Building a Multi-State Real Estate Empire: Lessons from McKenzie Shelton

Scaling a real estate team across multiple states is no easy task, but McKenzie Shelton, founder of Prairie and Pine Real Estate Group, has done just that. With a team that spans eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa, McKenzie has built a thriving business focused on specialization, systems, and smart leadership. Over the past 12 months, her team sold 167 units worth $45 million—a testament to her innovative approach.

From Property Management to Real Estate Leadership

McKenzie’s real estate journey began over a decade ago after graduating from college in 2010. Starting in property management, she quickly discovered her passion for real estate sales. Five years ago, she founded Prairie and Pine Real Estate Group, assembling a team that includes three full-time agents, a full-time showing assistant, a director of operations, and a transaction coordinator.

Her geographic reach is impressive, covering a 300-mile area from Omaha, Nebraska, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and beyond. This vast coverage is supported by McKenzie’s deep personal connections, strong local reputation, and smart lead-generation systems.

The Power of Systems and Processes

One of McKenzie’s standout strategies is her focus on leveraging proven systems to scale her business. She credits tools like the Keller Williams DTD2 system for keeping her team in consistent contact with their database. This approach ensures that every client receives regular, meaningful touchpoints throughout the year.

McKenzie also runs impactful client events, such as a Christmas celebration in downtown Omaha and giveaways like season passes to a pumpkin patch. These events not only generate leads but also strengthen relationships within her community.

She shared a story about a new agent who joined her team with no database and, within a year, grew it to 400 contacts. By following McKenzie’s systems, that agent closed nearly 40 deals in her first year—a clear example of how McKenzie’s processes empower agents to succeed.

Specialization: Becoming the “Acreage Queen”

In an industry where differentiation is key, McKenzie has carved out a niche as an expert in acreage and land sales. Her deep understanding of these properties has earned her the nickname “acreage queen” and established her as the go-to agent for such transactions in her markets.

This specialization not only helps her stand out but also drives agent referrals. Other agents trust her expertise and often send acreage clients her way, knowing they’ll receive exceptional service.

Balancing a Thriving Business and Personal Life

McKenzie’s achievements are all the more impressive considering she also manages a farm alongside her team. To maintain balance, she relies on personal systems, such as weekly family meetings, meal planning, and tools like Google Calendar.

Her leadership philosophy includes empowering her team to take on more responsibilities, which allows her to step back from production and focus on strategy. She credits her director of operations and transaction coordinator for helping keep the business running smoothly.

What’s Next for Prairie and Pine?

Looking ahead, McKenzie plans to grow her team by adding 2-3 agents. This expansion will further reduce her personal production, giving her more time to coach and mentor her team.

To support this growth, she’s joined a mastermind coaching group led by industry giants Diana Kakoska and John Maxwell. By learning from the best, McKenzie aims to take Prairie and Pine Real Estate Group to even greater heights.

Key Takeaways for Real Estate Professionals

McKenzie’s story is a masterclass in scaling a real estate business. Here are some key lessons:

1. Leverage Systems: Implement tools like the DTD2 system to ensure consistent client engagement.
2. Find Your Niche: Specializing in a market segment, like acreage sales, can set you apart and attract referrals.
3. Empower Your Team: Delegate responsibilities to talented team members to free up your time for strategy.
4. Balance Matters: Strong personal systems are essential for managing both your business and personal life effectively.

Final Thoughts

McKenzie Shelton’s journey demonstrates the power of combining specialization, systems, and strong leadership. Whether you’re a solo agent or building a team, her strategies offer valuable insights to help you grow your business while maintaining balance.

To hear more about McKenzie’s story and actionable tips, check out her full interview on The OT Only Teams for Real Estate Podcast.

Transcript

Daren Phillipy  00:04

You’re already recording. Daren, I know that now I have to edit this whole thing. Thanks. Sean, Hey everybody. Welcome to the OT. Um, I’m so excited to have you guys here today, because we got someone super cool. McKenzie Shelton, I think she covers like two states. Her name of her team is called Prairie and pine Real Estate Group. And she she covers eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. The last 12 months, she’s done 167 units and $45 million in volume, and she runs a farm. And so you guys gonna love, love hanging out with her. Mackenzie, tell us a little bit about yourself. What y’all about?

McKenzie Shelton  00:53

Wow. Well, that was a pretty good introduction there. Yes. So I have run prairie and pine Real Estate Group for a little over five years now. We actually just celebrated our fifth year anniversary. I’ve been licensed for 10 years, and service actually two markets in Nebraska and like one to two markets in southwest Iowa. We cover a very wide area, because I kind of set my team up that way. So love it.

Daren Phillipy  01:28

I love it. What’d you do before you got into the real estate

01:32

world? I actually worked in property management, so literally, my entire adult life has revolved around real estate, and that was not my plan at all. But I graduated college in 2010 when noone could get a job doing just about anything, and so I just took the very first job that I could at an apartment complex as a leasing consultant, and it kind of just snowballed from there. So so

Daren Phillipy  01:55

cool. Love it. So tell us a little bit about your org chart.

02:01

Yes. So I am the team leader, CEO, owner. We have three full time agents on our team. We have a full time showing assistant. We have a director of operations and a transaction coordinator.

Daren Phillipy  02:19

Perfect. Love it. How many? How many agents do you have?

02:23

So three full time agents and a full time showing assistant who is licensed,

Daren Phillipy  02:27

great. And those are they able to listings and buys

02:32

both? Yes. So I originally actually set up our team that we had like myself and my former business partner just taking listings, and then we had specific agents for for doing buy side transactions. But to just be completely honest, it wasn’t working the way that we intended for it to and so we just kind of shifted a little bit a few years ago, and the agents that we currently have on the team, they can take listings. They can take buyers. Are showing assistant will most likely be moving into a role at some point where he is my full time buyer’s agent and taking all of my buyers. So I’m almost going to be running to, I guess, two different kind of org charts in one, but that that may not be here in, like, the very near future. So yeah,

Daren Phillipy  03:31

gotcha. And Little side note, what’s the geographic area that you cover? Like, how many miles?

03:38

Oh, gosh, we cover probably a span of 300 miles or so. We are we go basically anywhere between an hour to, like, two hours from the Omaha, Nebraska metro area. So yeah, it’s, it’s a pretty expansive area. Awesome,

Daren Phillipy  04:01

awesome. So how do you how do you create leads in such a large, large geographic area? What does that look like? Yeah.

04:08

So I’m very fortunate that I actually grew up in Omaha and went to college in Lincoln, Nebraska, which is one of the markets that we cover. And then I live in southwest Iowa now, so part of the reason that I’ve taken on all three of those areas is because I have some sort of connection and tie to all of them. But beyond that, my I decided to structure our team in such a way that I am teaching our agents how to go and basically get their own business very consistently. And I figured out that when I’m able to essentially teach, I mean, it’s a lot of the things that we learn in kW, right? It’s nothing, it’s not, it’s not like, I’m like, taking some brand new i. Idea and regurgitating, or, you know, kind of creating that I’m just regurgitating what I’ve learned through my time at KW, through going to bold things like that. But when I’m able to kind of help them, you know, get those systems and processes going like that’s really what keeps them with me for years, is, is because I’m I’m helping them kind of cut through all of the noise and maybe just get very focused with the systems and processes on how to go get their own business. So okay,

Daren Phillipy  05:29

so what does that look like? Then, if you’re, it sounds like what your your superpower is, is teaching those the models of teaching. Yeah. So what does that look like Yeah,

05:41

so when a new agent joins our team, I’ll just kind of give an example. So I had a girl join our team in at the towards the end of 2022 so she’s been with us for almost two years now, and she actually came to me as a part time agent. She was still working in healthcare full time, and wanted to transition away from healthcare into real estate full time. And basically, what we kind of just started with is, like, there are so many agents out there that don’t even have like, a database, right, or they don’t even have like, everybody’s information written down. And this girl, for instance, like she didn’t even know how to do lead generation. She literally just waited for people to call her, or she would come across somebody who would ask her how real estate is going, and somehow she’d magically end up with a deal, right? So we just started with very simple like, kW systems. Of like, we now need to go get a database, get all of you know everybody in your phone, get their email, their phone number, their physical address, start there. And she is very lucky. And I told her this kind of from day one, she is. She grew up in a small town in southwest Iowa, and knows everyone, like everywhere I go, they know who Jen is, right? So once she was just able to get organized with all of that, and then we use the DTD two, and we do four events throughout the year that give people a reason for us to be like, kind of talking to them. When we got all of that kind of systematized, like, she’s just her alone. She’s going to close almost 40 deals this year, and that’s literally just from getting organized. So, yeah, I mean, she, I think she needs, she needs those systems and processes, and that’s, and those are all the agents on my team. That’s what they need. So, so how

Daren Phillipy  07:37

do you find those? Because my guess is that the MLS that MLS is that you’re a member of they don’t have a ton, like, Vegas has got like 16,000 people in our MLS. Yeah, I think that’s the size of your town. How do you find those talented people that come? And I know this isn’t the leverage portion, but we’re talking about the leads and and getting those people and your team and getting them their leads and stuff. How do you how do you do that?

08:07

Um, as far as, like, just, uh, finding people to to do business with us, basically that

Daren Phillipy  08:15

That’s right, because, you know, you, you, you said you get people to come in. The value is you’re going to give them the structure, yeah, and the more people you get to join your team, the more larger your database gets to be able to teach them how to do that. So how do you do that?

08:32

So I’ll use another example of a girl that’s currently on our team, like she actually moved here just a couple years ago and doesn’t know anyone, and so she basically started with a database of zero people. And so we just started with very simple things like calling expireds canceled and door knocking to grow the database that she already has. Now, like me, personally, I’m to the point where I’m just strictly growing my database based on referrals and meeting you know people that I already know, or joining an organization like I’m a part of my small towns community organization to help with things like that. So I mean, that’s kind of how we we I believe in more organic ways of growing your database, rather than just sitting around and cold calling, although we do call expireds and canceled, I personally don’t like for sale by owner, so you won’t find me calling them, but we but like the girl who didn’t have a database at all, like she she went ahead and did that because that was one way for her to grow her database, right? So you kind of have to dip your toe in every single thing before you can kind of really hone in on what you either like to do, or actually you know want to do, but, but before that, you’ve gotta grow a huge database. Like the like the girl that I was referring to, she went from she’s only been licensed for a little over 12 months, she went from basically having zero people to 400 within a year, and it was doing. All of those things. So

