The Power Trio: How To Elevate Your Estate Agency Game with Mindset, Value, and Strategy

Introduction to the Trilogy:

• Hosts James and Jack discuss the core trilogy that impacts an agent’s success: mindset, value, and competition.
• The episode focuses on how mastering these elements can help agents win and excel in their field.

Mindset and Value:

• The conversation emphasises the importance of demonstrating value to clients. When agents can effectively show their value, it naturally strengthens their mindset.
• Confidence in one’s value reduces the fear of competition, making the agent more effective in their approach.

Real-Life Application:

• James and Jack share examples, like using superior marketing and communication strategies to stand out. A well-defined process, like the weekly client reviews using Loom videos, can help maintain strong client relationships.

Mindset and Resilience:

• The importance of a resilient mindset is discussed, especially in tough negotiations or when facing challenges.
• Techniques like the Kickstarter routine are suggested to maintain a positive, focused mindset throughout the day.

Dealing with Competition:

• Once agents master value and mindset, competition becomes less relevant.
• For new agents, understanding the market and differentiating their services are key steps.

Final Takeaway:

• The episode concludes by reinforcing that understanding how to add value and maintain the right mindset are crucial to minimizing the impact of competition.

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Engage With Us
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Transcript

We are back for another episode of the Elite Agent Masterclass and today myself and Jack Durkin, co-founders of the Elite Agent Masterclass, will be diving deep into what we believe is the main trilogy behind the mindset and the issues that potentially get in the way of an agent winning and succeeding at the levels that they deserve. Jack, diving straight in, what is the trilogy? So today we're going to be talking a lot about mindset, value, and competition, which as you mentioned, tends to be those three things I think are really, really important, especially when you're going out there and trying to win and secure business. But I'm curious to get your opinion, James, which one comes first? OK, cool. So we've got mindset. We've got I think the value piece is some people get confused around the demonstration of or the ability to add value. And then the fear of the competition, what the competition is offering, the competition being cheaper. If you were putting them in an order. I personally believe that if you can understand how to demonstrate and add value to the homeowners experience, then that will naturally influence a more positive mindset. because competence breeds confidence. And I also think that if you can demonstrate and articulate better value, then you are going to feel more confident against the competition, regardless of whether they're cheaper or not. And so I do believe that the overriding element is the ability to demonstrate and add value. How about you? Totally agree. Totally agree. It's actually something we went through with one of our new agents last week was those three things. And I think they were quite concerned at the start about the competition. And I think because they were concerned about the competition and also had challenges and objections in their own head, They also had a bit of an issue around their own mindset. However, once we went through value and how they can show their value and what they can offer and improve on the value that the rest of the market offers in their area, It kind of ruled out the competition. She started to understand then that the competition wasn't then going to become as much competition. And it's then given her the mindset and the confidence that she can go out there and win. So yeah, totally agree. I think adding value first is the most important thing. Once you can do that, you get the confidence and it then kind of wipes out the competition essentially. Absolutely. So if we're looking at being able to add and demonstrate value, so for me, it's in this order, being able to demonstrate and add value to the client experience and Mindset, there's work that should be done on mindset to help develop that robust resilience. Because if you've got a really, really strong mindset that you can add value in the living room when you're meeting a client at the home on the market, but you haven't got that robust mindset to then deal with them if challenges arise or when negotiations need to be undertaken, then you've still got a bit of a problem. So I think demonstrating value comes first. Mindset is a very close second. And I think, therefore, if you can focus on those two personally, the competition, let them do their thing. Focus on your circle of influence. Focus on your locus of control, as it's known. And anything that's outside of your control, which the competition are, forget it. Just focus on really working on what you can work on. So if we look to demonstrating and adding value first, where do you believe that begins? I think you have to make yourself very different and make yourself stand out, but for all the right reasons. And one of our agents, reminded me of this a little while back um chris and we sat down I think we well I think we sat down together with chris and went through what he does differently um and his process and he struck because he's very process driven um one of the things that he tries to ensure he does every single time and this really stuck with me was to make sure he does something that he knows none of the competition will do and knows that will help him stand out like I said for the right reasons um and I think it starts there making sure that you can differentiate