Focus on stability before you scale
In sales, there’s a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ mentality. The same is true in real estate. The fancy suits, gold watches and European sports cars evoke success. It sends the ‘me-me-me’ message – sell/buy with me because I’m ‘successful.’
But people see through these shallow facades. Wearing wealth on your sleeve isn’t what real estate is all really about. It misses the point entirely.
Real estate is one of life’s most intimate experiences and emotional decisions. This transaction is connected to our biggest milestones… the first home, creating a life with someone, raising kids, overcoming financial challenges, retiring, downsizing, and grieving loss.
Real estate agents who focus on selling themselves effectively ignore supporting clients with their most personal purchase (or sale). The transaction that affects every aspect of their life.
I’ve built our business on the philosophy of being humans first and real estate agents second. Authenticity over awards. Empathy over ego. Better before bigger. I coach my sales team to carry themselves this way in listing presentations (read about that here).
Our tagline and guiding philosophy is to deliver the most authentic real estate experience. What I didn’t realise until recently is the work I still needed to do, on myself.
Business, I’ve come to learn, requires a lot of internal work.
I’ve been through my own reckoning as a business owner in the past couple of years. I was trying to be the lead salesperson and CEO at the same time. I burned out big time. I was focused on performance over connection within the team, mainly due to losing a key salesperson.
I’ve found myself falling into the comparison trap and posturing mode, too. I saw other agencies launch new listings, recruitment announcements and aggressive expansion plans, and felt self-conscious.
That external pressure, even when self-imposed, causes bad decision making. My ego got in the way of making the right decisions – rather than one based on speed and perceived prestige.
I’ve had to challenge my beliefs and stop comparing us to other agencies/agents.
Fast growth fuelled by comparison does not equal success. In real estate, building slowly and strategically beats scaling at all costs. Move fast and break things does not apply to real estate. This isn’t a high velocity industry. Yes, sales can happen fast, and auctions are an adrenaline rush, but relationships and reputations are built over years.
Fast growth without foundations is fragile. Sales without substance won’t lead to relationships and referrals. Leaders must focus on building longevity.
When I started to slow down to focus on depth over deals, everything got better.
This is still a work-in-progress, but I’ve documented the exact operational changes, the cultural shifts and the leadership frameworks that have helped so far. If you’re interested in them, grab my free 30 lessons in 30 days email series.
Anyone in real estate can go fast and big, but very few can stay in the game long enough to build something that lasts.