Daren Phillipy  10:01

okay, I love that. So you do events, and I’m assuming that’s why you said you’d like to build your database and get your business organically. What is what are those events? Are they like cow milking contests and stuff like that? Or I’m just I don’t know. No,

10:16

definitely not. No, total ignorance. Over here, I grew up on a farm too. Yeah. So we we actually try to do kind of four bigger events throughout the year, and then we’ll sprinkle in some like giveaways or pop by ideas, things like that. We kind of call those like mini events throughout the year. But our really, really big one that we’ve been doing for four years now is we have a kind of museum esque type thing down in downtown Omaha, and we actually have a really big Christmas event where we pay for our people’s entry into this museum, and then their kids can actually Go take a picture with Santa. And there’s like, this massive, when I say massive, I mean, like, think about the tallest Christmas tree that you could ever imagine in your whole life in this museum. And there’s like, actual, like, there’s like, an actual whole ceremony where they go out and find the tree and cut it down and then decorate it. And it’s like, it’s a really big thing in Omaha, so people like kind of clamor to be able to do that event. I would say that’s our biggest event that we do. And we actually have to cap how many people can come to it, because otherwise I I might not be able to pay for everybody to come. But we’ve, we’ve just done, like recently, a really big giveaway that went over really well with there’s a huge pumpkin patch that we have here in the Omaha area, so people can go and visit that. We actually did four season passes to that which they are kind of expensive. They’re like, almost 100 bucks a person. So we do things like that, and then we use that as a way through our DTD to to talk to all of those people throughout the year. Um, because I always came from a place of like, I don’t want to just four times throughout the year be like, Hey, how are you doing? Do you know anybody looking to buy or sell? It just doesn’t come across. Well, to me, I almost wanted to be able to give them something in return for asking for the referral at some point. So that was kind of the idea that we came up with, was intentionally talking to all of those people leading up to either the event or the giveaway, and saying, and then saying, Oh, hey, by the way, do you know anybody looking to buy or sell? So love

Daren Phillipy  12:37

it. So now you just little side note, we have a lot of people who who aren’t kW participating, listen. So the the DTD two, could you just explain what that is, so people get it?

12:49

Yes, yes. Um, okay, so I am, like, super big into systems and processes, because that’s how I need to run my life. So when I learned what the DTD two was, I was like, Yes, this is what, exactly what I need to be able to know who I need to talk to every single week, 52 weeks out of the year. So it’s basically a schedule with a like, a, basically two letters of like you can do first or last name. It really doesn’t matter, but it would be like this week on what’s what’s today, September, September, the week of September 9, you call A and J in your database, and then you text anybody with the letter M in you know, you can use, like I said, first or last name for that, I’ve always just used first and so then, literally, 52 weeks out of the year, you know exactly who you’re talking to, and they set up the schedule so that you’re talking to those people four times a year. And that way you’re not kind of almost like forgetting, like, oh, I talked to that person a month ago. I don’t know when I last talked to that person. It’s just very systematized. So, yeah, so

Daren Phillipy  14:01

cool. That’s perfect. Let’s talk a little bit about your listings. How are you able to because I have a feeling I grew up in a small town, and I know how important reputation is. And how do you use your listings to as leverage, and what do you do unique in

14:19

your listings? So this is going to be probably a little unique for my area, but hopefully, maybe somebody can get some inspiration for their own area for this. So I did not grow up in a small town. I did not grow up on a farm. I i was like city girl hardcore, I happen to marry a guy who is not about anything but the country life. So when, so when we got married several years ago and moved out to the country, I realized that I really loved acreage living and. And living, you know, on land with, you know, very few neighbors and things like that and that kind of snowballed into helping other people with, with that side of things. Whoops,

15:21

as he you’re sharing your screen.

15:30

So so sorry. I i ended up kind of getting dubbed the acreage Queen because I was selling so much land and acreages and things like that, and so I’ve kind of capitalized on that the last several years. And that’s really, honestly, what has gotten me the majority of my business to this point, which is also part of the reason that I named my team when I named it, because it all kind of like ties in together, basically, but I’m really focused on a specific niche, and I think I get to stand out because of that, even if I’m helping somebody with a regular residential sale or maybe even a commercial sale for, you know, like a business or something like that. It really does allow me to stand out within the agents around my community. So, yeah, so, so cool.

Daren Phillipy  16:31

And, yeah, like, it, like you said, there’s not a whole lot of acreage here in Vegas, and there are across other places. And at the same time, the concept is, I mean, we have a lot of condos. Yeah, condos do do luxury, whatever that is. You find that niche, and you just lean into that

16:48

well. And the other thing that kind of happened with niching down in the market is I get a ton of agent referrals, even within my own area, because people kind of go, mm, I don’t know anything about land. I’m just going to give it to McKinsey instead. So I would be the same way, like, if someone came to me and wanted to buy a condo, I know of two agents in my market that I would be like, Oh, I’m giving that deal to them, because I don’t know anything about condos. So

Daren Phillipy  17:19

Laura, does that sound familiar? Laura,

17:23

yep, it’s The LADIES rep in the land here. There

17:27

we go. Perfect.

