We recently connected with Jen Wang and have shared our conversation below.

Jen, appreciate you joining us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

Marketing is a top expense when it comes to running your own business. Many of us small business owners do not have 15-20k budgets to hire a marketing firm so guess what? We sit there, send out all our own mailers and figure it out.

For me, I don’t do the typical Christmas card or “Spring Has Sprung” broker blasts to generate business. NYE 2019 I sent out an email with meditation/journal prompts to my clients so they could set their intentions and manifestations for the new year, something more soulful/spiritual (more me) and less business.

March 2020 I sent out scratchies with a penny taped under for St. Patty’s Day. I mailed over 500 individual letters and handwrote each address and stamped them. The note attached said “I got lucky having you as a client- here’s hoping you get lucky too!”

I thought it was a nifty and not so pushy marketing idea, kind of like your broker is still here for all your real estate needs without any in your face pushiness our industry tends to do.

Marketing in all forms whether it’s creative like that or social media reels and TikTok’s allows us to fully create, direct and control what our brand looks like and who we are in a way. I think this is something you need to mix with your own values and constantly find just genuine ways to stay consistent in your industry.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my first week fresh out of college working at a restaurant in Soho at 21. I think working there taught me so much about customer service first and foremost, understanding what the customer wants and anticipating their needs before they do. Asking them for another drink as soon as their glass is near empty, seeing their water cups halfway, etc. It sounds silly but it helped me notice the small wants and needs of my clients in real estate now.

That restaurant (La Esquina) also had a downstairs brasserie where the clientele were higher (and so were the tips!) To get “promoted” to downstairs, you needed good sales at their cafe upstairs. Customer service hand in hand with upsell skills made the perfect formula for a real estate broker. I tell people all the time, we aren’t in the real estate business – we’re in the people business.

Understanding people, genuinely understanding and caring for your clients and working hard to achieve this together is the foundation of what makes a broker successful.

I have been in real estate for under 10 years now. Sometimes I feel funny to be in an industry that is dominated by older folk, where people equated experience with age. I used to remember wearing glasses and dressing older so that I could appear older and therefore, more experienced. It sounds so silly to me how much I was overthinking and doubting myself early on. I suppose like business owners, it’s our own form of imposter syndrome setting in.

At the end of the day, to have been working in the customer service industry since I was 21 has made me a more intuitive broker. I am a much better broker because of it.

My brand and style of work is being available to my clients for most of the day. I know some entrepreneurs call it insane and lack of boundary setting but I love it! Clients become friends and then work just feels like two friends chatting and catching up. I know there’s a lot of luxury brokers here in NYC that simply won’t do a neighborhood or a price range they feel doesn’t cater to them which is fair, that’s THEIR brand. For me, my goal is making real estate attainable for everyone so I accept all clients, from the $2000 rentals to the $3 million investor. I tell people all the time, when I walk into a room, I never care about being the wealthiest, the prettiest, where everyone went to school, who our parents are. None of that is worth competing over but I know for a fact when I walk into that same room, I can outwork everyone in there. My work ethic is my best quality. And that’s what separates me from others.

In NYC’s competitive real estate market, I’m most proud of having a business that is self made. No one ever gave me a listing because of some trivial connection, it was always that they heard I did good honest work. My clients now are all 100% word of mouth and therefore, already have some sense of trust built already in me.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think running an honest business is the biggest key to running a reputation. You may not see a return in lead generation and clients immediately with this method but honestly, good word of mouth travels much slower than bad word of mouth. It takes time to build your craft as well as your reputation.

There has been countless times I took less on a commission so my client was able to secure a place or get tons of perks for their rental (free parking, storage, earlier move in date etc). The funny thing is they never know. An honest broker doesn’t do something and then go back to their client and tell them “Look what I did for you.” You just do it. You work with the listing agent or sponsor and you two hash out a deal and you put your clients needs first.

Other times, agents in NYC feel as if they’re too good to do something. I have had out of state tenant clients moving into NYC and needed help setting up internet before move in because they work remote the next day etc etc and I’ve never had an issue just lending a helping hand to ensure their move in or home purchase is as smooth as possible. That’s what going above and beyond is. Some realtors will turn their nose up at having to be there to let in a handyman or help the clients set up a Con Edison electricity account but considering a one-bedroom rental in Manhattan averages at 5K and the commission is anywhere from 8-15% here… what are you complaining about? The job isn’t done until your client is living there and fully situated.

By doing this and keeping an honest business, I haven’t had to spend any money on vast broker advertising such as billboards, newspapers, Zillow leads etc. I do spend a couple bucks on just basic client outreach such as housewarming gifts but nothing else promoting me as a broker. My business is completely word of mouth and everyone knows exactly what I do.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I remember early on when I learned about prospecting. Basically, to generate clients or leads, you had to do some form of in person networking to gain business. This may mean cold calling, door knocking, etc.

In NYC, it’s so competitive. You get a FOR SALE BY OWNER (FSBO) sheet at 9 am, and by 12 pm, 10 agents from your firm alone has already tried to call these owners. Imagine, the countless other agents in other firms as well.

Door knocking is not common or welcomed in NYC either. So what do you do?

I remember 2016, a colleague of mine and I made a word search on the back of card stock flyers and printed them in our office. We knew there were pop up shops happening that week (Google, Nintendo Store, all had events this week). Our office was right in midtown, so we simply walked and handed out flyers to people waiting on line to get into the stores and events. Honestly, face to face is the easiest and most genuine form of prospecting (and a great way to conquer your social anxiety as well). The people were able to play an easy word search game on line as they were waiting for almost an hour and then even if they didn’t keep the flyer, at least would remember our names, after all, Jen Wang has quite the ring to it!

2017 we had a terrible winter in NYC. I still put on my winter coat with a stack of homemade flyers and went to a neighborhood I felt may generate buyers, walked around for 4 hours in the cold before I went home that night.

Resiliency is keeping at your craft even when the prospective client falls through, no one buys your product, or shows up to your show. It’s the constant picking yourself up and going back to the drawing board to troubleshoot it all. It’s trying new things even when others in your industry question your methods, you must remember if this works for you and your brand and stay on course with that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://streeteasy.com/profile/900147-jen-wang?tab_profile=past_deals&sales_type=worked_with_seller
• Instagram: JWOFKW