In this series entitled Agent Success Stories, we sit down with agency leaders to find out their side of the story. From their humble beginnings to the challenges they face on the road to success, we learn that a career in the real estate industry is one filled with boundless opportunities—if you know where to look.
On the lookout for business whizzes
Zaid Haroon has been in the business for 15 years, having started out right after finishing his studies, although these days he is focusing his efforts on transacting in private properties, and sniffing good buy property investments for his clients. The last year has seen tremendous successes as Zaid expands his Spartans division in Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI), with over 60 agents under its wing, multiple Pegasus awards, and a Top Recruiter Award. “I made almost hit 7 digit figure in commissions in just 7 months in 2021, and bought a Maserati to celebrate my gains,” he says. Such prosperity is similarly shared amongst his team, who have themselves received awards, and are similarly high-earners, a portion of which they invest into their own professional development through Zaid’s guidance and training sessions. “Right now, I’m looking to expand my team with business-savvy people in my division”.
Creating the right conditions for success at The Spartans Division
Given his wealth of experience, the team he started with naturally comprised veterans in the industry. The first two cohorts of agents were extremely skilled and reputable, who all had between 15 to 20 years of industry experience. New agents, therefore, can expect to be trained by the best of the best, across various property segments from Housing Development Board (HDB) flats to private properties. Zaid also believes in creating a transparent and open culture within the division. For instance, the division has a “Spartan’s Training Room” WhatsApp group where everyone can ask questions and receive advice quickly. New agents with aspirations towards future leadership positions can also find themselves being given opportunities to grow their own teams.
Zaid stresses the importance of understanding the resources an agent has at their disposal. Agents are typically those who either have the financial resources to grow their own businesses, or those who can contribute time and personal effort to do so. For the former, the division will group them up as investors and provide them listings and co-splitting the commission for successful transactions. Given Zaid’s experience in the industry, he has a portfolio of high net worth investors who are looking to buy properties in highly valued areas in Singapore. For the latter, they will provide them with the resources to launch advertisements to sell their listings. In either scenario, agents can hit the ground running to leverage what they already have, to reach their own professional goals quickly.
The Spartans division also has an office located in the Orchard area, that has a large co-working space for collaborative discussions, two personal rooms for private discussions with clients or other agents, and a dedicated social media room with a videographer and editor, for agents to produce their own social media content in-house! Of course, such infrastructure, or the hardware, is also complemented by the “heartware”.
Zaid organises regular social gatherings within the division for their agents and their families to feel a sense of kinship as they spend time together and nurture closer bonds, which can only be beneficial to overall division morale. “We do a good job of balancing between being professional, and learning to kick back when the time is right!”
Spartan division wants the big dreamers and change-makers
Zaid explains that he is looking for young people to join his division, especially those hungry to make their first (and subsequent) million dollars, but may not know where to start. What the division is able to offer is the ability to quickly learn the ropes of leveraging on social media to transact properties, and using effective copywriting to create urgency, whilst selling in a genuine way. He shares that when he begins training new agents he always challenges them to think about how to make SGD$100,000 a month, or even up to SGD$250,000 a month, because that places his agents in a mindset to work with their potential clients to see their properties as potential sources of value and opportunity for investing. Of course, Zaid also personalises his training according to their professional goals, whether it is to effectively close sales, or to grow their leads. And, the division also has trainers in different property segments (e.g. HDB flat, commercial properties, shop houses, hotels), and for new property launches as well.
Final words of advice
Zaid shared that there are many groups who recruit agents without providing a system that really allows their agents to grow. “The Spartans is a growing division attaining over $5.5million in group sales for the first year, so you get to be close to your up-line, managers and team leaders while getting the attention and guidance you need to soar,” he says. Getting the license is already challenging, so Zaid believes in providing professional opportunities to his recruits to allow them to reach the professional milestones they want for themselves.
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