“The penalty for being average has never been so harsh.”
Phil Libin the founder and CEO of Evernote
First of all I love Evernote! I use it in many ways in my business and in my day to day life. More on this in a later post. Phil Libin spoke at the Inman Real Estate Conference in New York City in January 2012. As he spoke the words I have highlighted above, they really struck a cord with me. In my business as a Realtor I see “average” all the time. Average marketing materials, average photographs, average websites, average customer service, average effort, etc. If you are going to succeed in your business, whatever it is you need to stand out, you need to go the extra mile, you need to make a really positive impression.
Back in the analog days those average guys and gals could hide. Competing locally where their customers were in the dark just looking for a big smile and a familiar face. The expectations were lower. Looking back at when I was just starting out, I was average in a whole lot of ways. I tried hard, but the execution wasn’t always there. Now, we as business people live in glass houses. Our services and abilities are on display and subject to constant comparison. How do you compare with your competitors? How does your website compare with the national powerhouses? As a Realtor my website has to find a niche that competes in the realm of Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com each funded to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
If you are average and are not doing anything about it you are being put out of business day by day. So, what’s your first step out of average and towards outstanding?
