A-Point / B-Point Thinking Works Perfectly in Malaysia
Why the Industry's Problem Is Direction, Not Technology
In Malaysia's property industry, the word strategy is often misused. Most people use it to mean:
- How fast they can recruit, or
- How much they can spend on advertising.
That is not strategy. That is activity.
Real strategy answers a much harder set of questions — questions most agencies avoid because the answers force uncomfortable trade-offs. To find the correct path, we must use A-Point / B-Point thinking.
The A-Point / B-Point Model
A-Point: Where the industry is trapped today.
B-Point: What the industry must inevitably become.
Strategy is not about speed. It is about closing the A → B gap correctly. If you misdiagnose the gap, every solution fails — no matter how modern the app or how big the marketing budget.
Malaysia's A-Point: The Fragile Present
Let's be honest about current conditions.
Low Trust in Agents Public trust is weak — not because agents are bad people, but because outcomes are inconsistent and personality-driven. Buyers trust individuals, not the profession.
No Standardized Listing Data Listings are duplicated, outdated, and unverifiable. Every agency maintains its own version of reality. There is no single source of truth.
Private Data Held Hostage Listings and buyer history live inside WhatsApp chats and personal phones. When an agent leaves, the intelligence leaves. Data is treated as personal leverage, not infrastructure.
Commission Disputes and Opacity Unclear splits, retroactive overrides, and "special cases" are common. Trust breaks internally long before it breaks externally.
ERP Systems Used Only for Accounting Most Malaysian ERP systems are commission calculators. They record money (outcomes) but do not govern behavior (process).
Agents Treated as Disposable Units The dominant model is simple: recruit fast, train shallow, replace quickly. This creates churn, not professionalism.
Malaysia's B-Point: The Inevitable Future
The direction is clear. The winners will be those who arrive here first.
- Verified Inventory The market will no longer tolerate fiction. Listings must be real, current, and traceable to responsibility.
- Professionalized Agents Agents will be judged by process quality and compliance — not charisma or social media hype.
- Transparent, Auditable Workflows A system that records who did what, and when. Cooperation becomes rational instead of optional.
- Data as Infrastructure, Not Weapon Data shifts from private leverage to shared rails. Institutional memory compounds instead of evaporating.
- Agents as Career Professionals Agents stop being temporary sales labor and start becoming long-term system participants.
The Key Insight: The A → B Gap Is Not Technological
Malaysia does not lack apps. It does not lack platforms. It does not lack traffic.
The A → B gap is cultural and infrastructural, not technological.
That is why better apps fail. That is why more portals do not fix trust. To move from A to B, the industry needs rules, not promises.
Why Governance Matters More Than "Apps"
To close the A → B gap, ERP must be treated as infrastructure — not software. When designed correctly, ERP becomes:
- A Trust Ledger: A definitive record for commissions and attribution.
- A Memory System: Retaining knowledge even when individuals leave.
- A Fairness Mechanism: Rewarding contribution structurally, not emotionally.
This is how trust scales.
Final Thought
Malaysia's property industry does not need disruption theatre. It needs directional clarity. Once A and B are clearly defined:
- Strategy becomes obvious.
- Trade-offs make sense.
- Short-term pain becomes acceptable.
The future is not mysterious. The only question is: Who is willing to build the infrastructure to get there — and who will keep pretending apps and traffic are enough?
That decision determines who survives the transition.
