Change is happening! Are you leading the way or shrinking back?

What are your thoughts on technology driven business models?

Senior Real Estate Negotiator Naqiuddin believes that when a company is fully technology driven without the possibility of an agent in the equation, the loss of a human touch would be dire. This is because buying and selling a home is an emotional process for both the buyer and seller. It is one of the most expensive investments that a person would make and therefore it is crucial for a human to play this role instead of a robot (a.k.a. technology).

This view is also supported by Real Estate Negotiator Winnie Chong. Based on her experience in the industry, she foresees that the technology model may not work in the Subsale Market. “A motivated agent is needed in closing deals as the process requires close relationships, good negotiation skills and strong market knowledge,” added Winnie.

Naqiuddin elaborated that although technology driven companies may have the listings data, they are not hyperlocal whereby they would not know who sells the best nasi lemak in the neighbourhood or where to get the most scrumptious roti canai in the area. With a tech-enabled agent, the agent would understand the community and culture of the area that gives value to potential buyers who are interested in a specific neighbourhood. This would make it difficult for tech companies to beat a hyperlocal tech-enabled agent.

What about the other business models such as “Agent only” or “Agent-enabled tech”?

Real Estate Negotiator Joanne Ong said that agents need to be faster and smarter in leveraging technology to provide cutting edge solutions for their clients. If the seller or buyer today chooses an agent that only uses conventional marketing, the client will eventually lose out in terms of time, money and opportunities. 

According to Facebook and Bain & Company’s new report, 63% of consumers in Malaysia discover products through online inspiration. As such, Winnie encourages agents to equip themselves with the right tools and technology to be relevant in the current market. “If we keep doing things the same old way, we will lose out on the market share. For example, we no longer hear about brands like Nokia and Kodak,” added Winnie.

Jonathan Lee affirms Winnie’s view that in today’s digitally enhanced market, agents need to capture the audience on the digital platform first, especially in residential real estate. “Consumers begin their search online.Therefore, agents need to focus on promoting their businesses on this platform. Agents that don’t embrace digital marketing would not be able to sustain their businesses in the long-term. I believe that there is still some time for agents to reinvent and scale up at the digital level. For instance, creating digital touch points, generating leads online and growing their database,” said Jonathan.

“On the other hand, if agents rely on agent-enabled tech, these agents will always be in the passenger seats – having no control of their destiny and the market they are working in,” said Naqiuddin. This is because these agents will have less control over their expenses as lead generation is getting more expensive (sometimes even up to RM100 per lead). He explained that this is an inefficient costing for agents as they may not necessarily be good quality leads. “In the end, someone else is taking part of your pie,” added Naqiuddin. 

How do tech-enabled agents like yourselves provide value for clients?

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR’s), the 2020 profile of home buyers and sellers revealed that 88 percent of buyers used an agent to help them purchase a home. Sellers, as well, turned to professionals to help market their home to potential buyers, price their home competitively, and sell within a specific timeframe. The use of agents to sell the home reached historical highs of 89 percent.

“This shows that consumers want to interact with smart and competent agents in their home buying and selling journey. Agents that can interpret the data for their clients and bridge the gap between the known and unknown would become the agent of choice,” said Jonathan. 

In the world of the tech-enabled agent, the agent remains the fiduciary of the consumer experience while technology plays a functionary role. Joanne explained that having an open and transparent communication with clients is vital in real estate transactions. “As an agent, we owe a fiduciary duty to our client on top of the expected work scope of an agent. Selling a house for our client means more than hanging a banner outside a house. It is about informing and educating our clients on the current market, the buyer’s behavior and needs, and adopting effective marketing strategies,” said Joanne.  

Joanne elaborated that she feels that sellers often don’t interview the agents that they appoint to find out more on how an agent can help them. As a result, the sellers become frustrated with the results. “There is no accountability between a seller and an agent, which should not have happened in the first place!” she added. 

“At J.dot Property, we take our client’s goals and needs very seriously. We have a consistent communication channel and reporting system to ensure that we are always aligned with our client’s objectives,” said Joanne. 

Winnie said that she shares real estate updates and many more interesting posts on her Facebook. She also uses KW Command as it helps her to generate leads in a cost-effective manner, create brochures with readily available design templates and follow-up on her leads in the database. 

As for Naqiuddin, he provides updates on community, culture, foods and latest news of the neighbourhood at TTDIHomes on both Facebook & Instagram. Clients can also easily manoeuvre www.ttdihomes.com to find the best suitable home for them and take 360° virtual tours of the properties.

How can agents build a business with long-term value? 

Jonathan said that the long-term values for a real estate agent are the number of listings the agent has and the growth of the agent’s database. He believes that one of the major challenges an agent faces in today’s market is having a sustainable business. Agents are so focused on generating sales that they miss out on the bigger picture of building a business that can provide them with a consistent income every month.

He advised agents to have a proactive approach in taking consistent action to achieve their goals. “For instance, agents who implement a business GPS (Goals, Priorities and Strategies) and know their business numbers well (i.e. the number of appointments an agent must have in a week) would have a higher chance of winning the market. Otherwise, these agents would be slowly losing their market share without even realising it until it’s too late,” added Jonathan. 

In addition to practising consistency, Jonathan said that benchmarking against a more successful agent in the industry would help an agent to strategise well to be the market leader in the area. 

Where is the future of real estate headed? 

Jonathan said that the threats from technology-based companies are real and they are coming to disrupt the real estate agents’ businesses, just like how Grab disrupted the taxi driver’s business. He shared that the authors of the book Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy―and How to Make Them Work for You explained how the trend is moving from a traditional pipeline business towards a platform-based business. As such, agents need to move towards a platform-based business before the tech companies replace them. 

Now that you have some insights into the current and future aspects of the real estate industry, the choice is yours. Are you ready and equipped to remain relevant and important to your clients in the years ahead? 

Who you decide to partner with on your business journey matters! Are you with a real estate platform that is fighting against the threats from the tech companies that are trying to displace the agents? 

At Keller Williams Malaysia, our tech-enabled agents are well-equipped with the right technology, tools and resources to run their real estate business at the highest level.