Q&A with Toronto’s The W Group

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With a relationship-first brand and a tight, values-led culture, Edward Wang and Chris Wannamaker have quickly grown The W Group without chasing heavy ad spend. From 2024 to the fall of 2025, the team reported a 30 per cent increase in unit sales and 84 per cent of last year’s lease volume already achieved — momentum built on systems, mentoring and a strong social presence.

Brokerage: Royal LePage Connect Realty
Agents: Four Staff: Two
Markets: Toronto and the GTA

REM: How did you get into real estate?
TWG: Edward was in retail sales when a mentor encouraged him to make the leap nearly 20 years ago. Christopher joined six years ago, leaving a global PR firm when we both realized the pace of our lives — and the business — called for building something together.

REM: Why build a team?
TWG: We love the work and believe real estate can build real wealth and be fun at the same time. A team lets us help more people and mentor agents and staff toward their own goals.

REM: Who does what today?
TWG: We co-lead — vision, mentoring and full client books — supported by operations and client care so agents can focus on selling, not admin.

REM: First hires that changed the business?
TWG: A director of operations to own systems and accountability; a client care specialist to run day-to-day admin; and a specialized accounting firm that understands PREC structures and high-producing teams.

REM: Best advice for a first hire?
TWG: Get strong admin in place before adding agents. Capacity and consistency come from operations.

REM: Top lead sources right now?
TWG: Repeat and referral, social (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook) and open houses.

REM: Budget philosophy?
TWG: Minimal paid ads beyond listings. We invest in client events and holiday activations — connection over clicks.

REM: How are new leads handled?
TWG: Everything flows into Follow Up Boss, auto-assigned to team leads, then routed to the right agent. We aim to respond the same day while respecting work–life boundaries.

REM: Core tech stack?
TWG: Follow Up Boss, WordPress (website), Follow Up Boss/Twilio (text), Kathleen Black (coaching), plus Instagram, CapCut, Mojo Video, calendar apps and a trusted vendor bench.

REM: Reinvestment and ROI?
TWG: Roughly five per cent of revenue into marketing, eight per cent into staff. We’re moving toward tighter CPL/CPA tracking, but prioritize service quality and profitability over vanity metrics.

REM: Who thrives on your team?
TWG: Self-driven, kind, curious agents who want to do great work and enjoy the process. Most new agents land a first deal within one to two months.

REM: What behaviours do you reward and bench? 
TWG: We reward: collaboration, curiosity, heart-led client service and bench dishonesty, ruthlessness and adversarial attitudes.

REM: Compliance approach?
TWG: Lean on our operations/admin team and brokerage to stay aligned with CASL, DNCL, PIPEDA and board rules.

REM: ISA or transaction coordinator as the next hire?
TWG: Once admin is solid, a true operations leader can scale hiring, market share and marketing while managing admin — that’s been our unlock.

REM: If a team leader has $5,000 a month to invest for six to 12 months?
TWG: Coaching.

REM: Minimum viable follow-up cadence?
TWG: Weekly for hot leads; monthly for warm/cold.

Lightning round

Underrated insight: Personality-driven content converts better than listing-only feeds.
One tech you’d fight to keep: Instagram.
Marketing hill you’ll die on: Unless every listing is magazine-worthy, people follow you for you — mix life, projects and real estate.
Agents fail because… they chase dollars, not client outcomes.
Teams win because… they support each other and grow toward shared goals.

Editor’s note: The W Group answered our questions in the fall of 2025, as part of a feature in a special print edition of REM.