yourself from the competition and provide more value more support and the two big things I think for me is showing value in terms of quality of marketing and value in terms of an improved service. And we can do that, I think, by taking unlimited clients and working with a fewer number of clients to become more proactive. So I think those two things are really important, show value in the service and the marketing. And I think that can help you stand out and make a difference. So going one layer deeper, then let's give our listening audience some, I guess, soundbites of what they could be considering, because I agree. superior marketing and better service are really a prerequisite to being able to A, stand out and B, command better fees, C, be able to convert more clients of the type of clients you actually want, which is cool, but they are titles. They aren't the nitty gritty. So what's one example of what great service looks like in your eyes? I think great service, it's all about communication. I had a conversation with two developers actually over the last few weeks and both of their challenges were exactly the same. It was a lack of communication with their current agents. So we've started introducing a weekly review where we'll do a Loom video with each of our clients that are on the market, sellers that are on the market. And that review will go through, it's about a five to 10 minute review, going through the market, going through the competition, having a look at what's out there, having a look at what changes we can make to their marketing and sending that out to them weekly consistently and just make sure that they know we're doing everything we can in our power. And I think they also just know what we're doing behind the scenes because when they're not contacted for weeks and weeks, they question whether we're actually doing anything. But if we can show them what we're doing and show them that we are, trying to push their property out trying to promote their property as much as we can um then I think they feel reassured so I think having that weekly contact whether it's a zoom call with them whether it's a video that you send them over um but I think it just needs to be more than just a text Yeah, it's a really, really good point. And I think it's quite valuable when you're meeting with clients to help them understand the communication you're going to provide and what that's going to look like and ultimately how it's going to help them. So taking a step back then, so doing the review video or the way in which you communicate once they're on the market is superb. thinking about the living room experience, which is the first real, obviously we've got the pre-valuation steps that could be taken, the conversation that's had when they book the appointment, but talking about the living room experience, what then would you be suggesting, just a soundbite, we don't want to give all the secret sauce away, but what would you then be suggesting someone could be doing in the living room to demonstrate value? Because ultimately you can't experience value you you can't sorry you can't experience service until you've experienced it so how can you demonstrate it does that am I making sense in the question there Yeah, and I think there's a few things, and we'll probably share in some of our pitch, our delivery on what we're going to be doing, the Avenue pitch, which is, I think initially, we want to make sure that the sellers that we're working with, the sellers that we're meeting with, understand that we are here to support them and here with them. So I think initially, really getting to understand them, their motivations, what they're looking to do, what they're looking to achieve, I think is the first and foremost thing. Whereas... I think we'll have a lot of agents that will go out and give them a valuation and a fee and that will be essentially it's down to the sellers to make their decision. So I think really understanding their motivations and needs and what the client is looking to achieve and needing to achieve and then tailoring your service to the needs of the client. I think also providing them with a detailed strategy that goes behind the marketing, and we call it MSN, so marketing strategy negotiations. I think if you can give the seller a detailed view on that and how that looks, and again, it gives them the reassurance. But the one thing I think that could be a real differentiator is the onward search. And I think if you can show the client, because that's the most important thing to them right now, they've kind of outgrew their own home or the home that they're currently in is no longer suitable for them. what's next and the next property and where they're going to go to and their new dream home. And I think that's going to be really exciting for them. So helping them with that part of the journey, I think will show that, will show for a lot of agents, it can help you differentiate yourself because I'm sure many of the competition aren't doing that right now. Absolutely. And I think you touched on it briefly. I think MSN as a framework, you know, we're not talking about people of my age that you might even be able to remember back in the day. MSN Messenger, was that a thing for you? Yeah, of course I did. Well, I just thought because there's a little bit of an age gap between us, I just thought, were you in the crossover period where MSN was starting to die out? MSN was still around in my time as well, James. Yeah. So MSN Messenger, we're not referring to that for those that are listening in. MSN within our frameworks is standing for marketing, strategy and negotiation. And being able to then share with the client that you're working with the process that you're going to go through and the value that that then provides. And the most important piece there