Daren Phillipy  17:29

Laura just figured that sucker out. She just like, leaned into it and became the go to for everybody in the office that says, I don’t want to touch it. And they go to,

17:37

Laura, that’s basically what I am. Yeah, yup.

Daren Phillipy  17:41

So cool. Let’s I’d like to talk a little bit about what it’s like to grow or lead a team in two states while running a farm and doing a garden and all the other things like that. You said you’re a massive systems person. Would you? Will? You share with us some of your systems that that allow you to be able to do so much?

18:01

Yeah, so let’s kind of start with some personal systems, because I think if you don’t have your personal life together, you can’t have your professional life together. So I am a mom of four. I have a 1614, seven and three year old, and I am married, so thank goodness I do have a super awesome partner in life, but one of just a couple simple things that we do every single week in order to keep our lives running very smoothly, every Sunday evening, my husband and I have a meeting where we basically meet and go over what’s going to be happening for that week. What does he have to do? What do I have to do? Because he also runs his own business. He is a home inspector, so our weeks look very different every single week. So we kind of need to know who’s got what and who’s picking up what kid, and who’s helping get this kid to that practice and all of those things. So that is one system that we just have in place. One of the other ones is we have a family calendar in actually two different places. We have one physical calendar within our house that I update every single month with all of the activities that our family has going on. And then my husband and I also have that on our Google calendar as well, so that we can make sure that we’re staying on track with all of that. And then, just personally as a mom, this might not apply to some of the people in the room, whether you’re the person that cooks in your house or not, but I actually meal plan every single week, and then I go grocery shopping based on what I have on my list, so that, again, we can do our best to say systematized, and I’m not then very chaotic in the evenings, when we’ve got a million things going on. So yeah, a little, little

Daren Phillipy  19:51

side note, are you on the disc test? Are you more of a DC? Is that where you’re at? Yes, correct.

19:59

I. Did you know, kind

Daren Phillipy  20:01

of curious about that, by the way, when we were talking about calendars, uh, Jay’s taking notes like crazy. I know he’s like, Man, I gotta be on the same page. Yes. Okay, so, so you’ve taken care of your personal portion. What other systems do you have to run your team? Yes.

20:17

So, um, I, my director of operations is amazing at kind of helping with all of the rest of those things. So we we meet as a team every single Tuesday, and then we actually alternate between doing that on Zoom or in person, even though some of us live a little bit farther away. I do think it’s really important that we get together in person as a team, so just for the bonding and the camaraderie and and I don’t know, the personal connection side of things, so we do that just twice a month, though, because otherwise it would be, I think, way too much for everybody to travel to the low we end up meeting in Omaha is where we meet, because it’s kind of central. But then I meet with each of my agents, also on Tuesday, for 30 minutes, and they get a one on one meeting with me to kind of go over anything that is pressing for them. I do kind of let that be their time to ask me questions, you know, bring things, whatever they kind of need to talk about at that time. We do, of course, go over numbers and where they’re at with, you know, their pendings and things like that, but I really try to let that time just be focused on what’s troubling them at that time. And then as far as other systems and processes like, we use something called wise agent. It’s a if, if anybody uses that CRM, I

Daren Phillipy  21:48

used to use that years ago. That’s,

21:51

I love it, yes. So we, we really love using wise agent, just because it’s very it’s very easy to use, and also it lets our whole team kind of be integrated into into one, and then our transaction coordinator and our do use monday.com for basically all of our checklists and processes for literally everything that we could possibly need a process for. And that also we use that also for kind of longer term projects, like, for instance, we’re working on kind of updating and recreating an operations manual so that as we add agents, we can kind of fit them in a little bit better with some of the things that I would like to have more systematized. We have processes for onboarding new agents for six month reviews, year long reviews. I mean, I I try to have a system for just about anything that we could have come up. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  22:51

so, so good. And I’ve never heard of monday.com so I pulled this up. Looks like a cool tool you use that what and where. I know this is like an extra commercial whatever. I don’t really care. How do you use monday.com in your business? So

23:09

basically, we use it almost as, like a checklist form for like, for instance, if we have a new listing that’s going to go on the market. So we have an entire checklist, systems process for things that our transaction coordinator needs to do, that the agent needs to do, that our showing assistant needs to do. Everybody has a different task, you know, assigned to them for that same thing. With going under contract, we have literally everything listed from start to finish as to what needs to be done. So that not only is our transaction coordinator, you know, knowing what she needs to do, but the agent knows exactly where she is in that process. The agent can put notes in if there’s something different and special that happens. And then, like I said, we use that for longer term projects as well, kind of, you know, getting a system in place for, like, what do we need to do? For instance, for an operation manual here, you know, we need a system, a new system for for sale by owners. We need a new system for onboarding agents. We need all of these things. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  24:14

so cool. What? What? If you’re a systems person, what is the most valuable system that you like. I gotta have this system. And why is that so valuable to you and your team? Yeah,

