The Trouble with Scotland…
...is that it is full of Scots.”
I love this scene from Braveheart because it speaks to the greatest simple problem in our industry: it’s full of Realtors. Saturation means dilution. Have you ever poured too much water over your oatmeal, or too much milk in the pan when making gravy...okay clearly I’m ready for 2nd breakfast but I think you get the point. So, assuming we can’t kick out 90% of the real estate “professionals” in our industry, how do we regain consumer trust and achieve greater market share when this ocean is so dang full of fish? Saturation is the pollution that makes consumers skeptical of these waters, and for good reason; its undercurrents are strong, and have dragged down most professionals to the general public perception that this cesspool just isn’t worth swimming in, and it’s best not to venture in. After all, the hotel pool appears safer, more controllable, and certainly clearer. So what does this mean for us?
We have to grow some legs, and walk out of the ocean.
We have to evolve from the safety of the masses, to the opportunity of smaller, clearer waters. This is the process of hyper-specialization. I like how Seth Godin put it:
“The relentless pursuit of the masses will make you boring, because mass means average, it means the center of the curve, it requires you to offend no one and satisfy everyone. It will lead to compromises and generalizations. Begin instead with the smallest viable market. The smallest viable market is the focus that, ironically and delightfully, leads to your growth. Find a corner of the market that can’t wait for your attention. Go to their extremes. Find a position on the map where you, and you alone, are the perfect answer. Overwhelm this group’s wants and dreams and desires with your care, your attention, and your focus. Make change happen. Change that’s so profound, people can’t help but talk about it. The goal of the smallest viable audience is to find people who will understand you and will fall in love with where you hope to take them.”
Where is your pool? Who are your people? What do they need? What do they need, but not even realize it? What do they need that ONLY YOU can provide? What do they value? How will you reach them? How will you keep their attention?
In order for you to become Irreplaceable you must first become Unignorable. You can’t do that swimming with the masses trying to appeal to the masses. So crawl out. Establish your specialized, localized pool. “It shows respect for those you seek to serve to say to them ‘I made this for you. Not for the other folks, but for you.’”
Then, saturation isn’t a problem anymore. You evolve from being Unignorable to being Irreplaceable. Then the industry isn’t full of others that are dragging you down because you aren’t even in the same industry anymore. Your competition vanishes. You are an industry of ONE.
