Keys to Real Estate Success

The words “Joanna Real Estate” (JRE) may not resonate with most Chinese, but they are often the first words foreigners moving to Beijing and in need of a new apartment hear from their friends.

After nine years in business under the direction of its founder Joanna Tan, JRE has become the No.1 relocation-service provider for foreigners in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shenzhen. 

So who is Joanna Tan, and what is the secret of her success?

Her office in Beijing is spartan, utilitarian, all business: but when Joanna Tan greets a visitor there, the office’s atmosphere suddenly becomes warm and welcoming. These two aspects of Tan’s business personality reveal much about Tan’s success in the competitive world of real estate.

When visiting with a foreign client, Tan’s usage of English sounds authentic and impeccable. One easily assumes she has studied abroad, perhaps in the United States. The fact is that she planned to go to the United States, she never did. Her English proficiency came through determined self-study, becoming a key that opened doors to her career.

In the early 1990s, after working as a secretary in a foreign company for a short period after graduation, Tan got a job as a sales agent in a real estate agency that specialized in serving expatriates. At the time, the status of such a job was not high, especially for a college graduate, but her occupation, relatively new to China, ended up rewarding her courage and innovation with quick wealth. The relaxed working atmosphere of her company gave her full rein to explore the entrepreneurial aspects of her character; ultimately, she decided to found her own real estate agency, the Joanna Real Estate in Beijing in 1998, specializing in residential relocation services for foreign clients.

With a sound customer base she had established within the expatriate community and thanks to the explosive growth of the foreign presence in China that began in the 1990s, JRE became a prominent firm in the expatriate relocation-services market, but its business really took off in 2003 when Tan entered into a corporate service agreement with Ford, assigning JRE as its relocation agent for its international purchasing centre in Shanghai. This contact showed Tan that her future lay in providing corporate services, and she led her company in that direction, landing further business with top companies such as Dell, Shell, Siemens and [Sony] Ericsson, who have become long-term JRE clients.

Then, it was on to Shanghai: another correct decision. With its large base of particularly well-off foreigners, Tan found another strong market for her services. Today, JRE’s Shanghai office is the largest real estate agency in the city, with more than 160 employees, eclipsing even that of JRE’s Beijing headquarters.

“Shanghai has a more mature service market, and we have a lot to learn,” said Tan. “When we apply these practices in Beijing, we will be able to provide better service to our clients.”

Although faced with many international competitors, Joanna is confident about her advantages as a local company.

“We have unmatched property resources, which is only possible when you have lived in a city for a long time,” she said.

Another good thing about being a private agent is its “flexibility,” Tan said. “Clients have their own unique demands; therefore, flexibility is important in our service. Sometimes, clients and property owners cannot agree, because of tiny issues such as who should pay for a new washing machine. In a chain company, this is an issue that would likely have to be decided by the higher management, but this is time-consuming; I can make a decision at once, and in most cases I’ll pay for such things to keep my client happy.”

Confident, straight-forward and aggressive, Tan seems perfect for her entrepreneurial role. She admits to the toughness in her character that has helped make her a successful boss, even though her staff may sometimes recoil, but Tan is very open about this.

“I don’t expect to be the most welcomed company boss,” she said. “I just want them to think of me when they get abundant rewards and can afford to buy houses as good as those of our foreign clients.”

As a woman, she encourages the young women in her company to work hard and to seek economic independence, something that Tan considers important and that she has achieved. She is not ambiguous about her advantages as a woman in the business arena.

“Everybody likes to be with pretty girls. You get better treatment as a woman when you do as excellently as a man, but you cannot take this for granted. People won’t give you contracts just because you are a pretty girl.”

As a working mother who commutes between Beijing and Shanghai, she does not have as much time to spend with her child as she would like. But she takes a positive approach to this matter: “I may not be able to read her stories before bedtime, but I can offer her an abundant life and a good education. Besides, I believe in the power of the role model: I want to set a good example for my child.”