Jill and Dan Petersen were recently honored to be selected for the cover story of the December issue of Real Producers magazine, a publication dedicated to telling the real stories of real estate agents in the top markets around the country.

Read on for the full article.

“Jill and Dan Petersen have built something truly great in Petersen Partners. Having created their own sales and marketing group, the Petersens aim to be more than a typical real estate team by providing a higher level of service to their clients and agents. They have also invested heavily in team coaching, developing lead generation and nurturing systems, and building a collaborative family-like culture.

By taking their digital marketing in-house, Dan and Jill have found that they have more control over sales and acquisitions of buyers, team branding, and lead generation through targeted advertising and remarketing opportunities. They also just recently created a mentoring program for their top leaders. This program allows them to “go beyond the day-to-day sales routine” by helping to develop management and leadership skills and growth, as well as providing additional income opportunities.  

“Jill and I have had the great opportunity to network with many of the top agents and teams across the country, mastermind, and bring new and fresh ideas back to our team and to our clients. It is giving our team members the opportunity to mastermind and network with their peers across the country, as well,” says Dan.

Jill and Dan formed Petersen Partners in 2003 when Dan decided to leave his business development job at Worldspan, a travel technology company, and join Jill in real estate. He had been working in communications ever since graduating from the University of Nebraska with a degree in business and starting work for Cox Enterprises. He was transferred to Atlanta in 1993 to work in the new business development group, in which he was responsible for the financial analysis of investment acquisitions in the new media arena.

Jill had been working in real estate since 1997 while Dan was getting his MBA in finance from Georgia State University. Jill obtained her degree in business, as well, with a concentration in marketing and decision science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After college, Jill worked in sales for a paper company until she entered real estate. Dan and Jill were newly married and had very little money, so Jill thought she would try real estate part-time to make some extra cash.

“Trying to do this job part-time was a real eye-opener!” says Jill. “After about six months, I made it a full-time passion.”

As Jill and Dan started having children, Dan was looking to expand his career with new challenges and find something that would allow him to eliminate the need to travel. Since both of them come from families with their own businesses, it seemed natural to the two to take advantage of the opportunity to start their own company together in real estate.

“When Dan officially joined the business, it was a game-changer,” says Jill. “We are night and day, and the combination of our divergent skills and talents allows us to maximize our strengths for the benefit of our clients, as well as our team.”

Dan typically focuses on sales, marketing, and advertising for their team and clients. They have extensive experience working with builders in new construction projects and with investors, as well. Both Dan and Jill’s main focus these days has been developing the people on their team.

“We’ve got INCREDIBLE people on our team,” says Dan. “They are like family. We also do feel like, to a certain extent, our team members are our clients, as well. They have the opportunity to work for a multitude of brokerages in the Atlanta market, and we feel privileged that they choose to work with and be a part of our team.” Team leaders across the country say, “You need to get the right people on the bus.” Dan and Jill want to “make sure we are providing the bus our team members want to be on.”

While Dan and Jill have big dreams and goals for their team and business, their ultimate mission is centered on their immediate family. “At the end of the day, it is about providing for the family,” says Jill. “Our hopes and dreams are always to be able to provide for the education of our children, as well as our own retirement, so our children don’t have to care for us in our senior years.”

Dan and Jill have two sons and two dogs. Luke is their eldest son and a freshman at the University of Kentucky. Jake is a junior at Whitefield Academy. As a family, they are constantly laughing and giving each other a hard time. They enjoy traveling and playing cards, as well as just hanging out with friends. Dan loves to play the guitar, hunt for unique bourbons to share with friends, and cook for the family. Jill loves baseball and is always ready to go to a Braves game.

“We are currently defining success as helping others realize that they can succeed, from our children in school to our team members, some of whom are just starting in the business. For us, that is the type of success we find truly rewarding,” says Jill. “

For more information on the Petersen Partners team and career opportunities, visit www.petersenpartners.com/recruitment