It would be accurate to say that Eugene Koh and Alicia Yang are a perfect professional match. Together, they lead over 280 realtors and clinched the ERA Top Project Division Award for two consecutive years.
Coming in with varied life experiences and meeting in the middle
They are featured speakers on multiple nationwide platforms, including the Singapore Property Show hosted by 99.co, Virtual Property Expo by PropertyGuru, and the Singapore Property Weekend by ERA. And yet, when we asked them how they got into the real estate industry, they each had a surprising (and different!) story to tell.
After graduation from NUS, Eugene worked in an offshore bank for several years. He even pursued a master’s degree in financial engineering before joining the real estate industry full-time in 2009.
Alicia, on the other hand, had limited access to education. She started as a service staff in the F&B industry and with her positive attitude, worked her way up to manage several outlets. She truly believes that as long as she is willing to work hard, eventually, she will achieve success.
Complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses
ERA Galaxy Group is a complementary mix of Eugene and Alicia’s strengths. Together, they formulated a high-performing real estate system and helped their realtors achieve extraordinary success. In 2021, Galaxy Group grew to 237 agents with a collective SGD$43.7m sales commission, making them one of the industry’s highest income-per-realtor groups.
Galaxy Group has also minted 3 millionaire realtors and over 30 rising millionaires, with just 237 realtors.
The secret to success is choosing Quality over Quantity. Instead of growing numbers, Galaxy culture is to groom professional agents with the ability to help their clients achieve their financial and family goals. A tight and closely knitted work family, Galaxy realtors move with one heartbeat, encouraging agents to partner with one another and creating a collaborative and high-achieving environment.
With a mindset on continuous improvement, Galaxy leaders prioritise learning within the group and build a high level of trust among teammates.
We are looking for agents who have a similar mindset to innovate, grow, and are willing to invest in their real estate career in the long term.
Rediscovering meaning and purpose
“2016 was an unusual year. Alicia and I experienced a breakthrough in our sales, but I did not find meaning and purpose in our work.” Whenever Eugene closed a deal, there were only minutes of joy. What helped him break through himself was that he found the meaning to help realtors achieve financial freedom and take care of their families. “I am grateful for Alicia as she has helped me to rediscover the purpose to help our realtors grow in their careers,” Eugene added.
Alicia, too, benefitted from meeting Eugene. “Eugene motivated me to take on leadership roles and inspired me to grow myself. Many times, I moved out of my comfort zone. Now, I can present confidently on stage. I am thankful that Eugene is there to challenge the way I do things.”
Lessons learned along the way
At Galaxy Group, Eugene and Alicia understand the frustrations and difficulties that realtors face and can provide step-by-step guidance to help eliminate some of these roadblocks.They deconstructed over 25 years of combined real estate experience to formulate the 8-week Galaxy Supernova Program. The easy-to-learn program equipped realtors with best practices, techniques, and tools to provide realtors with the highest probability of winning.The program, suitable for both new and experienced agents, includes everything an agent needs to know and do to succeed in the real estate industry. “We even listed the common roadblocks and obstacles for our agents to pick themselves up faster and shorten the downtime.”
Do they have any advice for young agents aspiring to reach the same success as they did? Both Eugene and Alicia have a similar piece of advice: embrace the willingness to learn, even from setbacks. “Obstacles and setbacks are checkpoints to real estate success.”
Eugene also shared that it would be a plus to have sufficient financial resources at the start to accelerate growth through on-the-job learning. Agents with limited financial resources can still succeed but need to put in the extra time and effort to develop a clientele.
And, of course, as a sign of their gratitude, Eugene and Alicia would like to thank ERA and its management, in particular, Jack Chua, Marcus Chu, and Doris Ong. They have given Eugene and Alicia many opportunities over the last five years. Without their guidance, Eugene, Alicia, and Galaxy Group would not be where they are today.
The post Alicia Yang and Eugene Koh: Founders of Galaxy Group (ERA Top Project Division) leverage on their individual strengths to achieve lasting success appeared first on 99.co.