is that clarity breeds confidence. And so if you can give the homeowner real clarity around how you're going to do it and the way in which it's going to unravel and the impact that's then going to have on them, their lives and their house moving experience, then you have got a much higher chance of that client building trust with you because you're giving them a blueprint. And in essence, it does mean that you're then essentially becoming accountable to the actions that you've committed to. So rather than it being a valuation and a fee, which then leaves the client thinking, well, I've had three agents come out to see me. They've each given me three valuations. They've each given me three fees. Who's the highest valuation? Who's the cheapest fee? If you want to remove that, One of the ways you can add so much value is talking about how you're going to market their home, where you're going to market, what impact that's going to have, why that's then important, the strategy that then connects to that marketing process. So the strategy could be the way in which you're going to handle and book the viewings, the days that the viewing is going to happen. the structure behind the way the viewings are handled, then how that then feeds into the negotiation process and the process you follow when you're negotiating a deal. The basics, never accept the first offer, positioning it in such a way that you are in control at all times. And in that alone, personally, I've found when I'm sat with a client going through MSN, that feels like the light bulb. I'm observing, I'm watching them, I'm watching their body language. And it's like, huh, these guys are different. Yeah, I feel like I get that exact same moment when you go through that marketing. And I suppose going through the market in terms of what the marketing is going to look like, where it's going to be shared and where we're going to get the exposure for the marketing. The strategy as well is quite interesting. We had... Had a conversation last week around the strategy because a few people had questioned the strategy in terms of the delay with the viewings. And I think that's really important for those agents that aren't delaying their viewings. I think it's really important to delay the viewings when you first launch a property so you can at least get some exposure. It quite frustrates me when I see someone, an agent say they've sold a property in 24 hours or 48 hours because I don't really think you've given it on the market. To the first buyer. To the first buyer. Yeah, I think... You need to give the seller the control back. So by delaying those UINs and making the, well, getting the buyers to work around the times of the sellers that's suitable for the sellers, I think gives that seller the control back. And then like you said, when it comes to negotiations, the seller is in the best position and we're in the best position to negotiate on the seller's behalf then. So I think those three things are really key. And yeah, it's something we share with a lot of our agents on making sure they can deliver value through the MSN strategy. I think the negotiation piece as well, sometimes that can be overlooked, can't it? I'm just thinking back to some of the conversations that we have with clients and it's not just about the price. It's about making sure that through the strategy we deliver and through the way in which we negotiate, we're securing the best buyer, the most suitable buyer to the client's circumstances because everything is tailored according to the client's needs. If they haven't yet found somewhere, we need to ensure we attract a buyer and secure a deal with a buyer that is prepared and willing to wait. If they're in a particular hurry, then the type of buyer we attract will need to be someone who is actively ready. They've got their finance locked in. Ideally, they've got a very short chain. And so all of that information then being connected back to the client's needs is... It just makes for such a compelling argument for the client to go, well, these guys are absolutely worth more money than anybody else in the marketplace because nobody else is talking about it. Yeah. Like I said, negotiation is something that sometimes goes with me. I think there's a lot of psychology that goes behind the negotiations as well in what we teach or go through with our agents. Because like I said, putting the sellers in the position of control and essentially having You don't want the buyer to feel as though you're the only person interested and they can get it at a really good deal and a cheap price because that's not what we're here to do. We're here to get the sellers the best possible price that they can for the property and help them along their journey and also help buyers find the most suitable property for them but at the right price. interesting because I had a it's probably a good a good time to share it when we talk about negotiations we've just this morning uh tied up a deal on one of our properties which has taken three months to negotiate um yeah it has been an absolute longest negotiation in history longest negotiation but it is it is one of our highest listings at 1.6 million and we have tried everything in our power to try and get this deal done and finally managed to get get it over the line um But there's been a lot of things we've had to do. So to give you, I suppose, gives the viewers a bit of context, the buyer wasn't willing to come up to the figure that the seller was looking for. He did come up and then revise the offer again. And I just said to the seller, look, we're going to get that offer back to where it needs to be. You just need to give me time. And there's a good 25 grand difference in it. and so although it's taken three months we've managed to get that figure back to where it needed to be but