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IMPACT 0265: BUILDING THE FUTURE OF REAL ESTATE

Jervis Ng is a 25-year-old millionaire real estate broker, and a team leader to 100 young and passionate realtors at JNA Real Estate, the youngest champion real estate team in Singapore.

His purpose is to bring the best not only for his clients, but to help individuals on his team grow in knowledge, empathy and compassion. Here are eight values Jervis has learnt in his four-year journey to becoming a real estate team leader.

1. Have high expectations of yourself and others

Throughout the years, there has been a stigma of real estate agents choosing this career path due to their school grades. What I see hindering many of my agents from succeeding is their sense of self-worth and lack of confidence, which renders them having low expectations of themselves and others around them.

That is why I actively try to foster a culture where our realtors push each other out of their comfort zones to achieve more than what they thought they were capable of. Indeed, many of our agents, who did not do as well in academics, excel in the real estate industry once they become aware of their innate capabilities.

2. Genuinely care for others

Many of my agents come to me asking for the best scripts to engage their clients. But in actuality, there is something that works better than any script, and that is to be your true, genuine self and showing empathy to your clients. In fact, this extends to any relationship in life, be it at home or in the workplace.

Experience has taught me that people can see through your intentions, and acting with a facade will drain you in the long run. Sincerity in giving to another breeds trust and mutual support.

3. Stay humble

Due to my quick career progression early on in my real estate journey, I grew in confidence and, unfortunately, conceitedness and naivety. However, after another four years of meeting different agents and clients from all walks of life, I’ve found that everyone has their own unique strengths, be it hard skills, mentality, or decision-making abilities, to name a few.

It’s helpful to approach people with an attitude of willingness to learn as you may gain exponential personal development.

4. Break out of your comfort zone

As my CEO Mr Mohammed Ismail Gafoor always says: “Without struggle there is no growth.” There are two key benefits of actively striving to break out of your comfort zone on a daily basis.

Firstly, you grow in self-confidence as you consistently prove to yourself that you have the ability to take on challenges that you once thought were impossible to conquer. This breeds the tenacity necessary to do bigger things and achieve bigger goals.

Secondly, breaking out of your comfort zone brings plenty of opportunities. Personally, the biggest opportunities I’ve had came from daring to seek out highly successful people, who have ultimately taught me invaluable life lessons. If you are willing and daring enough to do what scares you, plenty of doors will open to you.

5. Have a strong “why”

In my experience, those who enter the real estate industry out of envy for other agents’ success or are just trying it out for fun never make it far. This is because when the going gets tough, and the initial flames of passion and rigour burn out, people easily get discouraged and quit when they cannot see immediate results. Only those who have found or decided upon a strong enough reason to work hard consistently are able to tide through the difficult stumbling blocks necessary to reach their goals.

Personally, knowing that I’m responsible for the future of many millennials pushes me to be an exemplary leader through my words and actions on a consistent basis, even when it may be practically hard to accomplish. Having a strong “why” is the only sustainable motivating factor for success in the long run.

6. Don’t spend all your time thinking, but rather, doing

A fatal error I see many agents make is overthinking or over analyzing. They are always trying to figure out a shortcut for sales or lead generation, with many preferring to come up with fancy strategies for sales, rather than actually going down to do the dirty work.

As important as planning is, it is worth nothing without the execution, and ever so often such overanalysis is just an excuse for procrastination. On the flip side, doing without overthinking can actually help you learn and gain experiences.

In fact, many of my successful team leaders started out with mindless door knocking and cold calling, and the experience gained after talking to so many prospects contributed significantly to their development in sales, more so than those with grandiose ideas who never took the first step.

7. Patience is key

A salesperson inevitably goes through hundreds of rejections a day, sometimes coupled with criticism, which can severely wound your self-esteem. If you let inevitable minute negativities pile up, it will be a matter of time before you crash and burn.

On the flip side, if you are looking at joining real estate with the mentality of a shortcut to riches, you will also soon find out that that too is a myth. The bottom line is that in order to succeed in real estate, you have to be patient when it comes to the day-to-day grind, and the key to having such patience is accepting that failure is an opportunity to learn.

8. Be upright

As a team leader, you will be faced with many tough questions and problems that your team members are facing. It is of utmost importance to be righteous and respond with truth and graciousness. I believe that being direct with my people helps them to see their potential, which is a step towards fulfilling their goals.

When I was still an inexperienced leader, I learnt the important lesson of not being destructive with the way I lead others, but to balance truth and encouragement in an honourable way.

As a real estate broker, I believe that what differentiates a champion from others is how truthful and transparent you can be with your clients. This will already set ourselves apart from realtors who are in it solely for monetary gains.

Whichever industry we are in, we need to remember that we are called to leave a positive impact wherever we are. Let’s not take this calling lightly, but with the right attitude and mindset.

This article was published on Nov 12, 2021