Meet Dawn McKenna: Chicagoland’s Best Real Estate Agent
Interviewing one of America’s most successful, creative, and sought-after luxury real estate agents about what makes her successful was thrilling. With over $2 billion in transactions since 2003, Dawn’s success has been and continues to be amazing. Recognized as the №1 Coldwell Banker agent in the Midwest, Dawn’s other awards are too many to list. Not content to be a one-woman or one-market show, in 2017, Dawn formed the Dawn McKenna Group (DMG), which has grown to 21 agents with offices on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s Gold Coast, the exclusive Chicago suburbs of Hinsdale, Lake Forest and Winnetka, as well as prestigious 5th Avenue in Naples, Florida. With more than 250 closed listings, 150 satisfied buyers, over 600 happy renters, and more than $600 million in closed transactions since its inception, the DMG’s success is quickly matching that of its founder.
The Importance of Buying a Home
As a wife of 29 years and mother of four grown children, Dawn knows the importance of the family home. As she explains it, “the family home is the only investment that has to be financially sound and make you and your family feel safe and healthy and happy.” A heavy burden for an investment, it is an even heavier burden for the agent entrusted with the task of helping you find it. But it is that trust and that challenge that drive Dawn to engage in a more personal, in-depth process than you would expect from a “super agent.” Starting with deeper conversations than most agents would ever consider, Dawn digs into what her clients are looking for in a house and community, their lifestyle and their goals — both personal and financial. Then, applying an expert knowledge gained from hundreds of successful transactions, Dawn strives to find them the perfect home. While time-consuming and requiring lots of energy, it is a process that typically results in her clients finding the right home at the right price.
When it comes to sellers, Dawn believes success is as much Psychology 101 as Sales 101. “There are so many dynamics — family, financial, personal, market — that go into a sales process,” explains Dawn, “a one-size-fits all approach won’t work.” Around the DMG they call it their “bespoke” service. Everything — communications, marketing, social media, staging, showings, photos, and videos — is customized to the client’s particular needs. And when it comes to the all-important listing price, just listen in on a few of Dawn’s conversations with current and potential listing clients and you quickly realize that nobody talks price with clients more honestly than Dawn. “I just can’t sugar coat it or give inflated prices to get listings,” explained Dawn. “It only leads to unhappiness.” According to Dawn’s longtime friend and DMG Chicago expert Karen Iantorno: “It may not always be fun to hear, but clients appreciate Dawn’s honesty and trust her experience.” “Most importantly,” according to Iantorno, “our transactions close in part because expectations were correctly set from the start.”
Recognizing that happy clients require excellent back office processes, two years ago Dawn added industry veteran Micheal Anthony to the DMG as its Chief Operating Officer. With more than 20 years of real estate experience, Micheal knows better than anyone how difficult it is to do things ‘Dawn’s way.’ “With some of the most sophisticated processes and systems in the industry, and definitely the best team,” said Anthony, “it still isn’t easy or cheap to provide such a high level of customized service to our clients.” But they do it, Micheal insists, because the goal of creating happy clients is shared by all. Whether clients are buying, selling or renting, Micheal is committed to ensuring that “transactions go smoothly and professionally from listing to closing.”
As anyone on her team can attest, ‘Dawn’s way’ takes incredible amounts of energy, patience and knowledge, combined with excellent communication skills, aggressiveness and hard work. However, the results speak for themselves. “Nothing makes me happier than a happy client,” says Dawn, “and if the number of repeat clients, client referrals and inter-family referrals we have are any measure, we have a lot of happy clients.”
Past Success and Future Growth
Dawn could be excused for resting on her laurels, which have included being ranked as Coldwell Banker’s №1 Team in Illinois, №1 Team in the Midwest, №2 Small Team in Southwest Florida, №3 Team in the US, and №6 Team in the World. But spend a minute in Dawn’s snug but stylish main office in Hinsdale, Illinois and you soon learn that resting is not a natural state for anyone at the DMG.
Following a strategy of opening offices and affiliating with local experts in key feeder and destination markets, Dawn has quickly become a presence across the Chicagoland area and Florida. Matching this reach with one of the most stylish and powerful social media and website presences in the industry, Dawn has put in place the foundation for a dominant industry player. “With our team, strategy and processes, there is no reason we can’t deliver our unique and valuable services to many, many more clients,” McKenna confidently states. With her proven success, it is hard to disagree.
What is Dawn’s “Why”
Dawn’s go-to question for people looking to join her team is: “What is your ‘why’?” Not content to hire off of a resume or scripted answers to standard questions, Dawn wants to know what really makes the interviewee get out of bed, get dressed and join the fray. In response, Dawn gets a lot of predictable responses. But when the same question is posed to Dawn, the answer is somewhat surprising. “Three things: I love my team and genuinely enjoy seeing them succeed. I love happy clients. Finally, I love being a wife and a mom, and sharing the fruits of my success with my family.”
Potential interviewees take note: some highly successful people work for glory or money or to prove something to the world. Dawn works for her team, her clients and her family, and that is all you need to know about her.
