Real Storeys: The struggle for success
At 27, Jessica Siow has achieved what many her age only dream about. (Photo: Cheryl Marie Tay)
Jessica Siow took the leap from a steady salary to the unpredictable world of property sales. Despite obstacles early in her career, things have turned out remarkably well for her.
by Cheryl Marie Tay
Jessica Siow, 27, started her career in consumer insights and marketing research after graduating from Nanyang Technological University (NUS) with honours in Economics. She had a passion for helping others and felt she could do so by better understanding different consumers in different markets.
However, she soon realised a nine-to-five deskbound job where deadlines, reports and overtime were commonplace was not fulfilling, especially for a stagnant four-figure monthly salary.
“As time passed and I thought about my career advancement, I decided to do something that would provide me with constant returns (that were) to scale with the effort I put into my work. I wanted to be in control of my time, and I realised my opportunity costs were not high enough.”
The switch
Siow wanted to go into sales, but had not decided which industry she should join. At the advice and encouragement of her business partner, Jyen Ke, whom she had met while studying at NTU, she “took the plunge (into the property industry), and the rest was history”.
She started her career as an estate agent in the HDB segment, dealing exclusively in rental properties for the first few months. She then gradually widened her scope to include private properties in District 3, before setting her sights on Districts 9 and 10.
She explains her decision: “I believe in constantly challenging myself and never settling in my comfort zone. I realised there was a huge money-making opportunity in the Core Central Region (CCR), particularly Districts 9 and 10.
“Their luxury properties and central location have a very high potential upside, as prices have softened significantly. Most buyers have also given up waiting for the removal of the cooling measures, especially as they are usually compensated with discounts given by developers.”
The transition, however, was not easy.
A major roadblock
“Jyen Ke and I started planning the switch to the luxury property market in December 2015. We gave ourselves a deadline: we would sell at least one D9 or D10 property before the end of April, knowing this was one of the toughest area to do sales.”
They started marketing OUE Twin Peaks, where they conducted viewings daily, but to no avail.
This dry spell continued for five months. Naturally, they were discouraged and disheartened; Siow even considered giving up and reverting to dealing in HDB flats.
“We spent every single day there and didn’t close any deals. What’s worse is that we were the ones with the most appointments among all the agents there!”
The turning point
Siow and Jyen Ke discussed where they were going wrong and came to the conclusion that the main problem was not managing their clients’ expectations well.
And then, over the last weekend of April this year, the tide finally turned.
Not only did Siow manage to earn six figures that weekend, she went on to sell 11 units at OUE Twin Peaks within three months.
To date, she and Jyen Ke have sold over 20 units at the development, and have been thriving at both OUE Twin Peaks and Gramercy Park.
When asked what advice she has for young agents starting out in the industry, Siow has some tough love to offer: “Life is never fair; no one will treat you fairly and no one owes you anything, so you just have to accept that and make the best of what you have.”
This article was first published in the print version PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDFs of full print issues or read more stories now! | |||