like I said there's been a lot of work over three months to get it there but that's what we're here that's what we are as agents we're here to negotiate put the strategies together and um ended up being a good result but I suppose yeah the longest negotiation I've ever had You know, credit to you, though, credit to you, because, you know, I don't want to offend anyone that's listening in. But the cold, hard reality is if you're working in an environment where the business is about volume, that deal would have been lost. That deal would have been forgotten about after maybe a week, you know, a week of protracted, drawn out, difficult negotiations. Most would go, well, I get it. It's our highest value listing. But based on what I'm going to receive in terms of commission attached to that deal, I'd be as well going and selling three other deals. Yeah. And yeah, I think coming back, it really ties in quite well because the mindset piece was a big thing. There's been a handful of times where I've just felt this isn't going to go anywhere. We just need to walk away and accept that the deal's done, draw a line in the sand and move on. But I don't know, something just kept pulling me back to going again and trying again and keep pushing it. And I suppose it's the mindset. As I said, there was times where I doubted whether we could get the deal done. But I knew we could create the value to be able to get that deal over the line. And something was just telling me to keep pushing back. So it kind of ties in quite well because, yeah, the mindset piece and negotiations around the MSN strategy. Yeah, all ties in, I think. All goes full circle. So I think from a demonstrating and adding value perspective, there's quite a few bits that we've shared there. There's a lot more that goes into our process, our framework. But I think that we've given some, I guess, high level stuff. And if anyone would like to discuss, I guess, the more granular detail around it, then by all means do. Excuse me. Put a comment in the in the show notes or contact myself or Jack directly. Moving into the mindset section. I do think there's a lot of importance here, especially around parking the living room experience for the moment. But just the general mindset. day-to-day of launching a business or the day-to-day of, for argument's sake, the negotiation of the deal you've just referred to. For some people, if that goes wrong, that's going to really hit them hard and that could potentially ruin their day. So let's talk more about the mindset side of things and how people can develop that resilience. Because I think you, I'll be honest, Jack, you have got a natural resilience. But there's going to be times where you're like, this really is pretty shit. Yeah. And I think everyone has those question marks in their head, don't they? I think it's how you overcome that. And I know you talk a lot about the emotional cycle of change, especially through the business, because it can be very much a roller coaster journey as an estate agent, especially in a self-employed environment, because you are waiting for that income to come in. It can be up and down. There's so many plates to spin. So yeah, there's gonna be times where you might doubt yourself, but it's finding that inner confidence to know that. And also knowing what the end goal is. So for this particular seller, and for us, I suppose, buying into the seller's vision and what they wanted to do, we knew we needed to achieve a certain price. I kept reminding myself of that, that I really wanted to help these sellers. I really wanted to help them move on to their next property. And I couldn't do that until we got the offer agreed that they needed to leave on theirs. So that was what kept reminding me to go back. And I think having a real clear understanding of where you want to be can really help your mindset or having a real purpose can really be the driver for the mindset. yeah it'd be I think it'd be good for you to share a little bit about the emotional cycle of change as well because I know that's something you've gone through with quite a few of our agents who yeah have had that up and down in there I think we've all had it had that up and down business Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So for those that want to dedicate a bit more time to understanding this, we have produced a video over on our team, Lead Agent Masterclass YouTube channel. So you can head over there and you can watch that and get a little bit more context, but I can give you the overriding, I guess, breakdown. There is research and science behind when you start something new, whether it be a new career, a new relationship, a new gym routine, something that's quite monumental in your life. You will go through what's known as the emotional cycle of change. And so there's essentially five phases. And the first phase, if you imagine it like a... an arc, a downward arc. So at the very top, at the very beginning, you have what's called uninformed optimism. So before you start out on the journey or the very beginning of the journey, let's relate it back to, let's say, launching a self-employed estate agency business. You're going to have this kind of real energy and this real uninformed optimism. Everyone's going to want to work with me. Everyone's going to support me. They're going to pay me great fees and I'm going to get the very best houses in the marketplace in my area. And Great. You know, that's great to have that confidence. And then what happens is, is you you begin the process and you start trying to generate business and you kind of don't get the results as quickly as you might want. Everyone's like it. And so informed pessimism starts to kick in. And in the informed pessimism stage, you're starting to question, OK. This isn't happening as quickly as I wanted it to. And