Chris Pollinger – The Profit Whisperer

Profit Whisperer and Advisor to the Elite in the Business of Luxury

Chris Pollinger is a senior sales and operational executive skilled in strategic leadership, culture building, business planning, sales, marketing, acquisitions, operations, recruiting, and team building. An entrepreneur at heart, his pragmatic and street fighter style drives low cost/high yield creative solutions to drive the bottom line. With 25+ years real estate management and executive experience, he delivers a proven track record of improving ROI, sales revenue, operational efficiency and achieving company growth through strategic analysis, planning, and execution.

Intro by Chris Pollinger 

I’ve been fortunate to lead the sales efforts in some very large organizations in the real estate world. I’ve been involved in the intimate details of the brokerage business and all of its conceivable affiliates and verticals. I’ve been a consultant and coach to brands, owners, mega teams and top producers across the nation. 

Long ago, I realized the path to success for agents is simple. It is just hard to get them to do. Agents as a rule, lack the discipline to execute what is necessary to ensure their own success. The old tactics are only as good as the implementation.

Let me give you an example. If you hold a call night in an average office with 100 agents, you will have 10 show up. If you say it’s going to be a weekly gig, within 3 weeks you will be down to 2-3. Even though, each night they call, they get leads. It doesn’t really matter what the brand affiliation is, it’s the same story. 

I set out to hack into the way agents work and think. Most of the training in real estate is aimed at the 10% who are willing versus the masses on the roster. Recruiting has been the traditional answer.  It works, and I’ve worked it.  We even developed a Recruiting Masterclass outlining the A-Z’s of recruiting mastery.  The systems, dialogs, strategies and tactics that build 250+ agent offices.  But, constantly focusing on  recruiting real estate agents also runs into limits with Price’s Law.

I created an office level Production Masterclass that works.   It is based on what 90% of your agents will do, not catering to the 10%. Our Private Client Program works to grow an agent’s sphere of influence and referrals organically. It establishes a true book of business that has ongoing ROI for both you and them. It automates the tactful and productive way to work which yields consistent results. 

Not only will the program revolutionize they way they do business to be more profitable and stable, but it also will improves recruiting and retention. With this backbone we layer in a B2B program, niche marketing programs, coaching and masterminds to provide a holistic solution to increasing the company’s profit margin.  The result?  Offices that generate over a million dollars annually in EBITA profit.

We offer solutions that promote your company’s brand promise and value propositions while effectively addressing the executive’s key matrices of recruiting, retention, per person productivity, raising average commission rates, raising average price points, average company dollar and affiliate capture rate. 

The first twenty years of my career was about driving growth. I was great at it.  I’d like to spend the next twenty years developing depth. I’m looking to affiliate with companies and brands that shares my values.  Are you looking to change your paradigm?  If so, we’d love to hear from you.

What Chris Pollinger Believes

Chris believes in empowering profitable businesses through service to those we influence by fostering a culture of integrity filled servant leadership.

Chris believes believe in a passionate commitment to creating an environment of excellence where every person has the freedom to achieve their God given potential.

Chris believes believe in a community where every member is cherished and celebrated.

Chris believes we need to have the courage to lead the industry as an example and to become the standard by which others are measured.

Chris Pollinger’s Core Values

Leadership – The ability to see beyond the moment to a bigger, better future and take other s from here to there.  Equal parts communication, strategy and motivation.

Growth – The desire to stretch yourself.  The process may be itchy and uncomfortable but is always worth it.

Excellence – Expecting the best from yourself and/or your purchase.  Superior performance plus quality materials equals excellence.

Quality – A distinctive level of service, craftsmanship, material or design that sets an object or experience way above the ordinary.

Savvy – With your experience and uncanny intuition, you can always find the pulse of the real scene underneath they hype.

Chris Pollinger’s Strengths

According to the Gallup Organization’s Strengthfinder leadership assessment, these are the top 5 strengths that uniquely bring to the table.

1) Strategic 

People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues. 

The Strategic theme enables the person to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows them to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, they play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps them see around the next corner. There they can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where they see each path leading, they start to make selections. They discard the paths that lead nowhere. They discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. They discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. They cull and make selections until they arrive at the chosen path – the best strategy. Armed with that strategy, they strike forward. This is their Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

2) Achiever 

People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive. 

Their Achiever theme helps explain their drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. They feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day they must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about themself. And by “every day” they mean every single day — workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much they may feel they deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, they will feel dissatisfied. They have an internal fire burning inside them. It pushes them to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing them toward the next accomplishment. Their relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with them. As an Achiever they must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings them the energy they need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt they can always count on to get them started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes them to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps them moving.

3) Relator 

People who are strong in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal. 

Relator describes your attitude toward their relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls them toward people they already know. They do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people — in fact, they may have other themes that cause them to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends — but they do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. They are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, they deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. They want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and they want them to understand theirs. They know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk – they might be taken advantage of — but they are willing to accept that risk. For them relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more they share with each other, the more they risk together. The more they risk together, the more each of them proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and they take them willingly.

4) Focus 

People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.