24:27

good question. I would say. I would say our 3060, 90 for onboarding a new agent to our team, I have relied on that so heavily when we have a new agent join our team. And I really believe the difference between an agent that has made it on my team and an agent that has not is those first 90 days. And if they and really it, it is set up. So that if they choose to plug in and start playing, like, within 90 days, they will probably have one closing and probably another pending. Like, that’s the way it’s designed to be. If they choose not to plug and play, it becomes very obvious very quick, and they kind of self select themselves out. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  25:22

perfect. So then, would you mind sharing, like, if I could you pull one up and we shared your screen on on 36 because I think you’re you’re exactly right teams, when they have someone joining their team, there’s a lot of what, how do I get a fast start and having a career 3060, 90, so important. And the when I’m coaching teams that are, you know they’re building your team. What do you need to do to remove yourself as much as possible with the links and making it so they don’t even need you to to do what they need to do. And so I’d love to see what your 3060, 90 looks like for yes,

26:01

here, hold on one second. So we actually have, I’ll show you, I’ll show you a couple different things. So I’ll show you the 3060, 90 that we show the agent specifically. And then I’ll actually show you a basically, kind of an onboarding task list that I have for our doo, and what she kind of helps with from start to finish. That would be so awesome. Okay, let’s see here.

Daren Phillipy  26:38

Ozzy, did you want to share your screen while we’re at it,

26:41

yeah, but it’s not going to be as impactful as in Kenzie, okay,

26:51

this is going to pull up sometimes out in the six. You know, my internet’s a little slow, so sorry. Just be patient with me for great.

Daren Phillipy  27:04

I guarantee you. Everybody’s excited to see this. Okay, and I did kind of ask you to do this on on the fly. So

27:15

okay, let me share my screen here. I

27:24

uh, here we go.

27:29

Okay, so Can everybody see this?

Daren Phillipy  27:32

It’s coming. It’s working hard. There you go. Got it.

27:35

Okay, cool. Okay, so this is just one example that we we basically used for an agent that actually self selected himself. Outlets last year so, but basically 30 days. So we have packets and pamphlets, um specifically for certain team processes, systems are kind of our value proposition, things like that, that we use for listings and buy sides. So the very first thing is like they need to know how how to basically talk about all of that, creating a buyer, search, learning how to do a CMA, I make them read the mrea, because I think that that’s super important, too, and then basically creating a pipeline, you know, putting all of your things in your database, and then we get to the point where they get to start taking on leads towards the end of those 30 days. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  28:40

real, real quick. So what? What are your non negotiables after 30 days? After they go that 30 days, is it I do everything but two, and I’m good, do I have to do all of them? What’s non negotiable?

28:55

They have to do all of them. Yep, yep. And if they don’t do all of this, I’m, I actually had one person that did not read, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, and she was like, I’m, I’m telling you, I tried. Like, I just she, she just wasn’t great at reading. So then we had the conversation of, like, well, would audible maybe be a better option for you, you know, that sort of thing. So I’m not like, I’m not like, Absolutely, like, no exceptions. Like, we, you know, I want to have a conversation about it. But this, this really, like, all of these things in the 3060, 90, like, need to be done by the end of 90 days, because otherwise, it’s been proven for me, since I’ve had my team for five years, that it literally, if you don’t do all of these things, I know you’re not going to be in production, because I watch agents and not end up being in production. So

Daren Phillipy  29:47

So then, real quick, let’s, let’s say I’m, I’m an agent, and I do all of those things, except for add five contacts to my database weekly. Let’s say I do that two of the, two of the. Of weeks of the 30 day, yeah, what do you what does that look like? Is it bounce? Is it okay? I’ll coach you through it, and we’ll give you another 30 days.

30:12

Um, I would probably want to know what the situation is. Um, I again, like, I’m not going to be absolutely hard nosed on this. But I will say I can usually sense whether it was, you know, them just not taking the time. Because, again, when you’re an independent contractor, like I’m not asking you to necessarily sit in the office every single day and complete these tasks like you do need to be a self starter and go do this by your own.

Daren Phillipy  30:44

You know, by yourself. And five contacts a week is a pretty low. It’s it’s

30:48

pretty low. So, so this was for a particular person that did not really have much of well, really, like, no database at all. So I do like to somewhat tailor it to the person themselves, because I don’t want to set them up for failure yet. I want them to still be able to get into production really quick. So yeah, awesome. I love

Daren Phillipy  31:15

it. Let’s check out that other onboarding for your do.

31:21

Let’s see here. Okay, can you guys see this? Not

Daren Phillipy  31:26

quite we see still at 3060,

31:29

90. Okay, hold on, maybe I’m just not doing this right? Oh, here we go. I

31:49

did that work?

31:55

Yeah, we can see a spreadsheet. Okay,

31:57

right, okay, cool, so, this is just basically kind of a checklist for what our doo kind of does from start to finish when we have a new agent join and and this is kind of basically like week one, essentially because all of these things kind of need To be done within that first week. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  32:21

very cool. I love it, yeah. So thank you for sharing that. I appreciate that. What? What have you What have you learned over the last 12 months running your team?