that's disappointing. And then you start getting in your own head about it. And then what happens is it gets worse. And then you end up in what's known as the valley of despair, the point at which you start to question whether or not you made the right decision in the first place, whether or not you're even any good at being an estate agent, whether or not doing something completely different, a career change entirely, would be a better option. But if you can persevere and you've got the right frameworks and you've surrounded yourself with the right network of people and you've got a community of raving fans and supporters and you've got the tenacity and you've also got the clarity that this is going to happen. You know it's going to happen. We've got an agent, Emma. She won't mind me saying it. She rings me every other week. James, I've slipped back into the valley of despair. Cool. Cool. Because acknowledgement is the first way to overcome a problem. So let's let's have a conversation. Let's unpack it. Let's understand what challenges you're facing and let's see how I can help you get through the other side. And every time she starts going back up the other side and we're just working on now keeping her up the other side. Now, when you start coming up the other side of the curve, you then fall into what's called informed optimism. At this point, you go, I've been through a whole world of pain right there. But I'm coming out the other side. Clients are starting to refer me. Instructions are coming through more fluidly. Lead generally are much more straightforward to come by. And now we've got momentum and everything is about creating forward momentum. And then when you finally really crack it and everything becomes organic and fluid, you reach the fifth stage, which is your happy place, your place of fulfillment. And there are five phases and everyone will go through them. I did. You have. Everyone goes through them. Yeah, I think it's just how quickly you can get out of that valley of despair, essentially, and get yourself back on track. And I suppose there's also going to be times in your business where, for example, this negotiation stage, I've gone through that. I got to a point where I thought, yeah, this deal isn't going to get done. Should we even focus on high value homes because they're so difficult to put together? There was so many question marks, but I think it's how quickly you can pull yourself out of that and get yourself back on track. And yeah, I think that's where the mindset comes in. I totally agree. I think the other thing that's worth bearing into consideration for anyone listening is it's not only about how quickly you can get out of it, it's about how quickly you can get into it because it's going to happen. So trying to get there quickly just means that you've gone through the pain quickly. The most important thing, and I must make this really clear, the reason why I spend time when we're onboarding a new partner, when we're setting up their foundations for their business, the reason I do put this into my process when I'm meeting with them is because I really need them to understand that it's going to happen. And so acknowledgement and understanding means that it's easier to deal with. Yeah. It's really, really important. Now, you and I recently went, because we're obviously part of a mastermind, and credit has to go to those that run the mastermind, Nick James, Matt Elwell, for sharing this. There's something I took away, and we went through it as a group, and it's the Kickstarter. And I think it would be just so valuable to share it as part of the mindset section of this. And do you want to share it, or do you want me to share it? Yeah, go for it. Yeah, I vaguely remember it. I remember a little bit about it. I thought this was a really good process. So every morning, the idea is there's four stages to what's called a Kickstarter. And for some people, you know, they might do it just while sitting in some calm space, having a cup of tea or coffee. For others, you know, ice tub. They might jump in that and go through the Kickstarter process. They might go for a walk in nature with no headphones on and just go through these questions, whatever. But there's four stages. And so the first one is to ask yourself a question. And it's about a question about the day. So if you've got a busy day of appointments with clients, the question might be, how can I show up as a world class agent today? And sit in that question. And then the next stage, step two, first is question. The next stage is a statement. So the statement might be, it's an affirmation, I guess, of self-belief. And the statement may be something along the lines of, I am a world class agent. It needs to be an I am statement connected to the question. And so the idea behind that is you're setting your day up with really positive intention. You're not second guessing yourself. You're not questioning the competition. You're just simply saying, how can I show up as a world class agent today? And I am a world class agent. The next step is then to make to recall a memory. So recall a memory where you felt like a world class agent. You might have been sat with a customer and they were just absolutely immersed in everything you were saying. And you were like, I feel like the best agent in the world right now. That's the memory you want to recollect. And really sit in that. How did you feel? What was the smell in the air? What did you see? What were you wearing? Really, really sit in it. And then the final piece is to create a vision for what the end of the day will look like when you've been that world-class agent that day. What's the vision going to be? How are you going to feel? What's it going to look like? What are you wearing today? Recall all of those senses to really put you in that