Often the best strategies are doomed by forces outside of a business owner’s control or by poor execution. Other times, a well-executed plan meets the right market conditions or a pressing need, and great results follow. If recent history is any indication, super-realtor Dawn McKenna and her Dawn McKenna Group have the perfect plan for today’s market.

Having achieved as much success as possible in Hinsdale, including regularly ranking since 2007 as Coldwell Banker Realty’s No. 1 agent in Hinsdale, the state of Illinois, and the Midwest; by 2016, McKenna’s clients started asking for help elsewhere. Most often requested were Western Springs, Chicago’s downtown neighborhoods, North Shore suburbs, and Naples, Florida. Sensing an opportunity, McKenna formed the Dawn McKenna Group. Choosing local agents that shared her vision, McKenna built one of the nation’s most successful real estate teams with 19 agents and offices in Hinsdale, Winnetka, Lake Forest, Chicago, and Naples.

McKenna’s strategy is simple—expand into feeder and destination markets with local experts and help them leverage McKenna’s stylish marketing, award-winning website (dawnmckennagroup.com), powerful social media presence, and global reach.

“We wanted to be there for our clients’ whole life cycle, from their first Chicago apartment to their move to the suburbs, and then when they’re ready for Naples’s sun, taxes, or both,” McKenna says.

It looks like McKenna was right. With over $249 million in transactions and more than 500 satisfied Chicago renters in 2019, the Dawn McKenna Group was Coldwell Banker Realty’s No. 1 team in not only Hinsdale, but Western Springs, the state of Illinois, and the Midwest, as well as the No. 3 team nationally. The group’s new rental team shot to No. 1 in Illinois and No. 10 nationally among Coldwell Banker Realty’s large rental teams, while the Naples office is now Coldwell Banker Realty’s No. 2 Naples small team and a Coldwell Banker International President’s Circle top 100 Florida small team.

Then Covid-19 broke out and, despite real estate being deemed essential, many realtors froze. Not McKenna.

“Whether due to job changes, financial issues, or pre-Covid-19 plans, our clients still needed to buy, sell, and rent,” said McKenna. “We told them we’d do what it would take to be there for them.”

Rapidly adopting new techniques and technologies to proven practices, the Dawn McKenna Group has been there. Since March 1, the Dawn McKenna Group has closed more than $76 million in sales with more than $46 million under contract.

“We’re not nurses or doctors or first responders. They’re heroes. But I’m very proud of my team,” McKenna says. “Our clients need us and we’re finding ways to help them.”

Whether it was the booming stock market, the disparity in taxes between Illinois and Florida, or a global pandemic, McKenna’s strategy met a market primed and ready for a truly full-service real estate team. When this crisis passes many things may be forever changed, but it will always be true that when a smart, well-executed strategy meets a market opportunity or a critical need, great results follow. McKenna and the Dawn McKenna Group prove that point.

Dawn McKenna Group is located at 8 E. Hinsdale Avenue in Hinsdale, 630-546-3763, dawnmckennagroup.com.