Special Feature

Raama Subramaniyan masters real estate through the art of storytelling

July 25, 2024 3:00 PM SGT

Raama is the Key Executive Officer and a practicing salesperson with SRI (Photo: Albert Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

When veteran agent Raama Subramaniyan sees a listing, he immediately envisions a story. With over 16 years of experience in the real estate industry, he has distinguished himself by using skillful storytelling to craft impactful narratives about properties for his clients.

This unique approach reflects his dynamic personality. In addition to being an agent, Raama is SRI’s Key Executive Officer (KEO) and one of the agency's trainers, advocating technology and ensuring regulatory and business compliance. Prior to his real estate career, he served in the Air Force for 10 years, followed by a stint as a cadet pilot with Singapore Airlines for a year.

Raama, a veteran agent with over 16 years of experience (Photo: Albert Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

In 2008, he transitioned from a part-time to a full-time real estate agent after discovering his passion for the field. He finds joy in engaging with new clients and marketing properties. As the saying goes, "Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Raama has grown to love his job.

Stories with an impact

The idea of using storytelling in marketing properties came to Raama when he thought about the kind of books he enjoys reading. By drawing parallels, he learned that clients are more likely to be interested in a property with a compelling story. Raama thus decided to apply the art of storytelling to real estate, and translate this skill to marketing on social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube. His secret to creating an impactful story? Active listening and asking questions to his clients who intend to sell their homes.

“The more I listen, the more I am able to craft a storyline for the property in my head. As they are sharing, I am mentally stitching together the story for the video,” he shares. This is a skill that he imparts to agents under his tutelage. He emphasises this strategy particularly for landed property owners, who typically buy their houses for niche reasons, such as the history of the house and its unique qualities.

Harnessing the power of technology

When the pandemic hit, Raama pivoted to social media to create real estate-related content. He acknowledges that making and editing videos is an arduous process, but the rising engagement on his accounts motivates him to continue. Moreover, he has gained many clients through social media.

By capitalising on social media, he expands his reach to new clients and educates users about the real estate market. He uses creative storytelling techniques to attract viewers to his TikTok and YouTube accounts, where he regularly uploads videos. In a span of six months, his TikTok account has garnered more than 3,700 followers and approximately 32,800 active user engagements whilst his YouTube account has crossed the 1,000 subscriber count.

Using social media comes with its challenges, including dealing with negative comments from users. His advice is to adopt a constructive strategy to address such comments. One tip he has is to engage such users positively to shift the focus of the discussion. This can in turn help drown out negativity. He counts his experience as a KEO as key in this regard.

Raama was awarded Top 3 Senior District Director at SRI Keynote 2024

Investing in relationships with clients

Just as he invests in the stories of his clients and their properties, Raama puts in an equal amount of effort and time in maintaining and building relationships with them. “By talking and meaningfully engaging with my clients, I am able to better understand their needs, wants and concerns,” Raama says. The time spent with clients is extremely important, and a good agent must be able to invest time and effort in doing so, he shares.

He fondly recalls one of his most memorable transactions, which was the first landed property he sold. He had been marketing it for two months and finally sealed the deal with a couple, who were also selling their first landed property. Unfortunately, the couple’s buyer had to pull out at the last minute, leaving them with two landed properties on their hands. They had to find a buyer for their first property within the week to avoid losing the 1% option fee paid by the buyer.

Not only did Raama manage to secure a buyer within a week, but he also sold it at a price higher than the previous offer received. This experience gave him confidence in his real estate career and showed him how much he could go above and beyond in serving his clients.

Satisfaction in mentoring agents

Besides engaging with clients, Raama is passionate about mentoring agents and guiding them to success. As a trainer and team leader, he feels immense satisfaction when his agents do well and express gratitude.

He is especially keen on mentoring agents who are themselves willing to learn — an attitude that is typically present in new agents who often have a “sponge” mindset of grasping and growth.

Raama and team at SRI Keynote 2024 (Photo: Raama Subramaniyan)

Beyond that, agents should also act on what they have learned by applying their knowledge to real-life situations. “If you don’t apply, you are not going to progress. So observe, learn, and then put into action. This should be the mantra on the lips of every aspiring agent,” he shares.

Though he can equip his mentees with storytelling skills, he prefers that they find their own style and, most importantly, find ways to stand out from the crowd. This is necessary to stay relevant since the industry will continue to evolve over time. He says: “Before, nobody did videos to market properties, but now many do. Now, if everybody does videos, you need to ensure yours stands out in a crowded market. Your content has to be that much more engaging and, simply put, better."

Each of Raama’s videos tells a unique story, creating an immersive experience. Raama’s content is crafted to not only present a property but also inspire potential buyers to envision their future home.