“Where am I headed?” they ask themself. They ask this question every day. Guided by this theme of Focus, they need a clear destination. Lacking one, your life and your work can quickly become frustrating. And so each year, each month, and even each week they set goals. These goals then serve as your compass, helping they determine priorities and make the necessary corrections to get back on course. Their Focus is powerful because it forces them to filter; they instinctively evaluate whether or not a particular action will help them move toward their goal. Those that don’t are ignored. In the end, then, your Focus forces them to be efficient. Naturally, the flip side of this is that it causes them to become impatient with delays, obstacles, and even tangents, no matter how intriguing they appear to be. This makes them an extremely valuable team member. When others start to wander down other avenues, they bring them back to the main road. Their Focus reminds everyone that if something is not helping them move toward your destination, then it is not important. And if it is not important, then it is not worth your time. They keep everyone on point.

5) Command 

People strong in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions. 

Command leads them to take charge. Unlike some people, they feel no discomfort with imposing their views on others. On the contrary, once their opinion is formed, they need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, they feel restless until they have aligned others with them. They are not frightened by confrontation; rather, they know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life’s unpleasantness, they feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. They need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. They push them to take risks. They may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling them opinionated, they often willingly hand them the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. They have presence. They have Command.

Chris Pollinger’s Personality

Meyers-Briggs – ISTP

I wanted to live the life, a different life. I didn’t want to go to the same place every day and see the same people and do the same job. I wanted interesting challenges.

Virtuosos love to explore with their hands and their eyes, touching and examining the world around them with cool rationalism and spirited curiosity. People with this personality type are natural Makers, moving from project to project, building the useful and the superfluous for the fun of it, and learning from their environment as they go. Often mechanics and engineers, Virtuosos find no greater joy than in getting their hands dirty pulling things apart and putting them back together, just a little bit better than they were before.

Virtuosos explore ideas through creating, troubleshooting, trial and error and first-hand experience. They enjoy having other people take an interest in their projects and sometimes don’t even mind them getting into their space. Of course, that’s on the condition that those people don’t interfere with Virtuosos’ principles and freedom, and they’ll need to be open to Virtuosos returning the interest in kind.

Virtuosos enjoy lending a hand and sharing their experience, especially with the people they care about, and it’s a shame they’re so uncommon, making up only about five percent of the population. Virtuoso women are especially rare, and the typical gender roles that society tends to expect can be a poor fit – they’ll often be seen as tomboys from a young age.

Dare to Differ

While their mechanical tendencies can make them appear simple at a glance, Virtuosos are actually quite enigmatic. Friendly but very private, calm but suddenly spontaneous, extremely curious but unable to stay focused on formal studies, Virtuoso personalities can be a challenge to predict, even by their friends and loved ones. Virtuosos can seem very loyal and steady for a while, but they tend to build up a store of impulsive energy that explodes without warning, taking their interests in bold new directions.

Rather than some sort of vision quest though, Virtuosos are merely exploring the viability of a new interest when they make these seismic shifts.

Virtuosos’ decisions stem from a sense of practical realism, and at their heart is a strong sense of direct fairness, a “do unto others” attitude, which really helps to explain many of Virtuosos’ puzzling traits. Instead of being overly cautious though, avoiding stepping on toes in order to avoid having their toes stepped on, Virtuosos are likely to go too far, accepting likewise retaliation, good or bad, as fair play.

The biggest issue Virtuosos are likely to face is that they often act too soon, taking for granted their permissive nature and assuming that others are the same. They’ll be the first to tell an insensitive joke, get overly involved in someone else’s project, roughhouse and play around, or suddenly change their plans because something more interesting came up.

Defying the Rules

Virtuosos will come to learn that many other personality types have much more firmly drawn lines on rules and acceptable behavior than they do – they don’t want to hear an insensitive joke, and certainly wouldn’t tell one back, and they wouldn’t want to engage in horseplay, even with a willing party. If a situation is already emotionally charged, violating these boundaries can backfire tremendously.

Virtuosos have a particular difficulty in predicting emotions, but this is just a natural extension of their fairness, given how difficult it is to gauge Virtuosos’ emotions and motivations. However, their tendency to explore their relationships through their actions rather than through empathy can lead to some very frustrating situations. People with the Virtuoso personality type struggle with boundaries and guidelines, preferring the freedom to move about and color outside the lines if they need to.

Finding an environment where they can work with good friends who understand their style and unpredictability, combining their creativity, sense of humor and hands-on approach to build practical solutions and things, will give Virtuosos many happy years of building useful boxes – and admiring them from the outside.

The Professional Experience of Chris Pollinger

Realty One Group – Vice President, Sales and Service Operations

Chris Pollinger spearheaded key initiatives to revitalize and restructure the affiliate sales and service division. Boosted agent count by 20% year over year, and during tenure, added an average of one regional developer and 3.3 new franchises per month to the network. Managed a network of 65 franchise offices, collaborating with managers in company stores to codify best practices, develop training systems, and improve affiliate training, sales processes, and tours for higher efficiency and ROI.