32:35

Good question, I would say, probably the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that leverage works. I was in a place a few years ago. I mentioned this to you before we kind of started. So I had a business partner up until basically the middle of 2021 and he took on a lot of the administrative side of things, where as I was, like, out there doing all of kind of the lead generation side of things. And when we parted ways and I took over the team on my own, I was actually just a couple months from giving birth to my daughter, and so with all of that kind of chaos happening. And then I actually ended up having to fire my assistant at the time, and there was just, there’s just, like, a lot of things kind of going on. I had to kind of take on a lot of tasks that I at one point were was not taking on anymore. And so I really have learned to re appreciate the having a great do, being able to hire a transaction coordinator, because we just hired her within this last year. All of those things are super important so that I now can go focus on other things, or not just be stretched so thin that I’m not able to give my full attention to things like our farm or any of the other my husband and I also own rental properties, and we flip houses and things like that. So I Yes, of course we do, but, but we were just kind of like stretched so thin for a couple years that, like leverage is key, not only in getting your time back, but really being able to make more money, like I it, that really is the difference. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  34:34

so smart, so smart. What’s the mistake you’ve learned from the most something screwed up on and you’re like, Man, I’m lesson learned.

34:46

Yeah, I, unfortunately, over the last probably two years, have not necessarily listened to my my my gut on a couple agent hires. Um. Um, and I really should have just listened to my gut, so I kind of didn’t waste any time with them that probably that that was time that could have been used elsewhere, um, maybe finding real talent, that sort of thing. So Gotcha. Okay,

Daren Phillipy  35:15

so I’ve got one last question. But this is now Jay and Scott, this is when you guys can push a little digital button, raise your hand so any anybody in the room, if you have any questions, raise your digital hand. So you run a farm of 40 acres. You haven’t you didn’t tell say that to everybody, but you told that to me. What is the hardest job on that farm?

35:41

The horses, which you wouldn’t think it would be the horses, but horses are high maintenance. And, yeah, they’re just, they’re a lot of work, and they’re, they’re very emotional animals. So yeah, just even, just even going out and riding them like every single day is different. And yeah, it is. It’s a, they’re a lot of work.

Daren Phillipy  36:03

So is it? Is it just like having them, feeding them, cleaning up after them, loving them, or all,

36:10

all of the above, they’re, they’re just a lot of work. Um, and it’s funny, because, again, I didn’t grow up with things like that, like my husband, I think, was kind of, he grew up with horses, so he was kind of like, yeah, okay, this is going to be a lot of work. And I was kind of like, What are you talking about, you know, but yeah, after having them for a few years now, they are absolutely the most work on our farm.

Daren Phillipy  36:34

So this is So, this is so, so, so good. My when I grew up, my mom, when I was in trouble, she would make me do something that just sucked, pick up trash around the house or outside, or stack wood or whatever. When your kids don’t, they’re you’re trying to bust their chops for something. What is the chore you give make them do?

36:55

Oh, that’s good. Uh, chop wood. Chop

Daren Phillipy  37:00

wood. I knew it, yeah, I freaking that it’s that that would even even as a 25 year old, I go visit home and my dad’s to see that stack of wood. I want you to move it over there. And no reason. He just wants me to move it.

37:12

Yeah, yep, seriously.

Daren Phillipy  37:16

All right. Ozzy, your time.

37:19

Hey, Mackenzie, thank you so much for sharing with us today. And I’m gonna ask a question. Maybe you already said it earlier, but I was so busy trying to share my screen and playing with the zoom settings. So I’m sorry about that, so I apologize, but with your team members, what did you say? Were your splits? Are you 5050? Across the board? Or is it different for a different folk?

37:42

No, I didn’t share that, and that is a great question, so I’m probably going to be a little unorthodox here in how we have this is what I figured out has worked for me and my team. Okay, so just preface with saying, like, I don’t think that there is one right answer for this. So agents, when they join our team, we have a minimum production standard of 24 units in a year. So 24 from basically January to December, they need to be able to produce that much. If somebody, honestly, if somebody hit 22 in a year. I’m not going to be like you’re off the team. There was probably a reason for that, but 24 is the goal. Okay, that first year that they are on the team, they are on a 5050 split until they hit 24 transactions in a year. So if they only hit 22 in that year, they’re still on a 5050 split for the following year, once they hit 24 transactions in a year, they go to a 7030 split, until they hit 200,000 in g in total, GCI prior to splits, and then they get 100% of their deals for the rest of the year. I’ve only ever had one agent that has managed to do that, because usually my agents are closing between 25 and 35 transactions in our area. So

39:08

great. Thanks for explaining that. Super clear. Next question is, what is the lead distribution between you and your agents? Do you say you don’t have to lead gen, I give you all the leads. Is it 5050? Like I expect you to get half of the business. I provide half versus all on them to get their own business.

