Welcome to the luxury code, where we decode the mindset, the marketing and the business approach of successful luxury brokers. Hey welcome back to the luxury code. I am so excited to have valen lindner from beautiful park city utah in the house. We're gon na unpack how this gal has grown her business in seven years to literally doing millions and millions and millions of dollars in gci, so valen welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me, i'm so excited to be here. It's great to talk to you. I hope that everybody, you know if you're listening this on the podcast. I hope you jump over some time to the youtube channel, because she's literally sitting in what looks like a multi-million dollar listing, i can see a little bit of snow in the background and a fireplace which looks fantastic.

So where do we find you today on park? City mountains, so this is in the colony of white pine canyon. It's a gorgeous house, it's centered in the middle of the beautiful park, city, ski resort. It's got great e-access, it's right by the quick silver gondola. If you want more information, it's a shameless quick self promotion, go to our website quickly, really, no.

This is a beautiful spot and we're finding. Finally, getting our winter, which we've been waiting for for i know so inside of this show. What we like to unpack is like: how did you get started? What were the hurdles you had to overcome? You know when someone like, when i look at your numbers last year: 155 million dollars in volume, 4 million dollars in admissions 44 transactions, but you're seven years in real estate and one could argue, that's a pretty short amount of time to get this level of success. Most people always think you've got to really get established and you've got to be in the market forever to be this dominant.

What do you think you know? I think you have to have a plan and you know just a little bit of background on me, so i was born in manhasset long island, so super high intensity family. You know it was very solution based high fast paced. We moved out to la when i was a young girl and immediately got into figure skating, so that kind of sports arena. When you have to go into the rink at 4am, you're training, five to seven hours a day, you're homeschooled, you have multiple coaches, you're doing reps right and nothing is drilled into more than bringing home the gold right.

So it's like make sure to do that and then fast forward to my professional life um. I actually right out of college, got into digital sales and marketing for luxury brands. So that was like you know: email marketing and big box and leaderboards way before, like social media was even like started or cool, and we were doing that for um. You know luxury brands, and so all those skill sets high intensity family figure, skating experience and luxury brands kind of teed me up to enter into the luxury real estate arena with a lot of kind of tools in in my pocket.

So you definitely had the unfair advantage, especially so i interviewed apollo ono years ago, uh, both he and his dad on a show and what it takes to be at the level you were at real estate. Almost you could almost argue it's easy in comparison. It's different hard, but it's easy compared to speed, skating yeah and you know i think, that's why i loved coaching. So much too is because i was used to going to a rink and having people give me that recipe of how to be successful and when you're in, like you know, the professional world, you kind of have a boss and you kind of have like okay.

What are their sales training, but there's not really that like do x and get you know these results or do y and get these results until you kind of implement that coaching element so yeah i mean, i think, there's you know certain recipes that you can set Up to make yourself um, you know be more successful right out of the gate in the luxury arena. So so, let's go back three years. You make the decision to get a coach and - and you know to just for people for contacts - you know 2021 again. You know 100 and i don't miss the number 155 million.

Where was your business at four years ago? That would have been like 2018 right 2019. Yes, so um my set so backing up a little bit more, but my second year in the business so moved here in 14, a second year in the business got my first six million dollar listing and then between um. You know gosh 15 and you know 2020. We were getting 50 to 75 million, it's just me and my uh co-agent jameson, we're you know very small team um and that's about 30 to 35 transactions a year yep, so 35 transactions and 75 million is a serious business.

Yes, we were very um fortunate to be able to get into that on mountain ski and ski out single family arena right away, because we did have a plan and um. You know then july of 2020 hit right. That's actually! The month i had my daughter as well um, but boom migration of the mountains. Everybody's spotlight is focused on park city now business grew from 50 to 75 to 155 million 47 transactions.

We doubled our average sales price and now we're on track for next year. Excuse me this year to do 250 million. We've got uh, 50 million closed 55 million pended and it looks like we're on our way. So it's just you know it's also being able to pivot in such a crazy market to make sure that you know you're batting down the hatches and really focusing on what matters in this market segment.

While it's super hot, so so unpack that what what matters like? What are you doing? That's moving the needle to attract the listings continue to be successful. I mean you're doing a lot of business, a lot of volume, we'll unpack the size of the team in a minute, but i want to know like, like specifically like networking marketing attracting clients finding people online that are thinking about going into your area getting them before. They get there versus after they get there unpack for some of those most important details, so i think there's three main components for us that makes us successful as a luxury team. First, one really being a trusted advisor.

