Best of #BSA: Eric Tan
In this article series, I'm going to feature some of the leaders in #BSA and share their experiences with me and the team.
Today, we will be speaking to Eric Tan!
Eric is an Associate Group District Director and a Business Development professional with a strong track record in sales and extensive experience in setting up and managing Real Estate teams to excellence.
The interview is conducted by my team on my behalf.
Can you introduce yourself???What made you go into Real Estate??
Hi, my name is Eric Tan I am a Real Estate agent in PropNex for 21 years now. Before this, I worked in a few companies which include working in management for Propnex sometime in 2008-2009. So, in fact, I got to know Bobby then when he was a leader and I was in management.
I left PropNex in 2010 because I was headhunted into an MNC as the head of sales and marketing but left soon after due to my health - I had to do a couple of heart-related surgeries. It was also then that I decided to join back PropNex as a realtor. No particular reason, perhaps a sense of familiarity with the industry since even though I left and didn't keep in touch with any of the leaders I knew (e.g., Kelvin), I did keep up with the Real Estate industry, what was happening in and within PropNex, including the progress and merging of the whole PNG.?
So, one interesting thing I felt about my journey was that I worked twice within the management of an agency and then join back to one as a leader. I don't think there is anyone else in the industry who had a similar journey as I did.
Why did you join Bobby Sng Advisory (#BSA)?
Actually, I did consider joining Kelvin Fong when I joined back to PropNex, but after noting that there were a lot of leaders after him, I decided to seek the next raising leader whom I knew, which is Bobby. I chose Bobby due to familiarity, being one of the leaders I knew when I was in the management of PropNex, even though then he is not very huge yet. Perhaps, one good reason would be that Bobby absorbs old timers into his group. So, I thought maybe that was the best situation - having all the "old" men being grouped together. So, I think familiarity and then the act of old-timers coming together made me join Bobby.
How would you describe Bobby as a mentor and also as a leader?
Bobby is a caring and compassionate leader, which is why he is trying to facilitate many programs as possible to help get #BSA to improve as a whole. He does his best to help everyone grow despite members being very different.
How would you describe your relationship with Bobby??
We are much closer now because we are working closely together on two projects: 10 Evelyn and Pullman Residences. Bobby is the chief I/C and I am the lead I/C. This led us to have a lot of interactions in the last six months where we scheduled a lot of discussions week-on-week. In fact, just recently, we had a barbecue session at Bobby's place to gather and have discussions.
So, in both leisure and business sense, I would say we are closer than before. We even went on a short 5-day 4-night trip to the Maldives together!
Do you find the support system and also the resources provided to you and your team by #BSA beneficial?
The support system and resources provided focused on getting new RES onboard their career in Real Estate. Very good for new agents as opposed to more senior and experienced agents in my team.
A lot of questions asked by new RES are commonly addressed in those available resources. Real Estate is not rocket science, so it's very straightforward in its usage. Agents can take their time, whenever and wherever they are to study those materials. In fact, many questions often lead us to the few fundamental question that is well explained and elaborated in the resources and support system.??
These actually help us, leaders, to better allocate time more efficiently to things that are more pressing instead of being flooded with common FAQs. But a lot of agents are lazy, they don't want to go and read, or watch themselves, and they always come back to the leaders.
But, all in all, the resources are very effective and widely covered! Just spend 15-20 minutes looking through the videos, and you can easily understand the majority of things for Real Estate!
Bobby strongly believes in the 90/10 concept - where 90% of success comes from individual ownership, and 10% of success comes from the resources and support that #BSA provides to help everyone achieve their goals and success. Do you agree with this and personally how have you experienced this?
?I totally agree with this 90/10 concept.
Real Estate is a business, but a lot of people came in expecting to be told exactly what to do and to be guided. And they will blame their leaders whenever they fail to achieve something.
So to every and any agent who come up to me and said "eh, boss I'm not improving in sales". I will always ask if they have attended any of the courses that were conducted by PropNex and by #BSA.
"Have you attended the courses such as CES or consumer empowering by the company? If not, how do you expect yourself to improve your sales?"
Real Estate is a very standard formula, it is no rocket science. And while we often said we "go together", most of the time, you are on your own here. You prospect your own clients, you do what you need to connect with your clients, talk and convince your client that this is the best buy then you close the deal.
So, this can be a very individual business! You must take responsibility and be willing to step up and learn, this is your 90%, or not, 100% effort. We support you with the resources and materials but you as the individual have to make the effort to take this knowledge and use it well.
It is no different for leaders as well. I too went for TikTok lessons recently. I'm 66 and it is unlikely I would use TikTok to brand myself, I cannot see myself doing so. But I attended the session so that I can talk to vendors and know how and what is needed to discuss.
Your success lies in your effort. This 90% is really yours to take it up.?
The top traits that you look out for in your potential new RES to join your team?
1. Purpose must be meaningful.
Whether it is targeted to helping clients achieve their property goals or to support your family, your purpose will help drive you to your goals. No doubt that being hungry to achieve and having self-motivation is important! But if your purpose is focused on earning money or to drive big cars, which is not meaningful, then it will be difficult to have the right motivation to succeed here in this Real Estate industry. For example, every deal is a deal that is needed regardless of the request, if you are focused on big money then you may lose smaller deals.
2. Preferably a DI person.
A DI person is a goal-getter who is both interactive and influential, and who will find whatever ways to get to their goals. They hardly depend on others for direction, and in fact, most of the top leaders in PropNex have DI traits.
3. Willingness to adapt.
In Real Estate, you deal with people and there is no definite solution or framework to deal with people. You cannot and should not anticipate what will happen or what to do next. Each step may change along the way. So any agents must be ready to adapt and learn along the way. And in time to come, you will be able to compartmentalize your experiences into a folder in the brain, essentially having readily FAQ.
How many people do you have on your team currently? And is there a goal that you're looking to hit?
I have about 20 agents with me. My goal for recruitment is to manage at least 400 agents. I highly prefer RES who are career-switching, who are stable in their lives, and/or those who seek family-oriented people as working partners and friends. Because then, our perspectives and rapport will be more aligned.
Ps. One can even say my selling point is that six of my team members are caucasian from France, British, Irish, New Zealand, etc!
Do you have anything else you'd like to share about Bobby or about #BSA?
The support system and resources are like an encyclopedia for Real Estate agents: access to whatever questions and answers. Bobby invested a lot of hard work and time to make these materials available to anyone in #BSA, but I feel that they are not being widely used. Personally, I feel that some leaders are not actively pushing out the resources, they are known to many but not everybody is pushing them out so new RES coming in may not know those resources are available; and there is a lack of testimonials about their effectiveness. So, it will be good to have more consistent advertising about those resources.
Another thing is that we need to get everybody on board together. #BSA is like a navy fleet, in which Bobby is the mothership. So now, some of the battleships are not aligned and are trying to sail away. It will not be easy trying to realign everybody towards the same target at the same time together. After all, as battleships, we will always return to the mothership to replenish our resources. Same for any individual who joins us, leaders. As the leader, I am the mother(ship) of the smaller teams and I will have smaller ships coming back to me for resources. So Bobby needs to align those ships and do know some of us are supporting you! We will do our best as leaders to support you in any programs you aim to roll out!?
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Connect with Eric here