39:26

It is all well, let me rephrase that. It is 90% on them to go get their own business. I give them the tools and the systems and processes to be able to learn how to go do that. I do provide a small amount of realtor.com leads that are intended to be supplemental. That’s all they are. And then I provide, I pay for an auto dialer for them to be able to use that if they so choose. I have agents that. Choose to use that. And then I have agents that have such a big database that they don’t need to use that at all. So I am paying for things like, if they go door knocking, I pay for their flyers, or if we are we do occasionally farm specific neighborhoods. So like, I’ll pay for the marketing materials for things like that, but they need to go out and get their own business. So,

40:24

Oh, perfect. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate you. Thank you, Mackenzie,

40:27

yeah, absolutely great

Daren Phillipy  40:29

question. Oz real on addition to Ozzy’s question, so even if your agent is doing a listing for you, and they’ve done the 25 plus, are you also still paying for everything and doing a 7030

40:45

so we have been able to keep our costs pretty low on our listings. So when they join the team like we have team signs that they can put their writers in and stuff like that, they’re, they’re, I’ve been, I’ve been able to keep a lot of that stuff. Pretty inexpensive. Photos in our area are not very much like, we’re talking 100 to $150 for, you know, for listing photos. And then if it’s like a specific like land or acreage sale or something like that, we’ll do drone photos and videos and things like that. Um, I actually have my staging certification. So a lot of times, if it’s a house that we’re going to be doing some staging on, like, I have this the stuff. So a lot of that we we keep our costs super, super low on our listings, so I don’t mind continuing to pay for those things. Now, if they’re wanting to go outside of like, kind of what the norm is on some of those things. Like, I had an agent recently that was like, Hey, I have a regular residential sale, but it’s a super awesome corner lot. Can we do drone photos for it? And I said, Yeah, sure, if you pay for them, because she’s on a 7030 split. So,

Daren Phillipy  41:58

yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Love it. Great. Thank you for doing that, Ivy.

42:02

Hi, awesome, by the way. Thank you. I’d love seeing your 3060, 90 and the task list. That’s awesome. So I have a quick question for you, which is, what are the top five reasons, or top three, whatever you can think of, of what attracts people to your team and that stay with your team. Like, right? Because we’re in Vegas, so a lot of us, we have transiency. But you know, what really is that core value is kind of what I’m looking for, like, what really brings people to you and then stays with you?

42:39

Yeah? Great question. So I’m very lucky that I have actually had former agents on the team and current agents on the team actually give testimonials that I use for recruiting new agents. So what I hear people say is that I’m really great at training them, and and that’s kind of originally what attracted them to the team, is that, like we kind of, again, like I’ve talked about, have proven systems and processes that get people into production really quickly, and that just goes back to training them on exactly what to do. Because I think that’s the biggest complaint that at least we hear in our area, is agents get their license. I’m sure this is similar other places like, and then it’s kind of like, okay, what do I do now? Right? So I’m, I’m especially newer agents, like, I’m helping them get into production very quickly. And then I think, what has I mean, most of my agents have been like, the current agents that are on my team have all been with me for two years or more. At this point, I had previous agents that were on the team for like, three years before they left, and what I think has kept them is we are very tight knit, and they can literally call anyone on the team to ask questions. It doesn’t just have to be about me, even though geographically, we are not necessarily, you know, right down the road from each other. We are a super close knit group of people, and I and I think it does go back to I think there is a factor of loyalty there, because I helped them do things that they never thought were possible in their lives. Like I have a I have a girl that came on my team that used to be a teacher, and she was like, I I can’t even fathom making six figures a year. And she literally, like, was like $5,000 short of doing that her very first year in real estate like so that’s the kind of things that I think it just creates the sense of loyalty on the team. So, yeah,

44:49

awesome, awesome. Okay, thank you because I someone else has a question after me, but thank you so much. Yes, you’re welcome.

Daren Phillipy  44:55

Awesome question. Ivy, nice to have you back. Laura, love hearing your question. Is,

45:00

yeah. So this isn’t a team question, but as far as land goes, because I don’t get to talk to many other people who do land, do you have, yeah? Do you have a specific way that you target to get land listings? Anything?

45:15

Yeah, yep. So we, we’ve done a couple different things throughout the years, to be honest, because our area is still pretty rural. A lot of it is just following the DTD to and asking other people for business. But one of the things that we do for every single one of our acreage or like land listings is, once we get it under contract, we are then sending out postcards to surrounding areas, kind of saying, like, hey, we sold this. Like, are you interested in, you know, possibly selling and then we follow that up. We do actually Facebook ads and leads for that too, to try and generate basically more listings that are like that.

46:03

So, okay, more like, just sold under contract. Yes, okay, yeah, yeah. All right, thank you.

Daren Phillipy  46:11

Awesome question, Laura, I got another question. What’s your next step? Like, what’s the one thing that you’re not doing that you should be doing, or you going to start doing? Yeah,

46:22

I need to add agents to the team. Um, so we, we kind of got to a point where we were growing, and then we kind of lost a few people that, to be honest, it was a, it was like a good thing that we lost those people, but we’ve been somewhat stagnant that kind of into the second half of this year. I really need to add two to three agents to the team in order for me to keep stepping back in production. Because right now I am still in production, I will close about 30 units this year. Now that’s from just a few years ago, closing like I closed like 72 personally, just a few years ago. So the 30 probably seems like a lot to some people, but like, that’s not very much for me, so I need to just kind of keep backing down on production, and the only way that I can do that is to add agents to the team. But something very exciting has happened for me very recently that I’m actually getting to do a mastermind kind of coaching group with Diana kakoska and John Maxwell. And so I’m really hoping that I will be able to be surrounded by people that are just light years ahead of me, and kind of get some inspiration from them on how to move forward with that. So, yeah,