So i know you know digging into the market. There's been many agents on here before who have really said, you know you got to dive into your neighborhood, the history of the homes, all those different types of things, knowing the neighbors amenities and all that kind of good stuff. Well, people here are also being advised on a place where they only come recreate like a couple times a year right. So maybe they are just coming for a second or third home, but now, with you know, covet and being able to work remotely that's kind of transition to like hey.

Maybe i want to have my primary there, or maybe i need to get out of the vertical cities and put my kids in the school systems. So now we're not only advising on exactly what you should buy, where you should buy, how to transition your family to becoming you know: full-time mutants or parkites. What that landscape looks like and then there's a certain element to real estate in a second home market, that people don't realize a lot and that's when you're buying skianinski out your location on the mountain is super crucial to your happiness and also the property value. So a lot of times my clients are calling me they're, like oh, i saw you know x, y and z, on zillow i'm flying in.

I want to see three properties and then they get here and if i didn't tell them that that was on a black diamond ski access and they have a multi-generational family with little kids wanting to learn how to ski. That's not going to go over very well or if on a phase of the mountain that, because of either weather or operations, does not open their ski access to that home until february, and they want to christmas and new year's. That's not going to work for them. Either so you know, there's a lot of different elements to what you're advising these people on, because you're their boots ears eyes on the ground you're on their face time, they're only here like one or two times a year to make a giant decision for themselves and Their family - and so you just need this huge vault of you - know, information to make sure you secure that trusted advisor spot so yeah, so starting from there, which is always i mean every luxury person.

I talk to says a very similar thing like you've got to know the market inside now. You've got to know your client inside and out to be able to help them navigate, especially in a second marketplace so spot on. How do you find clients? So we have because of that trusted advisor, and you know another element of that, is you know, having access to opportunities to offer um our clientele, so the way that we really kind of expand our client base is because we get a lot of referrals um. You know: we've built up trusted partnerships with agents across utah, so that we're the first to know about you know not just off-market listings and pocket listings, but new mountains, new developments.

Yes, programs that let you in on the newest golf community, so that you can get a lot in there before prices explode. For example, 40 of our pending business right now is off market listings. If we didn't have that to offer our clients their friends um, you know people that are interested in getting that kind of. First right to you know get you know the opportunity to get on that mountain or in that golf community.

Then they would either find somebody who could or uh you know we would have to. You know seriously answer for that, so i think becoming that trusted advisor having the access to those opportunities makes our clients call their other clients and say you have to hook up with the frost liner team, because they're, the only ones that know where to go in Utah right now or in park city - or they know this inventory - that's coming up and that has created a landfall of like opportunity for us from people that have now become our hugest cheerleaders and have access to the type of people that we we really want to. You know serve as clients, so how do you get that word out to your clients like? How do they know that that you have the pocket listings like? Is that an email is that through social? Is it because you're calling them like you? You and i both know, because you have such so much digital marketing. Your background, like sometimes you, got ta, hit them from multiple different ways and do it in a long way right so give us some of that playbook like if i'm a past client of yours or a current client of yours or a friend of yours.

How often am i getting communicated to and how so i'll tell you a couple of things so on our insider track, so um, some of sotheby's, which is our brokerage, has you know, sort of like a private facebook page that lets us in on the pocket listings Right, so that's hundreds of agents that are giving us inventory that does not hit the mls and again, if you are waiting for zillow to give you the information on the home you're already out, you know like it's yeah you're done so that comes across the wire And we start texting our clients that information right away, because even if they're not looking for it, suddenly they have a friend, that's looking for something that and who knew. And this - and i have gotten this in the last two days - probably five times sent - that you know off-market listing out and then get a text and then somebody else texts me about it and then suddenly i'm getting introductions so that and then like okay, for example, We're filming in a listing today after this i'm gon na, do a couple reels. What i'll do is i'll? Do a one minute, video, a three minute, video, a ten minute video i put that in my email, marketing database. I send it out that way.

I post it across all of social. I will post it on my website and promote that community. So then it's my seo. I mean, as you know, if you're not everywhere, then you're missing out and you just don't know at this point in time.

