Your Biggest Competitor Isn't Who You Think

It’s easy to think that your biggest competition is the agent across the road. Maybe they’ve got a bigger social media following, a larger database or more listings in the area. Perhaps they’ve been around longer, have a better-known name or seem to be everywhere you look.

But more often than not, your biggest competitor isn’t actually another agent. Instead, it’s complacency.

The reason complacency is so dangerous is that it rarely arrives in an obvious way. You don’t wake up one morning and suddenly decide you’re going to stop growing your business or stop putting in the effort. Instead, it tends to creep in quietly.

You might skip a few prospecting calls because you’re busy and tell yourself you’ll catch up tomorrow. A follow-up gets pushed back because the opportunity doesn’t seem urgent. You stop asking for feedback because things are going well and you assume you’ve got everything under control.

Little by little, you become comfortable doing what you’ve always done because it has worked before. And that’s where complacency becomes a problem.

The danger of things going well

When business is tough, most of us are forced to pay attention. We look closely at our activity, question our systems and try to work out where we can improve. We’re more willing to try new things because we know we need to.

But when things are going well, it can actually be easier to lose that sense of urgency. A few good months can make you feel as though you’ve cracked the code. Before long, you might start easing back on the very things that helped create that success in the first place.

Perhaps the calls become less consistent. Follow-up starts to slow down. You spend more time responding to whatever is happening in front of you and less time proactively creating new opportunities.

And before you know it, you’re relying on yesterday’s momentum to carry you into tomorrow. Unfortunately, that rarely works for very long.

Keep asking yourself the uncomfortable questions

The best agents are constantly reviewing themselves. Not because they lack confidence, but because they understand that this industry never stands still.

Markets change, clients change, technology changes and, of course, the people you compete with change too. If you want to keep moving forward, you have to be prepared to adapt.

That means asking yourself some uncomfortable questions from time to time. Are you still learning? Are you still following up when you don’t really feel like it? Are you still looking honestly at the parts of your business that could be better? Or have you started confusing experience with progress?

There’s a big difference.

Experience is incredibly valuable, but simply doing something for a long time doesn’t automatically mean you’re improving at it. The best agents continue to stay curious. They look for the gaps in their knowledge, listen to feedback and are prepared to put themselves in situations where they might feel uncomfortable.

That’s what keeps them sharp.

Comfort can be a dangerous place

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel comfortable. We all work hard to create some stability in our lives. But in business, too much comfort can sometimes stop you from growing.

If you only have the conversations you already know how to have, work with the same people and follow the same routine because it feels safe, there’s a good chance you’ll eventually stop moving forward.

You don’t need to reinvent your entire business every week. The fundamentals still matter, and they probably always will. Prospecting, following up, meeting people, listening, improving your skills and delivering exceptional service are not exactly revolutionary ideas.

But the way you approach them matters. Complacency tells you that you already know enough. Growth asks where you can improve. Complacency tells you that the call can wait until tomorrow. Growth picks up the phone.

Your real competition is the person in the mirror

The reality is you can’t control what another agent does. You can’t control their marketing budget, their database, their experience or how many listings they have.

What you can control is whether you turn up each day with the intention of getting better.

You can control your activity, your attitude and whether you continue to learn and challenge yourself.

So instead of spending too much time worrying about what the agent down the road is doing, have a look at what you’re doing.

Are you still hungry? Are you still curious? Are you still doing the things that helped you get to where you are today?

Because your biggest competitor probably isn’t another agent. It’s the version of yourself that starts believing you no longer need to grow, and that’s a competitor worth beating every day.

About the Author

Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents’Agency, Australia’s first multi-brand real estate network, ‘the only fully integrated solution for you and your people to create an unforgettable experience.’

For all enquiries and more information on how the Agents’Agency can help you take your career to the next level, click here to get in touch.