Daren Phillipy  47:50

so cool that is. So Donna kokoska came here a few months ago, and I got to have dinner with her, and she is, I didn’t expect her to be as cool as she was like, I’ve seen her on stage, but she’s pretty, pretty awesome, just sitting next to you. So seriously,

48:05

this is, this is like the third or fourth time. So when I went to mega camp just recently, I actually got to have like a one on one coaching session with her, and it was like, Mind Blow. I’m such a fan girl. So yeah, it is. Sorry if nobody knows who Diana is, but she is just amazing. So,

48:22

well, a little amazing. Yes,

Daren Phillipy  48:26

this is for Jade too. I also was hanging out with Mo Anderson a couple of days ago, just because that’s, that’s who I am. Um, Ozzy, go ahead and go ahead and ask your question.

48:38

Wait, sorry, I have. ADHD, so did you say that you’re getting coached by Diana, or did you attend her event?

48:45

No, so I am in a group coaching program with Diane. Diana and John Maxwell are running it. So wow, that’s

48:55

That’s awesome. Yeah. And next question was you said your next level of growth for use to recruit more agents into your team. Do you prefer the new agents that you can mold and train, or do you prefer seasoned agents that you don’t have to like, babysit and manage so much? What’s your preferred?

49:14

That is, that is a really good question. So if you would have asked me this two years ago, I would have said brand new agents that I can turn exactly into myself and have them be exactly, you know, do business, exactly how I do it, but because I am needing to prioritize my time elsewhere. Now, I really do need to find people who maybe are in production, but just not the production level that they would like to be at. And I will tell you what that’s part of, and I’m just being completely candid with you that is part of my struggle right now, is getting getting people even to meet with me. Um, is is just it? It is hard. And I don’t know if it’s just hard in my area or if this is just very common, but this is kind of a very new challenge for me and I, and I am definitely kind of hitting some roadblocks. So I’m really hoping to kind of, like I said, get some coaching around this, so that I can really, because I know that, I know that I have something valuable to give to those people. It’s just getting them to agree to meet with me so that they can see the value. So, you know what

50:31

Daren is actually his skill set. Is that exactly right, Daren?

50:35

So that’s why I was like, Oh, I’m, I’m very, I’m very glad that we got connected, because I think you might be somebody that can help me with this

50:45

one or two minutes that you would give her advice and say,

50:48

Yes, I would love some advice. Give

Daren Phillipy  50:50

it. I’ll give her. I’ll give her all the time she ever wants. I’ll spend hours and hours, but I will tell you, remember, for when you are talking to agents and looking for talent. Everybody is in their positive present. Everybody’s happy where they’re at. They also want to look good and be right. So, so your job is to ask them questions, to uncover where their holes are, where they could still look good and be right, and then bring them through that positive present, negative present, negative future, positive future. Bring them through that whole exercise and and also remember this, because I’ve had conversations with Jay on this too. Teams, remember who you are, you you bring a lot to the table. They’re probably broke, or they’re probably not making the money that they need to and so when you start asking them questions, you’re not going to say, Hey, can you share some tips? What you’re going to say is, these are some of the things that I’m actually doing where our agents are flourishing. If I could share with you a couple of tips, would that help you, and that will bring the appointment in, and then the conversation is not about joining your team. The conversation is about their business. And then what happens is your team is the gap that fills where they’re at to where they want to go. Sure, you’re that solution. You don’t lead with team and splits and values and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, and so, but I’m happy to go into that deeper. I did that mainly just for anybody else who’s listening. That’s a short answer of of going out there and finding talent. Yeah, I love that. Thank you. Yeah, you’re welcome. Oh, look at that. Ozzy’s giving hearts. He knows where the heart button is on this thing,

52:38

therefore Mackenzie, because she’s learning based and coachable So, but thank you Daren for also.

52:44

Thank you

Daren Phillipy  52:45

awesome guys. Well, hey, Mackenzie, we are dying to send referrals to you. So if somebody send referrals to you, where would they, how would, what would be the best way for them to do get referrals to you, and what areas, again, that are we do cover.

53:00

Yes, um, so major cities that we cover are Omaha, Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and any of the surrounding areas around there. So if you look it up on a map, and it’s within about an hour to two hours of there, we’re probably the people for you. Um, I would say my, my phone number is going to be the best way. So my cell phone number is 402-680-8213, and you can also look me up if you if you are kW, or even if you just look me up on Realtor com or something like that. My contact info is out there, and I do my best to always answer so

Daren Phillipy  53:41

Kinsey, you are awesome. You’re big. You got lots of fans here. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for your time. I loved your systems. We’re really grateful for you, and I’d love to spend more time with you and help you a little bit with finding those

53:58

those people out there. Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Well,

Daren Phillipy  54:02

that’s pretty much it, guys. I will see a little side note. Little side note, just in case you don’t bail. We’ve got a guest host next week. I’m actually going to be out of town. I’m going to see a concert with my wife, and so I’ve asked Sean Marion to be the guest host for next week. So it should be exciting. That’s it. I’m out of here. I’m.