What platform is doing the best um, you know, email marketing by the way, still has incredible numbers. Our open rate is like 55 and that's my soi, so those are like my cheerleaders and it's really easy them to forward an email. So it's like don't over complicate it just put it everywhere that you already have it and then promote it boost it honestly. Sometimes i just hit the boost button without really knowing exactly where it's boosting it to and just hoping that the algorithm is, you know, going to lead it somewhere and then suddenly i get a message from somebody.

That's like, oh, i know your friend and i saw your oh, my gosh. It's so beautiful. Give me more information on that, and so it's just you know covering all the bases all the time and taking one piece of film and making sure to maximize it, because it's not easy to sit here and film all day. But it's easy to put it into those different channels and make sure it's being maximized as best it can.

So i was as a coaching client. You will appreciate this. I just tweeted this out that when, when i look past just the last two years, right of you know over 500 000 coaching sessions combined amongst all of our clients and our nearly 200 coaches. If you looked at like where business comes from the three different mechanics, it's marketing, networking and prospecting in its simplest terms and the agents that do all three effectively are the killers of the marketplace.

So clearly, from a marketing standpoint, you're there prospecting whether it's texting or you know, there's so many different ways to do. It talk to us about your networking strategies because you also seem to do you do a lot of big events, you're involved in charities. So you also have that element. Give us some insight on how we could do that better or what you found to be most effective.

So i think that kind of also goes into being able to market your luxury listings better than anybody else right. So for us you know when we had our big marquee listing, we reached out across the aisle to pass contacts that i had in different verticals to network to get them up here to help us make that huge splash. Is that the one that i was like? I was in a glen wild golf tournament, you're like you have to come and i'm like i'm leaving early driver. Please come up so yes, i i was hoping that you could make it up, but you'll come to the next one um no, but so that was a great opportunity and listen we're not going to do it like million dollar listing, because it's just we don't have Access to that type of stuff here, but we did it as best we can in our marketplace, and that makes us best in class in park city, which is really the goal when it comes to marketing.

So that allowed us to you know, make this big splash with a mega open house which you've been talking about for years. But that also brought every single colony owner, which is the neighborhood that i'm in right now, which is that that was in to our front door. There was 300 people there. I have a video on my social that somebody crashed the party that brought three more lamborghinis and i was like.

Is this really happening right now? It just kind of like snowballs into this, like hey, we just want to kind of come and have fun and appreciate the architecture, and then this person tags that person like that. You know the neighbors were saying what a blast they had, and so they tell their neighbors, which is great, more listings, it all just kind of snowballs um. So you know just just to unpack for the person. That's listening.

If you don't have context like she's, like you should come to my listing, it was like 24 25 million dollars we're gon na have like you, know, lamborghinis and rolls royces and, like you know like acrobats, like it was like this over-the-top party. That was to launch a listing. Yes, it was an unveiling event to marry the lifestyle with the listening right. We also did another marketing campaign where we partnered with ballet west.

We brought their prima ballerinas into um, our biggest listing, which is the same one. They took video and photography and ended up on the cover of collections magazine, which is which is a sotheby's publication, and that was like. Oh, my gosh, you, you kind of blended art and architecture and dance and people loved that and it was just a different way to put um. You know a creative spin on real estate, because sometimes you see like things that are kind of bland and the newspaper ads, and then it just gets kind of monotonous.

But if you see this infusion of things that people are already passionate about um, i think that reaches across a network where your clientele already is like. My clientele is already going to the nutcracker they're already going to the lamborghini um. You know new dealership and they're already doing that stuff, but it's ways to touch them where they are with things that they already like and infuse your real estate into that, and i think that sets you apart from the pack when you're you know kind of going Up against really talented listing agents and trying to differentiate. So it's interesting.

You said because my last two questions for, for you were number one. How have you set yourself apart and then the second question is kind of well, let's do the first one. How have you set yourself apart, like that one listing opportunity was huge, but early in your career, you got a six million dollar listing. You did something with that, like you, you've done multiple things that have sort of put you on the map to put yourself on the map.

You know it's funny. I don't know why. I have this connection with cars but um in my past profession and one of my good friends um had worked for ferrari. She was the head of marketing and i had literally stumbled upon that six million dollar listing.

It was somebody that had come into my very first home that i bought in park. City was helping me build, you know, you know a closet and she confided in me that she really needed my help and of course i was you know, obviously super you know. Honored to come help and kind of drove up the driveway and you know, went into this huge ski and ski out house. It was 8 000 square feet and it was kind of a fake it to you make it scenario where i was like.

