“It’s about creating an environment in which you refuse to accept mediocrity. You instinctively push back against the urge to say “there’s not enough time”, or “I don’t have the energy”, or “this requires a difficult conversation I don’t want to have”, or any of the many other ways we can convince ourselves that “good enough” is good enough” - Robert Iger
I’ve been lucky over the course of my career to work with some exceptional people, both clients and colleagues. One of the guiding principles at my previous workplace was that good enough was never good enough. The leadership ensured that everyone understood that perfection was the result of getting all of the little things right. It’s something that Bob Iger talks about with fondness when describing his career journey. Like Iger, I was fortunate enough to be taught similar principles by someone who sounds very like his mentor, Roone Arledge.
However in recent times the opposite approach has become more and more prevalent. We’re told that if our first product doesn’t embarrass us slightly, we’ve probably released it too late. That nowadays it’s all about an iterative process, feedback loops, A/B testing and building, measuring and learning.
How then to apply these conflicting ideas when providing real estate advice to clients, and at the same time trying to establish Simon Deen Real Estate?
To me it seems clear, at least the first part. When it comes to advice, marketing and the selling of a clients home, or the process of finding someone a home to buy or rent, good enough is never good enough.
It has to be done right and first impressions are everything.
Whether that’s a potential client's first impression of me (how prepared I am for our meeting, how much time I spend listening to their objectives and desired outcomes) or someone’s first impression of a home.
If an individual doesn’t get ‘that feeling’ when walking into a property, they’re unlikely to want to live there. However before they’ve even crossed the threshold, they have to like what they see in any marketing collateral to actually want to visit in person.
Here the small details are vitally important, from the way a property is presented to the market, to the smell when you walk in. Think scented candles over a wet dog!
However when building websites, creating marketing funnels and trying to understand which channels are providing the best return on investment, putting something out there early and then improving it through feedback loops and iteration seems to be best practice.
Thankfully companies like Google and Facebook/ Instagram understand this and provide great tools to help. If you don’t understand them or have difficulty using them to their maximum capability, don’t worry, just take the Google Academy course (no kidding, this exists). I’m no expert on this, but I am learning and finding it very interesting.
If you want to hear more from Iger himself, you can do so here;
Or here;
P.s. Apparently providing links away from your own website is a big marketing no no!