Should More Retail Agency Bosses Participate in Policy Making?
Every few years, new policies are introduced in the name of “raising standards.”
New forms, new submissions, new layers of compliance.
Yet for most working agents, life doesn’t get easier — it gets heavier.
The reason is simple: the people designing the rules are often not the ones living them.
The Boardroom and the Marketplace Are Two Different Worlds
Many policymakers come from structured corporate or valuation backgrounds. Their experience lies in institutional assets, tenders, and investment portfolios — important work, but very different from the day-to-day realities of the retail property market.
Retail agencies, on the other hand, live in constant motion. They handle thousands of small transactions, manage high turnover, and keep dozens of team leaders, recruiters, and referrers aligned. Their business models include complex overriding schemes, referral systems, and incentive layers — structures that motivate agents but don’t fit neatly into legacy legislation.
These aren’t loopholes or bad practices. They’re survival mechanics — the natural evolution of a high-volume, high-pressure industry. Unfortunately, the current legal framework has yet to recognise this complexity.
Retail Agencies Are Not the Problem — They Are the Innovators
Retail agencies are often portrayed as chaotic or hard to regulate. But in reality, they’re the ones driving the industry forward.
Because they lack the financial cushion of corporate firms, they’re forced to innovate first — adopting new technologies, experimenting with incentive systems, and building digital infrastructure long before it becomes policy. They are not behind the curve; they are the experimental lab of real estate.
The Job Has Changed — But the Rules Haven’t
Once, an agent needed little more than listings, persistence, and a car. Today, that same agent must run a mini-business of specialised roles to stay competitive:
- Video Editing and Short-Form Content – Producing engaging reels and property tours.
- Facebook and Instagram Ads Setup – Designing campaigns, setting budgets, and managing leads.
- Copywriting – Crafting persuasive headlines, captions, and listing descriptions.
- Lead Calling and Qualification – Handling inquiries, filtering buyers, and following up.
- Negotiation and Objection Handling – Turning interest into offers through skilful dialogue.
- Customer Relationship Management – Maintaining trust across long buyer journeys.
- Site Inspection and Viewing Coordination – Managing keys, access cards, and buyer logistics.
- Proximity-Based Support – Stationed near the property to respond instantly to leads.
- Legal and Compliance Familiarity – Understanding appointment letters, deposits, and PDPA obligations.
- Financial and Loan Advisory – Guiding buyers through bank selections and approvals.
- Networking and Collaboration – Linking lawyers, bankers, and co-broking partners.
The truth? This “super-agent” expectation is unsustainable.
No one can excel in all these areas simultaneously without sacrificing quality, sanity, or both.
The inevitable result is burnout, inefficiency, and lost opportunities.
The irony? In trying to earn more, agents end up doing everything — and mastering nothing.
Why ACN Is the Next Step Forward
The Agent Cooperation Network (ACN) framework is designed for exactly this reality. It replaces the outdated “one-agent-does-all” model with verified collaboration.
Instead of pretending every agent can do everything, ACN structures the workflow into traceable roles:
- Listing Input and Verification – gathers and confirms property data.
- Marketing and Promotion – handles visuals, ads, and digital outreach.
- Viewing and Negotiation – manages appointments and client discussions.
- Closing and Documentation – oversees offers, deposits, and compliance.
Each contribution is timestamped and credited transparently. Commissions are distributed automatically by proof of work, not by hierarchy or memory. No more disputes, no more invisible effort — contribution becomes currency.
Built-In Governance That Solves Old Problems
- Undercutting disappears
Because commission structures and participants are recorded, side deals can’t hide. - Churn declines
When contribution is logged and rewarded fairly, agents stay longer. - Illegal agents lose ground
Every step in ACN is tied to a verified identity, leaving no entry point for unlicensed operators.
Instead of adding enforcement after the fact, ACN builds compliance into the workflow itself — a digital self-governing system.
Policy Must Catch Up With Reality
The current framework was written for a slower, smaller market.
It assumes one agent handles everything from marketing to closing.
But the modern real-estate ecosystem runs on collaboration, delegation, and technology.
If the law wants to support professionalism, it must redefine it.
Professionalism today means collective execution with transparent accountability — exactly what ACN provides.
Representation Is the Real Reform
Retail agency bosses live with this complexity every day. They manage multi-tiered overrides, ensure compliance, and build systems to keep hundreds of agents aligned. They’re not resisting regulation — they’re already doing what policy aims to achieve, only without formal recognition.
Including their voices in policymaking isn’t lowering standards; it’s updating the standard to match reality. Their insight can help build frameworks that are both enforceable and executable — where innovation and compliance finally meet.
Conclusion
Retail agency bosses are not the rebels of real estate — they are its reformers. They’ve already built the systems that make transparency, teamwork, and accountability possible. If policymakers truly want to curb undercutting, reduce churn, and eliminate illegal agents, they need only look to the ground — because the solution already exists.
The law changed the players.
Now it’s time to update the playbook.