moment. And it's then a case of then setting the scene so that throughout the course of your day, you can kind of go, yeah, I am a world-class agent because you've already set that intention at the beginning of the day. And I found that process when I listened to them share it, I was like, How can it not work? You're setting your mindset for positive action and positivity. Now, if by contrast, someone decides, yeah, that's all mamsy-pamsy-woo-woo stuff, that Kickstarter. Instead, what I'm going to do is I'm going to wake up. And the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to look at my phone and scroll through social media and look at my emails. The next thing I'm going to do is go downstairs and I'm going to make myself a really strong coffee. And then the next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to put the news on and I'm going to watch all the shitty things that are going on in the world right now. That's the alternative that most people will do day to day. And that's the alternative that they're living that's going to set them up for life is crap right now. Yeah, putting you in a very much a negative mindset, as opposed to that positive mindset that you need to go out there and become successful. Now, as soon as you started mentioning it, yeah, I remembered exactly what he said. I started doing that after our coaching day the other week. for probably two or three days afterwards. And I actually did it with one of our latest agents when they came over. Holly was here as well. So the three of us did it together. And it's really interesting. We reflected back on it at the end of the day. And I think it really helped have a real positive focus. So I think I'm going to get back to doing that because it was great exercises that we did the other week. Yeah, I find it does work well, but you've got to kind of really get into the moment. And when we did it at Mastermind, I was comfortable enough in a room full of, what, 10 people to kind of go. Nick basically said, who's happy to be the guinea pig? I was like, go on, no problem. And so I struggled initially with the memory bit. And as soon as, because I was like, you know, we're in an environment where we want to consume as much value as we possibly can to then be able to share with those around us. And so for me, it was about how can I be most focused and most present today. Like how? And it was then the statement was, I am present. I am in the moment. I am focused on what we are trying to get out of today. And the memory bit was really hard. So I was like, I'm struggling with a memory. And he said, well, just think to a time where X, Y, and Z happened, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, I've got it. And it was when we went to an expert empires event and sat and listened to Mo Gowdat for 45, 50 minutes, I was completely immersed. Yeah, I think the whole room was immersed at that point, weren't they? The whole room were. But by recollecting that, honestly, even saying it now makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up because I can really feel what I felt like when I was in that moment listening to Mo Gowdat. And then the vision became very easy to then create because I'm like, I want to feel like that at the end of today. Yeah, it was. And so... Very, very inspiring. I remember it well. There was lots of emotion, I think, across the whole room. Keeping on this, the mindset piece, for those that are thinking or just gone into their own self-employed state agency or even just got into a state agency itself, What advice could you give them where they haven't, I suppose, seen the results yet and I suppose got complete clarity yet because they've only just started. What can they do to get in the right mindset and head frame to go out there and be the best that they can be? This is going to sound really cliche, but it's got nothing to do with work. I think it's. prioritizing themselves first and making sure that they're starting their day the way that they need to. So whether that be some quiet time to themselves, whether that be a gym routine, whether that being going for a walk, whether it be reading, whether it be a ice tub, whatever it is, making sure that they're starting their day right is my first suggestion. It's got to be about them getting their state right. They've got to have control over their state. And so there's a lot of science behind this as well in so much as getting up and looking at your phone first thing in the morning and scrolling through social media, your emails and everything else. Your brain isn't ready for it. When you first come out of sleep, your body is only just 90 minutes in, your body's fully ready for the day. And all your brain, sorry, is fully ready for the day. So if you feed it your phone or you feed it caffeine within that first 90 minutes, what that does is it can set you up for brain fog. It can set you up for confusion. We've all been there. I've had days where I'll have a coffee 10 minutes after I've got up and I'm like, my day is then a complete haze. So I think starting the day right is really, really important. I also feel the next thing for me is being surrounded by the right people. and leaning on those people, becoming a part of a community of people that are championing you and are there for you and operating with humility. I think the individual needs to be comfortable with the idea that, especially if they're going down the self-employed road, unless they've run their own business before, they've not experienced a state agency like it. So being humble enough that they don't know everything and being humble enough to throw their hand in the air and saying, can you help me? That would be the next thing. And I think the final thing would be creating a plan with support of those around you that have trodden that