99.co’s Property Agent Success Stories: Bala Prakash and Quintino Cassano Lee on the bold SRI move, one year on

If you look closely enough, it is clear in their eyes that they know they made the right decision. When Ken Low joined Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI) in September last year in a move that shocked many in the real estate circle, Bala Prakash and Quintino Cassano Lee, two of his team leads at the time, followed suit. To the outside world, it seemed to be a bold move, but to them, it was one that was well-calculated, knowing that the direction was towards heightened success. Speaking to them now, you can hear in the tone of their voices the excitement in which they speak of their new family. They are happy. It was the right move.

A new approach

The real estate industry has evolved over the years. Current property buyers are of a new generation, and the way this segment of consumers search for and access information is fundamentally different from the past. Listings and information on properties are easily accessible. As a result, the knowledge and use of tech has become a mainstay in the arsenal of tools an agent uses. Embracing it would allow agents to manage a bigger portfolio more efficiently. The combination of these two shifts meant that agents need to remain agile, consistently adapting and improving if they are to truly find success. It was this realisation that convinced Bala and Quintino that a new approach was needed.

The natural question to follow next would be, “Why SRI?”

“It was about creating something new,” said Bala, “something that no one has ever done before.”

The two of them believed that a new approach, one they coined a Hybrid approach, was necessary moving forward. To effectively manage a bigger portfolio, agents should no longer specialise in one sector, say for example, new launches, but diversify into and develop the necessary skills to be equally adept at all of them. In addition, they needed to find the right balance between digital and traditional marketing. The crux was in being versatile. The two don’t see the role of an agent as simply being a salesperson for one deal but instead as a consultant that would be able to advise their clients on their entire portfolio of real estate assets in the long run. SRI has a culture that supports such a vision. The fact that the management team is young and places heavy emphasis on the use of tech only served to strengthen the case for the move.

Looking back now, it is apparent that the move was well thought out. 

At the time, SRI was helmed by Bruce Lye, Benson Koh, Tricia Teo and Tony Koe, all of whom are amongst the best of the best in their respective fields ranging from Landed, Industrial, Commercial, and Resale. When Ken Low, widely known for his nous in the New Launch market, moved over, the already strong team grew even stronger. The impact was immediate. Just this year alone, SRI has secured close to 50 project appointments, up from just 2 in 2018. But the key wasn’t simply in their wealth of experience. It was in how they used it to empower the agents under them. 

Empowering agents

“Even though we operated in divisions, you can approach any one of them for advice,” said Quintino. This was what impressed him the most. Learning wasn’t confined to the four walls of a seminar room. Such is the culture of SRI that if you were an agent there, you can look forward to having one-on-one sessions with any of the management team and team leaders who are always happy to take the time to provide guidance and share their own experience to accelerate your learning. All of them are very much still active on the ground, involved with their own sales, which helps them tremendously in understanding and relating to agents. There is an element of personal touch to the coaching that he had never witnessed before in other agencies. This culture of knowledge sharing means that agents can approach any client, regardless of the nature of the deal, with confidence knowing that they have access to the best mentors in the field.

The vision of empowering agents doesn’t stop there. Over the past nine months, a new initiative, the New System, was started in SRI. The New System is a four-day program where agents undergo intensive training on the art and science of engaging clients. This is complemented by another optional eight-week digital course aimed to train agents in their tech know-how. The best part is that both of these are completely free; a stark contrast to other agencies who usually charge fees for such training courses. 

But all this talk will be for nought if they didn’t have the results to go along with it. And of course, they did.

Fruits of their labour

On the team level, both of their teams’ sales have already doubled from the previous year, with all their members getting off the mark. 

On an individual level, Bala was quick to cite Andy Goh as an example. Andy, having undergone the New System training, crossed $1.1M in sales within the short span of four months. While this is definitely more of an exception rather than the norm, it does show the potency of the training and mentorship that SRI has provided. 

This wasn’t just limited to Andy, as Quintino happily pointed out. Joylyn Ho and Alan Lin were two others who benefited from this refreshed approach. The both of them crossed $200,000 in sales within six months on a marketing budget of only a few thousand; these were results completely foreign to them. Joylyn, by the standards of many, can be considered a novice, having only entered the industry 1.5 years ago. Alan on the other hand, had never crossed $100,000 in sales within a year in his three years as an agent. These three examples are a testament to how the new hybrid approach, personal coaching and training courses have really had a positive impact on agents. 

Looking Ahead

So what’s next for the both of them? 

The pair have been moving so fast in the last year, yet show no signs of slowing down. Since the move, Quintino’s team tripled in size to over 70, while Bala’s nearly doubled in size to over 50. “SRI has close to about 700 agents in total right now and are looking to add only 300 more, after which we’ll slow down recruitment,” said Bala. SRI is currently on a campaign called The Thousand where they are looking to grow their strength to that number by the end of the year before putting the brakes on to focus on grooming. “We really believe in quality over quantity,” Quintino added. Their excitement was palpable. Both of them manage such huge teams  and yet were already looking forward to mentoring and grooming potential new additions.

As we wrapped up the interview, Bala and Quintino exited the room laughing and joking. They were happy, they were enjoying themselves, and they had every reason to be. They made the right decision a year ago, and their future has never looked brighter.