ERA Asia Pacific Business Conference 2023: Announces Plans to Focus on Revolutionising Real Estate Through ‘Enrich Lives, Embrace Tech’

Singapore’s leading international real estate agency, ERA Realty Network Pte Ltd (“ERA”), successfully held its annual Asia Pacific Business Conference (APBC) at the iconic Marina Bay Sands. It was attended by over 2,000 representatives across 11 countries where ERA operates and graced by guest-of-honour, Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development & Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration.

The APBC is a prominent regional industry conference that celebrates and recognises the salesforce’s remarkable accomplishments of the preceding year. Mr Marcus Chu, CEO of APAC Realty and ERA Asia Pacific, announced ERA’s theme for the forthcoming year – “Enrich Lives, Embrace Tech”. This theme represents ERA’s commitment to fostering an environment that nurtures growth for its agents and employees, as well as a culture of innovation and investment in cutting-edge PropTech tools, to continually elevate its service standards, to serve clients more efficiently than ever before.

“Our vision in ERA is to be Asia Pacific’s leading real estate agency providing evolutionary solutions to customers. To achieve this, we constantly strive to stay ahead of the curve by embracing change and setting a new industry standard through continuous innovation. For us, innovation means more than just having a good idea – it means investing in the right strategies that truly enhance the lives of our agents, clients and communities. Our unwavering commitment to elevating customer experience is reflected in this year’s theme, and we remain dedicated to pursuing excellence in all facets of our business.” said Marcus Chu, CEO of APAC Realty and ERA Asia Pacific.

Enriching Lives Through Salesforce Expansion and Support

ERA leads the real estate pack in Asia Pacific, boasting 22,000 agents working across more than 640 offices in 11 countries.

Today, ERA announced its expansion in the region, with Laos becoming the newest member of the ERA family. ERA attributes its success to its commitment to cultivating a culture of growth, integrity, and excellence, and this has been reflected in the company’s recent achievement of securing a net increase of 277 real estate salespersons in Q1 2023, the highest number in Singapore. This success is testament to the fact that ERA remains the go-to agency for aspiring real estate salespersons.

In addition to nurturing its salesforce, ERA has also pledged to invest S$5 million in a Renewal Support Plan to cover annual license registration and renewal fees for all ERA agents in Singapore over the next two years.

Enriching the Lives of Communities Through ESG by ERA

Dedicated to supporting its salesforce and giving back to the community through its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts, ESG by ERA was launched in November 2021 and is chaired by Doris Ong, Deputy CEO of APAC Realty and ERA Singapore. ESG by ERA has raised over S$470,000 to date, with contributions from ERA senior management and advisor leaders.

These funds have been used to support green practices and initiatives in environmental education and community activities. ERA has donated to the Hong Kah North Environmental Sustainability Fund, supporting the Singapore Green Plan 2030, and to the North West Community Development Council (CDC), helping to nurture a green mindset among residents.

ESG by ERA has also supported sustainable consumption practices through various community activities. As part of Zero Waste SG’s Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) campaign, ERA donated 300 reusable bags to encourage reduced use of disposable bags in grocery stores. In collaboration with North West CDC, ERA also donated 57 desktop computers to support vulnerable residents with digital readiness and over 1,000 preloved books to a green community library for the less privileged. These actions demonstrate ERA’s commitment to its salesforce and to the community.

“ERA is more than a real estate agency, we are committed to driving positive change through our leadership in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices. Our dedication to sustainability runs deep, and we actively encourage individuals and businesses to make eco-friendly choices that reduce our collective impact on the environment. In fact, we just set a new national record in the Singapore Book of Records today by achieving the Most Number of Online Sustainability Pledges made in a Day – over 1,9001 pledges were made to the Green Nation Pledge. This accomplishment underscores our commitment to promoting sustainable practices as we continue to lead the way in the real estate industry and beyond,” said Doris Ong, Deputy CEO of APAC Realty and ERA Singapore.

Embracing Tech Advancements and Transformation with Modern Technology

In pursuing PropTech advancements, ERA announced Singapore as its main Tech Innovation Centre, with a pledge to invest S$5.2 million to scale up tech capabilities this year. The investment involves job creation in tech talent roles such as mobile developers, UI/UX designers, DevOps and backend engineers, with the goal of doubling its tech team headcount to support the scale of tech enhancements in the pipeline.

ERA became the first in the industry to integrate AI solutions, including OpenAI Generative Pre-Trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), into its proprietary SALES+ super app earlier this month. This enables agents to automate time-consuming tasks like copywriting, content generation, and translations, freeing up their time to serve clients more efficiently. The integration of GPT-3 into SALES+, represents a major leap toward unlocking the full potential of PropTech, resulting in over 30% increase in app usage since its launch, with the advanced feature of SALES+ being the most utilised feature for agents, especially when it comes to sending general queries and receiving automated responses.

Pushing forward speedily with new technology, ERA will transition to the popular ChatGPT platform before end-March 2023, to further improve automation capabilities, with plans to roll out the newly enhanced SALES+ across its 646 Asia Pacific offices located across 11 countries by 2025. This not only highlights ERA’s dedication to empowering its agents and staying abreast with the evolving market, it reinforces ERA’s commitment toward supporting the government’s real estate industry transformation map, which aims to transform the industry to be professional, productive and resilient through the digitalisation of processes by 2025. In staying aligned with our national vision, ERA will continue to strive in providing the best in service standards to its agents and clients.

ERA’s agility during the pandemic also proved its leadership in digital transformation. Apart from the SALES+ super app for agents, RealtyWatch, another proprietary mobile app customised for consumers was launched, featuring a 24/7 property transaction monitoring platform to give consumers transaction prices and property market information in real time. Therefore, ERA’s 2023 theme of “Enrich Lives, Embrace Tech” represents a dedication to innovation, a commitment to investing in tech, and elevating its service standards to the industry’s highest levels.

“As one of the market leaders spearheading the real estate industry, ERA is an important contributor and has been a role model for many others to follow. Your commitment to professionalism, innovation and customer satisfaction has enabled you to establish yourselves as a trusted and reliable partner in the industry. We look forward to your
continued partnership as we push the boundaries for the sector,” said Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development & Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration.