instagram make sure you check her out there. I just followed you back sorry, i didn't do that sooner, but it is official. You got another follower today, so handled all right.

Jen i'll see you at the next event. Thank you again so much say hi to your coach jason and for everybody out there hey, like subscribe, share ring that notification bell. Let us know what you think give us more comments. Is there a question? I should have asked jen, please put it in the comments and i will pinger and ask the question all right.

Thank you. So much we'll see you soon. You.