Meet IQI Realty's leading Head of Team, Keegan Soh who recently earned the title of "Professional Negotiator" at the StarProperty Real Estate Awards in 2018.

Alex Morgan’s “Dream big, because dreams do happen” is the message IQI Keegan Soh wants to deliver through this interview.

Can you please introduce yourself?

I’m Keegan Soh, 32, Head of Team from IQI Holdings Sdn Bhd

How long have you been in the industry?
5 years

What is your current role?

With the title of Head of Team & Regional Trainer of IQI, I am in charge of a team of property negotiators in various regions around Malaysia.

My main roles include being responsible for motivating and advising my team members to improve their performance, hiring, training new team members, helping team members to achieve their objectives through effective planning, setting sales goals, analyzing data on past performance, projecting future performance. I also travel to the different regions of Malaysia to share my experiences with our property negotiators.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the real estate industry?

I’m a person who loves to socialise and will easily get bored in an office doing the same thing every day, but in real estate, I will not encounter that problem. I like changes, new trends, dealing with many different personalities and adapting to different markets.

Other than that, the real estate industry does not limit how much I can earn hourly, daily, or monthly. Since a career in real estate is essentially my business, my main limitations are how well I can start and grow my business – it can be very lucrative.

What do you think your biggest strength is?

One of my biggest strengths is my communication skills. I work very well with all kinds of people, and understand that everyone has different perspectives about projects and work tasks - so when I work with others I realise that everyone comes to the table with different priorities and objectives. I keep this in mind when I communicate tasks that need to be accomplished with positive reinforcement and awareness of what others are working on.

What is your biggest achievement throughout your entire career in the real estate industry?

My biggest achievement is that since I’ve started on this real estate path, I have become financially independent. Even with my humble background (broken family background), I now own a few properties and I am able to travel overseas a few times every year. My life has totally changed since I joined the real estate industry.

I believe you have trained new agents before. In what aspects do you think training is essential for new agents?

As in all professional careers, attending training and learning about the latest market trends is crucial to professional success. Real estate training helps us to stay current with the latest industry standards and regulations, as well as helping us competitively market ourselves as an ‘in-the-know’ agent. By attending seminars, webinars, or training on a regular basis, training will help us grow our business.

As a team leader, how do you motivate your team to keep going?

“Realising dreams, changing lives” is the slogan of IQI, and this is one of the things I love the most about this company.

A ‘dream’ can be described as a possibility that a person imagines for his/her work or non-work life, which ideally should generate excitement; but for many, their dreams mean nothing more to them than a distant reality.

As a leader, it is my responsibility to keep on reminding them about their dreams and to live the life that they wanted, to keep on coaching them and encourage them whenever they hit any walls.

In your opinion, what kind of leader should someone be in order to lead his team to success?

In my opinion, setting goals and monitoring my team member’s growth is the essence of success. In one study, 63% of employees reported that they wasted time at work because they weren't aware of what work was a priority, and what wasn't. As a leader, it's our job to work with the team members to set clear goals. And once we do that, make sure everyone knows exactly what those goals are, what their relative priority is, and what is the team's role in reaching them.

Get the 2019 edition of the First Time Home Buyer Guide here, or read about other real estate practitioners and winners of the StarProperty.my Real Estate Awards here.