The effects of this global pandemic on the property market is truly unprecedented. With many real estate agents worrying about how they can continue to survive in their careers – today we’re sharing tips from top agent leaders on how you can thrive in COVID-19!
To stay competitive, agent partners must first embrace this new normal and think of innovative ways to leverage on digital tools to continue engaging with customers. Aaron highlights that it is important to provide as much information to your clients to help them with their decision-making.
For example, agents could share property buying tips, infographics on government updates, upload videos for virtual viewings and provide options for comparison to add value to property seekers. This would help instill greater confidence and enable customers to make better informed decisions.
In turn, creating a positive experience and strong relationship with customers opens an avenue for prospective referral market. Aaron believes that referral market has a huge potential, especially during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
“After the announcement of MCO, many agents were calling in to ask if the real estate industry will collapse. I like this period because team leaders came together to brainstorm on how to be innovative to adapt quickly to shift offline to online.” – Aaron Siow, Founder of IQI Elite Group.
He encourages agents to build confidence and readiness to post videos on social media platforms including Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok to establish an online presence.
Not sure where to start? Here are 3 tips from Aaron on creating video content.
- Have a clear message and address a specific target audience
- Imagine you’re talking to a real person to create closeness with viewers
- Practice, practice, practice!
While COVID-19 brings about business challenges, Marcus Teng feels that there are opportunities in every crisis and agents should not be discouraged. He shared that consistency is the key factor to close deals because consistency builds trust and property seekers buy from people they trust.
“I like crisis. Only during crisis, outstanding individuals can be made. This is a great time to be in the property industry as property is both pandemic-proof and recession-proof.” – Marcus Teng, Founder of PropNex Malaysia
To succeed, Marcus believes agents should focus on Geographical Target Area (GTA) with high market demand and build a strong branding in those spaces. The next step is to diligently follow up on leads and continue to be trusted advisor to customers.
As property seekers become increasingly reliant on searching for properties online, agents must quickly adapt to market changes by upgrading themselves with new tools and techniques through training and webinars.
A key factor to successfully close deals is to build trust with your customers. Here are Marcus’s tips on how to build trust.
- Believe in yourself, build your professionalism and industry knowledge
- Always do business with honesty and integrity
- Take care of your customers’ interests and concerns
To be a successful real estate practitioner, you must first understand property industry market trends and government resources provided. Next, analyze what property seekers want and strategize how to reach out to them.
“It takes Focus, Understanding, Thinking, Analysis and a Strategy to be Effective.” – Soma Sundram, CEO of MIEA
Soma shares that agents must be prepared to change their mindset, to continuously learn and self-improve, and innovate to cater to property seekers changing needs to thrive in any market conditions.
We at PropertyGuru want to thank Aaron Siow, Marcus Teng and Soma Sundram for sharing their nuggets of wisdom with us and hope that you found them useful, especially during this time.
Do not miss out on our upcoming Expert Series webinar on 9 July, 11am – 12pm: Post COVID-19: Selling on the Virtual Space and stand to win 100 Ad Credits. Sign up now on our COVID-19 Resource Guide!
Stay tuned for our next article!
#GuruCares
– PropertyGuru Team
Other articles on GuruCares initiative for agent partners:
-
Standing By You Through COVID-19 (GuruCares Initiative launched on: 1 April 2020)
Find out more about the suite of relief initiatives we rolled out for new and existing agent partners. -
Supporting You Further With GuruCares Initiative: MCO Extension Edition (GuruCares Initiative launched on: 20 April 2020)
Find out more about MCO Extension Edition we rolled out for our agent partners. - GuruCares Initiatives Extended For Your Strong Bounce Back (GuruCares Initiative updated on: 1 June 2020) Find out more about GuruCares Initiatives Extended For Your Strong Bounce Back.
-
GuruCares Initiative: Free Webinars By PropertyGuru Academy
Offering you accessible resources so that you can stay on top of the game and be ready to bounce back into action anytime. -
Stockpile Your Prospects By Using These 3 PropertyGuru Features
3 features that can help you stockpile your prospects, by building trust and credible with property seekers. -
How To Use Your Ad Credits Smartly
Get insights from our consumer data on how to optimise your Ad Credit spend -
3 Online Courses We Recommend to Property Agents
Learn tips and skills from real estate professionals to help you prepare for post COVID-19 market rebound. -
Property Seekers Still Keen Despite COVID-19. Here’s What They Are Looking At
Gain valuable insights on what property seekers are looking for, despite these uncertain and challenging times. -
Helpful Tips To Close During Covid-19
Here’s a list of some tips on how you can up your game and still manage to successfully close deals, despite these challenging times. -
When And Where To Focus Your Listings In May
Get valuable insights based off PropertyGuru’s proprietary data in April 2020, to strategise your next steps to success. -
3 Online Marketing Tools for Property Agents
Check out these 3 easy-to-use online marketing tools that are sure to help your success as a property agent. -
How Has COVID-19 Impacted Property Prices And Where Are The Opportunities?
Find out how has property prices been affected by COVID-19 and where are the opportunities for agents to close deals. -
When And Where To Focus Your Listings In June
Get valuable insights based off PropertyGuru’s proprietary data in May 2020, to strategise your next steps to success. -
Entering The “New” Normal With Safe Property Viewings
A simple set of guidelines to help agent partners, like yourself manage your face-to-face viewings with ease.