Key Accomplishments:

• Drove a 20% year-over-year increase in agent count.
• Added an average of one regional developer and 3.3 new franchises per month to the network.
• Codified and systematized best practices, and developed training systems across a network of 65 franchise offices.
• Improved affiliate training, sales processes, and tours for higher efficiency and ROI.

Ryen Real Estate – President

Chris Pollinger spearheaded the growth of a start-up real estate company, expanding to five locations in LA, San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties within 18 months. Held full responsibility for budgets, projections, P&Ls, and KPI’s and developed three regional VPs to drive growth and profitability in each region. Achieved first-year profitability and exceeded sustainable growth goals through a value-driven real estate model based on high-touch relationships and a focus on loyalty over lead churning. Designed the company to be an invite-only boutique offering Private Client level services.

Key Accomplishments:

• Established a presence in five locations in Southern California in just 18 months.
• Oversaw budgets, projections, P&Ls, and KPI’s for the company.
• Developed three regional VPs to drive growth and profitability.
• Achieved first-year profitability and exceeded sustainable growth goals.
• Implemented a value-driven real estate model based on high-touch relationships and a focus on loyalty.
• Created an invite-only boutique offering Private Client level services.

First Team Real Estate / Christies Great Estates – Senior Vice President of Sales

Chris Pollinger oversaw the sales and revenue-generating departments for one of the largest brokerages in the United States, managing 1800 agents and representing 11,500 clients with 5.3 billion in annual sales volume. Held full responsibility for budgets, projections, P&Ls, and KPI’s, as well as the development of regional and branch managers. Guided growth in all direct reports, including directors for training, recruitment, relocation, REO, short sale, e-commerce, marketing, advertising, and property management departments, and deepened the integration of affiliate title, escrow, mortgage, insurance businesses and expansion efforts.

Key Accomplishments:

• Boosted EBITA profitability by $24 million.
• Raised agent productivity by 28%.
• Increased the number of productive agents by 65%.
• Established a luxury affiliation with Christies.
• Codified and redesigned the training program for management and agents.
• Improved profitability by implementing business planning, matrices, and accountability tracking for all departments and storefronts.

Professional Realty Council, Inc. – President

Chris Pollinger served as an equity partner in a privately held corporation providing marketing, coaching, training, REO, and relocation support to real estate brokers, teams, and agents. Sold the organization to CSCA, Inc. in October 2010. Oversaw all aspects of the organization’s operations, sales, marketing, and initiatives and held ownership for achieving short- and long-term financial, sales, and operational goals. Guided the development of the organization to secure future growth and sale.

Key Accomplishments:

• Created and executed a comprehensive branding, public relations, social media, advertising, and marketing strategy.
• Developed a web-based training and coaching system for national deployment.
• Expanded operations from California and Arizona to over 45 states in the US and Canada.
• Boosted Per Person Productivity by 32% among members.

RE/MAX RES – Director of Coaching and Training, Regional Manager

Chris Pollinger spearheaded the training initiatives for one of the world’s largest RE/MAX franchises, overseeing 14 offices and 450 agents with annual real property transactions exceeding 4 billion. Directed the planning and implementation of new training, coaching, and implementation techniques, and made improvements to existing programs to enhance their effectiveness. Managed vendor relationships to ensure seamless integration with external training programs.

Key Accomplishments:

• Developed and executed a comprehensive system for recruitment, retention, training, and coaching.
• Achieved per-agent productivity ranking 6th highest among all real estate companies in the US according to REAL TRENDS.
• Boosted recruiting and retention rates to among the highest in the nation for large broker operations in the RE/MAX System.

Tarbell, Realtors – Branch Manager

Chris Pollinger the successful launch of a new start-up office, executing on a range of responsibilities including recruitment, training, public speaking, contract negotiations, office management, advertising and marketing, computer training, website design, and new agent orientation and development.

Key Accomplishments:

• Boosted office population by 53 in the first year.
• Designed and executed a comprehensive new agent training program.
• Achieved year one profitability.
• Set new records in recruitment for the organization.

Chris Pollinger’s Professional Memberships

Chris Pollinger has been a member of The National Speakers Association, a member of the NSA’s Business Coaching Professional Experts Group, a member of the NSA’s Facilitator’s Professional Experts Group, a member of the NSA’s Motivational and Keynote Professional Experts Group, a member of the NSA’s Sales Experts Professional Experts Group, a member of the NSA’s Seminar and Workshop Leaders Professional Experts Group, Former Director of the Orange County Association of Realtors, and Certified Instructor for Quality Service Certification. He holds a California Department of Real Estate Broker’s License, is registered as an Investment Advisor Representative with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), and the North American Securities Administration Association (NASAA).

Chris Pollinger has been Featured or Quoted in

Barron’s, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Dow Jones Market Watch, Huffington Post, Daily News, ABC News, CNBC, Fox News, Realty Trac, LA Times, OC Register, Boston Globe, Star Tribune, Mercury News, Inman, Investor Place, Post Gazette, Sacramento Bee, News and Observer, Star- Telegram, The State, Daily Herald, Contra Costa Times, Buffalo News, Wichita Eagle, Reuters, Press Enterprise, Idaho Statesmen, Dallas Morning News, Anchorage Daily News and various other print, radio and television outlets.