Agent Investment and Growth is No Small Matter to Kelvin Fong

The property market is just like any other, with rosy and dull days. But whatever the market situation may be, Kelvin Fong, Executive Director at PropNex, believes that once agents are equipped with the skills they need, they will be able to bring in the profits.

Known for his extensive training programmes for agents, Kelvin believes that agents need to invest their time in such training’s that will empower them to discover their inward and outward motivations. 

When he left his job at the Republic of Singapore Air Force and first joined the industry with his wife in 2002, they found themselves struggling to make ends meet and in less than a year, he even considered going back to a job with a stable income, while she continued part time.

But Kelvin told himself to bite the bullet. 

“I remembered back then when we didn’t have much, we woke up at 6AM every morning and went to every HDB block’s lift landing to stick our numbers, and when we reached home at 10PM, we would quickly find units for our customers.” 

Despite the limited resources they had to prospect and distribute flyers, they did everything because they were willing, and knew the importance of it and hence worked hard to get to where they are today.

“I always believe that it is all about what agents’ want for themselves. When their mind is ready and have the belief of good, it will come.”

With absolute clarity in what he wants agents to take away from training’s and boot camps. Kelvin is convinced that the first step is for agents to be true to themselves and put their fears aside. 

The significant objective of these boot camps will allow agents to realise the motivation behind why they are working hard. Once agents come to realise it, they will have the ability to know what is best and eventually become an influence. 

Using his personal experience as a learning point, Kelvin shared that back then, he didn’t know and understand the importance of the relationship he should build with his clients, instead he focused on the market’s facts and figures.

“But today I can transform myself and many of my leaders know both the facts and figures and yet have the ability to build relationships which led to the fantastic sales brought in for the last 3 months despite the slow market conditions,” said Kelvin. 

“The Why, How and What.” 

These three words are commonly heard and elaborated on in Kelvin’s sales programme and leadership boot camp. 

The sales programme aims to change the mindset of agents and for them to realise their fullest potential to actualise their goals. Whereas for the leadership boot camp, it is not to build leaders, but to drive the agents back to the root of the focused task and help them take ownership of their success and to also inspire those under them. 

Many agents like their job because of the flexibility it provides them to spend time with their family. But that, too, is a choice that agents have to make and ask themselves the “why”, “how”, and “what”. The problem Kelvin sees is that many agents feel that if they don’t go for the viewing, they will lose their sales. But what they can do is to simply plan ahead. 

“My boot camp also targets the issue on fear and how agents can overcome it. The more they fear, the more they cannot conquer. So it is the ability of agents to have control over their schedules too,” he added. 

Kelvin believes that he should set a good example for his children. Because eventually they will understand why he has worked hard and they will be independent in their own lives. Now, Kelvin is able to work and plan his time so that he can also spend time with his family.

“A good agent is not one who only uses technology. It is about how you connect with your clients.”

Now, with the help of technology, property seekers, especially the millennial’s, will do their homework and planning before deciding if the unit is worth the visit. But what they would only find out is just an estimate. A good and professional agent will be able to overcome all these things and serve their clients to the best of their abilities.

When Kelvin trains his agents, he will support his training’s with updated facts and figures, and believes that agents should also be well equipped with information that property seekers would want to know before the viewing. His agents are also trained to sit down and understand the needs and wants of their clients instead of only being focused on selling the house. 

Agent training’s are also provided at PropertyGuru Academy, which equips agents with the tools needed to support their career. 

“The direction of the ship depends on the sailor”

Attributing his success to the trust and belief he has received from his team, Kelvin never gets comfortable. Instead, he uses it as an accelerator to continue moving forward. 

Confident of his strong retention rate, Kelvin is confident that in the years to come, the merger of PropNex and the founded Powerful Negotiators Group (PNG) will unite agents to become stronger and soar to greater heights. 

As for Kelvin and his management team, they are constantly driven because they are working for their people as they want them to succeed.

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Thanks Kelvin, for being a part of PropertyGuru!