Oh, i got the listing. I better figure out what to do real, quick, because i need to make sure that i don't blow up this one. So i can get the next one um i did and like another mega open house, that's when we had just partnered and i moved over with uh to summit sotheby's, which has a award-winning in-house marketing agency um. And so - and i would you know, advise other agents that are trying to break into the luxury market, use what you have at your fingertips and go into your broker, go into the people in your.

You know, network that can help you um. I went into my marketing agency and i was like hey guys. I have a six million dollar listing and i'm not sure how to market it, and so we sat down and we created a luxury marketing plan. Same thing, when my 19 million dollar listing turned into a 34 million dollar listing, i was like hey guys.

We got ta completely change the way we are marketing this because we went from competing with like a couple mountain towns to now we're competing with like aspen and all the vertical cities and like we've, never even had something like this on the market before so. How do we like scrap the old one and create a new luxury marketing plan, and i think that i've done that at every stage of my career, it said: okay, scrap that what are we doing um. I also think that you know real estate is a very transparent, um industry. You can go to the you know, grocery store and get five magazines and see exactly what your competitors are doing and what they're not doing so you can build your usps, your unique.

You know selling propositions around what you have on your desk right, go into their social media. Go into people from you know, go into tim smith's social media, see what he's doing that's not being done in park city right. So it's like you have the playbook there. You just have to know what is not being done in your marketplace and then do it to make yourself best in class in your marketplace: right: you're, not trying to compete against like the new york arena or the la arena wherever you are you're competing against that Five or ten luxury agents that you are going up against in every listing, you know presentation so put all that on the table and figure out how to build your specific strategy around, what's not being offered in the market.

Today, it's pretty simple: i love it. Okay, you want my second question: yes, snowboarder or skier, both okay, totally funny stories, canyons and deer valley. I gotcha no. First of all you have to as a figure skater.

I was a skier when i was young um right after college. I moved to mammoth lakes when i was like, i don't know 23.. It was the most uncool thing to ski, like you get like snowballs thrown at you, if you ski, so i learned how to snowboard there. So, yes, i can do both, which comes in handy for teaching my son, how to ski and then you know, snowboarding is also a passion of mine, so yeah i love it.

I love it so valen you've unpacked a bunch of stuff. You shared like crazy. I loved, like you, have such a growth mindset. It's so obvious, like you just lean in let's figure it out, like whatever, whatever it takes right yeah and you know, i think, if you really want to get into that luxury arena, just figure out where in the market, you want to go figure out.

What's not being done and then create a strategy around that you know i mean. Obviously i could get into a million more topics about it and unpack that um. You know, but it's it's just as simple as starting with where you want to get to. What's not being done and then creating a strategy around how you can make yourself irreplaceable or at least competitive, in order to get you into the door so that you're, not just you know, maybe getting an opportunity and then not having the the ammo to back it Up 100 well said all right, so if somebody wants to follow you, where do they? Where do they find you what's the easiest place? Is it instagram? Is it facebook? Is it youtube email? What's the best way to connect our base? Is park? City360.Com, that's our handle.

So at park, city 360 on insta facebook, linkedin the whole nine yards but everything's on parkcity360.com um yeah, and it was absolutely amazing to be here with you. I had a great time - and let me know if you ever want to do this again, there's so much to unpack and please come visit us because it's beautiful up here and it's awesome for golf in the summer as well great time. I know i'm a big fan of glenn wilde, i'm going to be in jackson. Hole next week, do not be angry at me, but i'll be seeing kimmy and the harlan boys and all that.

Well, i hope the snow continues because it's actually like winter out there have so much fun in jackson. It's been an honest pleasure, love it all right. So i know you got to go. Do a bunch of filming! Thank you so much for unpacking with us today and sharing all these great insights make sure you follow valentine's park.

City. 360.. Yes, so it's perfect! 360.! I know it's very hard to spell valenliner, so we just decided to do park, city 360. or all over social um.

That's our website and uh yeah feel free to contact us anytime all right. Well, we appreciate you have an awesome rest of the day filming and thank you so much for sharing and for my friends out there make sure you follow her and hey, maybe send this to somebody that you know that has been thinking about park city. That should be very cool as well. All right, we got a balance.

Thank you. So much look forward to seeing you soon thanks tom, so you.