[Episode 2 in the Inside Whissel Realty series on Real Estate Team OS]

From head of acquisition for an eliminated partnership program to ISA team builder to EOS integrator and hands-on COO to eyes-on/hands-off COO, Chris VanderValk has seen and contributed a lot to Whissel Realty Group brokered by eXp Realty in San Diego.

In this conversation, he walks the line between criticism and positivity, explains how the Agent Concierge Experience team and new Agent Advisory Board help agents, talks through lead sources, and describes how and why they left the cap model and allowed agents to claw back splits through GCI.

A top theme: creating more leverage for agents.

A primary lens: “We have to make this so valuable people can’t leave - period.”

A result: the #1 real estate team in San Diego and consistently a top team in the nation and in eXp Realty globally.

Watch or listen to this Inside Whissel Realty episode with Chris for insights into:

- Improving processes and results through a culture of “hyper criticism with positivity”

- The arrival into and evolution of the COO role and the EOS process (including a layoff, a resignation letter, and a democratic process)

- How and why they’re launching an Agent Advisory Board (including interviewing, selecting, tasking, and rewarding the agents)

- Ways to enhance agent productivity in a profitable way (including their ACE or Agent Concierge Experience team)

- How and why they successfully transitioned from a cap model to a no cap model and uniquely allow agents to claw back splits through GCI tiers

- A rundown of top lead sources from open houses to the “belle of the ball” (Zillow Flex)

- Enhancing agent leverage in 2025 through changes to the ACE and ISA teams

- Why the traditional job of a real estate agent is “illogical”

At the end, the fun and relaxing nature of catching, cleaning, cooking, and eating halibut and corvina.

Chris VanderValk:
- https://www.instagram.com/chris_vandervalk/
- https://whisselrealty.com/
- https://thewhisselway.com/thewhisselway

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Within a couple of days of recording this conversation, Whissel Realty Group brokered by eXp Realty in San Diego, had 42 transactions scheduled to close. On one day! This type of performance isn’t possible without mature and optimized systems.

Kyle Whissel welcomed us into his recording studio and his real estate team to help us kick off this 9-episode series taking you Inside Whissel Realty, who consistently perform as the #1 team in San Diego and a top team in the nation and across eXp Realty globally.

• How to get past vanity metrics and how to know who knows their numbers.
• Seven key inflection points on the team-building journey.
• How they know which agents to bring on and which to cut.
• The elusive power of brand building.
• How they’re keeping agents in the three most dollar-productive activities.

Kyle shares all this and much more right here in this conversation!

Watch or listen to the first episode Inside Whissel Realty for insights into:

- Two benefits of running the team on a system (specifically: what life was like before and after they implemented EOS)

- Why the systems run the company and the people run the systems - and where that leaves the leader

- Two things you can expect to hear more about in this 9-episode series

- How and why he shifted out of commercial real estate into residential

- The piece of direct mail he can still see in his mind that sent him down the team path - and two big mistakes he made in the process

- How you’ll know if you’re the right person to build and lead a team and what type of agents you should design for

- The financial and cultural upsides of “running the play that’s called”

- How they’ve built a company that keeps agents doing the three things that make money (going on appointments, prospecting, and negotiating contracts)

- How to know who knows their numbers - and who doesn’t

- Where he turns for credible, valuable insights to help him learn and grow as a person and as a business

- The power of brand, the value of video, and the challenge of marketing attribution

- Key points of inflection on his team-building journey

- Why top agents love seeing low performers get cut - and what minimum standards must be met to stay on the team

At the end, learn about a Buffalo pilgrimage, a serious student, and late-game legs.

Kyle Whissel:

- https://www.instagram.com/kylewhissel/

- https://whisselrealty.com/

- https://thewhisselway.com/thewhisselway

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Shawn Getty sold 186 homes in the first half of his third year in real estate, including a stretch of 60 homes in 60 days. And he did it all with $0 in ad spend.

Shawn started the team-building process 6 or 7 times before getting the traction he has today (including losing 27 agents all at once). But Getty Group, brokered by eXp Realty in Calgary, has grown from 4 to 48 agents in an 8-month window this year.

Learn his tactics for agent attraction, the structure of his recruiting conversation, and many hard-learned lessons from the fits and starts of building his real estate team.

Listen to this Real Estate Team OS episode with Shawn Getty for insights into:

- Two basic truisms of team success

- Multiple false starts on the team-building journey

- Building an education-based and skills-based team of people who hunt together, rather than alone

- Growing agent count by 12x (from 4 to 48) in under 8 months

- How to attract agents using Instagram

- The specific conversation structure to bring agents onto your team

- A free social media tactic drives 30-40% of their business (and that other agents make fun of)

- A free social media tactic to become top of preference, not just top of mind (with a specific example)

- The two ways he’s working on the main bottleneck in his business today

- Why teams will be bigger, more prominent, more impactful, and more needed in the future

At the end, learn about “the uniform of the wealthy,” “the champion sweater that can’t be beat,” and the balance in being all on or all off.

Shawn Getty:

- https://www.instagram.com/shawngetty

- https://www.gettygroup.ca/

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/