Improving customer experience through innovation

FOR Cornerstone Realty, innovation means finding the best way or method to turn something that the firm is passionate about — real estate — into something that will impact its clients’ experience positively.

“But it doesn’t stop there [for us]. Innovation is also about improving our own negotiators’ experience with the real estate profession,” says its director of sales and marketing Wong Yau Long.

Established in 2008 by its principal Francis Lau, Cornerstone Realty has seen a growth spurt from 15 real estate negotiators (RENs) to 75 RENs in the last 20 months alone. And most recently, Cornerstone Realty emerged the winner of the MIEA-TheEdgeProperty.com The Most Innovative Firm Award at the National Real Estate Awards 2016 organised by the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) on Oct 1, 2016.

It was the Domain System for sub-sales management started by Wong for his agency that clinched the title for the firm.

“I started the system as a way to effectively manage the sub-sales of an entire township,” he says. However, at the same time, Wong also realised that in the real estate industry, only 20% of RENs end up being top producers.

“The remaining 80% either fall out of the business or barely scrape by. So I had this idea to create a systematic method of managing sales to support the RENs so they can focus on what their core function is — to serve clients. This can help them to increase their number of deals.

“So this was how the Domain System was born. It was really just a way to serve clients better while aiming to help negotiators increase their sales,” Wong tells TheEdgeProperty.com.

With the Domain System in place, Wong believes that the firm can help more RENs to succeed in their real estate profession.

“With a systematic support system, they will move up faster in their career because they can give their very best to their clients,” he added.

“Our next milestone is to expand the Cornerstone Realty sub-sales team further,” he says.

On the Malaysian property sector, Wong believes there is still a lot of potential for properties in Malaysia as Malaysian real estate is still relatively affordable for both locals and foreigners.

“A few months ago, my team and I visited a property exhibition in Hong Kong and I met up with my former university mates living there. Although they have a combined monthly income of HK$80,000 to HK$100,000 (RM42,858 to RM53,572), they are still not able to afford to own a home over there.

“In Malaysia, we have not come to an extent where decent earning Malaysians struggle the same way for property ownership. There is still much to explore and tap into, although there will be a time where things will get more expensive, particularly in major cities.

“[In this case], selecting the right property is crucial. Besides researching on your own, consult professionals for sound financial advice before making any major decisions,” he says.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Oct 14, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.