Special Feature

Helming champions: How Dulcie Liu helps aspiring real estate agents achieve success

By Dulcie Liu

/ Brought to you by ERA Realty |

July 25, 2022 3:00 PM SGT

Dulcie Liu (third from right) at a gala event with Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Realty (centre); Ryner Koh, ERA’s executive director of agency and founder of Grow Group (standing left of Chu); and other Grow Group leaders

Beneath her gentle demeanor, Dulcie Liu has a strong character and a likeable personality, which often helps her influence her peers to want to join her in the real estate industry.

When ERA Realty’s Dulcie Liu first started out as an agent, things weren’t always smooth sailing. At the time, she had just passed her real estate salesperson (RES) exam, making the switch from working in the finance industry to real estate.

But while she was new to the industry, Liu was no stranger to challenges or carving out opportunities for herself. Even when she was still studying, she would work part-time, helping her aunt manage a store that sold winter clothing and even running her own blog shop for a time. “I think those experiences ultimately helped me to take on a sales role more easily,” she muses.

Liu is no stranger to challenges – her hard work and determination has resulted in a successful career in real estate

It would be about six months before she got her first big break, marketing the condominium Bartley Residences that had just received its temporary occupation permit (TOP). Liu seized the opportunity, working tirelessly to build up a client base and a name for herself. “There were a lot of sacrifices made that first year, I was working daily,” she concedes.

But the sacrifices paid off: by her second year as a real estate agent, Liu was consistently earning a five-figure income each month. She steadily built up her track record, racking up multiple achievements along the way. A key milestone came in 2019, when she was named a Diamond Achiever — a special award bestowed by ERA for agents that earn $100,000 or more in a single month. Liu also started building a team, hiring a personal assistant and a telemarketer as her portfolio grew bigger.

Liu was named a Diamond Achiever — a special award bestowed by ERA for agents that earn $100,000 or more in a single month

It was around the same time that friends and fellow colleagues started approaching Liu, asking for tips on how to become a successful agent. “When you do well in sales, people want to know what’s behind your success story,” she remarks. That sparked the idea of helping new and aspiring agents in this competitive but lucrative industry.

End-to-end guidance

For Liu, taking on a mentoring role was a natural progression in her career — she started devoting more time and effort on her agents as she became a seasoned real estate agent.

Her dedication to guiding team members under her wing mirrors the steadfast commitment she harnessed in building her career. Liu offers a proactive mentoring approach, helping team members every step of the way from prospecting clients to securing listings and closing deals.

To help fresh agents gain transaction experience, she even goes so far as to share her listings, allowing team members to jointly close deals with her and split the commission. “I involve a lot of my agents in my sales, so that way they get to earn while they are learning,” she explains.

Liu conducting a revision class to help aspiring real estate agents prepare for their RES exam

Her approach sets her apart as a leader in the industry. “Not many leaders out there let their new agents market their listings to earn some commission,” she laughs. But Liu believes that doing so is the quickest way for her team members to learn and build confidence in this industry — something that’s especially important for new agents. “It’s easy to feel defeated or doubt yourself if you don’t have that confidence and track record from the start,” she notes.

Liu herself is currently mentored by Ryner Koh, ERA’s executive director of agency and founder of Grow Group, a division under ERA. She credits her growth as a leader to him, noting that his experience in the army — Koh served as an artillery officer in the Singapore Armed Forces — provides her with good guidance and develops her leadership skills.

Five-figure monthly income

Liu has worked with agents of various ages and experience levels, though she has an especially strong interest and unwavering support for young agents just starting out in the industry. One such agent is Clara Goh, who joined Liu’s team last December.

Goh started joining Liu on house viewings as well other team activities Liu organises on a regular basis, such as door-knocking and cold-calling to help team members establish their portfolio and client base. Through observing Liu and getting her coaching, Goh eventually started building up her own contacts and gained the confidence to reach out and offer listing presentations to prospective clients. Within a few months, Goh clocked in a five-figure monthly income and has started gaining recognition in the industry, including being awarded Grow Group’s Top New Achiever award recently.

Taking on a mentoring role has been a natural progression in Liu’s career and she now devotes more time and effort to helping aspiring new agents in her team

Liu sees achieving a consistent five-figure income as a pivotal goal for all her team members. “I want every one of them to consistently achieve this because cash flow is important,” she highlights. To that end, she focuses on ensuring her agents that they can also generate a continuous momentum of transactions to sustain a stable income monthly.

A common mistake rookie agents often make is not having a proper grasp on their finances, Liu observes. “A lot of agents end up spending commissions they earn on lavish purchases instead of saving up,” she notes. While Liu has nothing against buying a well-earned treat, it’s important for agents to ensure sufficient amounts are set aside for marketing expenses that will help them generate new leads and deals down the line. She also spends effort and time in helping them on marketing activities that generate more leads.

To that end, Liu also makes sure her team members are knowledgeable on their cash flows and expenses. “With my team, I always emphasize financial management and to set aside money for marketing activities” she affirms.

Giving RES revision to potential agents

Liu also shares that she holds revision classes every quarter to prepare aspiring real estate agents for their RES exam. Her physical revision classes on Paper 1 and Paper 2 conducted on July 20 and 21 garnered a good response from students.

She will be conducting her next revision class via Zoom on August 1, 3, 8 and 10. “I try to make my revision lesson interactive with the students. The more practice and participation in the class, the better it is for the students’ learn- ing and understanding of all the theories and to apply them into case studies,” she says.

A supportive environment

Beyond sharing guidance and knowledge, ultimately, Liu aims to provide a supportive and inclusive environment for her team members. “We are very close and work to help each other out,” she says. For now, her team is a tight-knitted group where everyone does prospecting activities together, though Liu is open to scaling her team up to around 30 people. “I think having a smaller group is the best way for all team members to learn and gain confidence,” she adds.

Having a culture of open communication and knowledge-sharing is something that Liu also appreciates about ERA Realty’s admin and HR department, which she says has been very supportive of her journey as an agent and division leader for the past seven years. “I would like to ex- press my gratitude to the top leadership in ERA, including ERA’s CEO Marcus Chu, COO Doris Ong, and COO Thomas Tan. They will take the time to talk to you and offer advice or help, and they are very approachable,” she says.

It is no doubt that Liu carries a bubbly and friendly persona in real life. If you are keen to know more about her division and subscribe to her RES revision classes, you may follow her on Instagram @dulcieliudivision