path. That if you're aligning yourself with a business that has the frameworks in place already, then you've got to trust the process. If you don't trust the process, you're not aligning with the right business. If there is no process with the business you're aligning to, then you need to sit down and work out your plan and then commit to it and commit to it for at least 90 days minimum. Don't flake on the plan. Good. I think that's great advice for anyone listening. One thing I'd probably just add to that as well, and I think this, again, came off the back of a conversation with one of our agents, and also having a vision as to the person that you want to be or want to become and, yeah, believing that you are that person already. So I suppose a manifestation piece around before you go into a living room, believe that you are the best agent, even if you haven't quite had that success yet, then believe it first. Because if you can believe it and the sellers can believe it, if you don't believe it, then no one else is gonna believe it. So yeah, I think adding that little piece in, I think having, like you said, the plan, Starting the day right in terms of getting yourself in the best possible framework mindset to be able to deliver amazing values, whatever that looks like throughout the day. But yeah, believe in you are that person already, I think. What's the phrase? I think it's so powerful. If the mind can conceive it, then essentially you can then achieve it. You've got to commit to it. You've got to conceive it, believe it, and then achieve it. Just touching on a piece you just said there around, you know, that self-belief. I'm just trying to think of... This is it. So... No matter what, it doesn't matter who you are. Everyone has stuff going on in their lives, whether it be young families, whether it be sick people in their world, people that are unwell. And so there's always going to be a challenging life. There's very few people that I know of that are just sailing through life in a lovely, smooth way. You know, there's big waves that come crashing and hit your boat on a regular basis. And so I think one of the big things is I come back to it is being able to control your state. And so I've always had this mantra every time I've gone into a meeting or gone to an appointment. So when I say the meeting, business meeting, or if I'm meeting a client where it's like there's A couple of songs on a playlist that I've got in my car that as I'm driving to the appointment, I'll listen to starts to get me in that right frame of mind. And then when I arrive there, if I've had a bit of a bad day, I've had a deal fall through or, you know, me and Hayley have had a bit of a disagreement on something, whatever the case may be, the kids have been playing up, whatever. As soon as I get out of that car, it's a little bit like for those that are listening, it's like the curtains are opening and the performance begins. And as soon as I'm walking down that driveway, I'm showing up as James, the world class agent. I'm not showing up as James who's just had some really bad news about something. I'm not showing up as James, the dad whose head is ringing because he's had two toddlers screaming at him for two hours. I'm not turning up as that person. I'm turning up as James, the world class agent. I think that's really I think that would be really powerful. People aren't already doing it. A really powerful way of controlling state to make sure that they're showing up as the best version. And by the way, I do that now when I put on my driveway at home. So where my office is to where I live is probably a six minute drive. So if I've had a really bad day, that's not a long enough period of time for me to decompress. But as I'm pulling on my driveway, again, there's a certain playlist that I have, which is quite relaxing. You know, it's not upbeat. It's quite relaxing. And then as I'm pulling on my driveway, I'm like, right, now I'm James, the best dad in the world. And I don't always get it right, but I try to condition myself. So I'm like, right, work is work. It's gone now. My day is done. Now I'm going to be sharp and be the best dad and partner I can be. Yeah, I think that's huge, isn't it? I think if you can leave whatever you've done before and fully immerse yourself in whatever you're doing, whether that's being the best dad, whether that's being the best estate agent, whatever else that might look like. fully immerse yourself in that moment, get your head in the right headspace that it needs to be in. And yeah, I think that's how you can create the best mindset possible to deliver on whatever you're looking to deliver. Like I said, whether it's being the best dad or whether it's being the best dad that you can be. I think there's, I was about to say there's some hacks and habits, but that's actually an episode we're going to record, isn't it? So I think we probably just need to remind ourselves that when we jump on and record that, the hacks and habits that connect to getting yourself in the right frame of mind, the two episodes sort of interlink. So if anyone listening to this have heard me and Jack talk about creating the mindset and getting into the right headspace, uh then you'll want to listen to the hacks and habits episode because that will connect directly back different different tools that you can put in place um reminders whatever else um but yeah actually some of this episode has been a real good reminder for me around certain things so it's been really good yeah it's been good it's been good we've spoken a lot about value and also mindset we haven't really touched much on the competition it's been And I'll be honest, I think once you've got your demonstration of value right, and once you've got your mindset right, The reason we haven't touched on it a great deal is I think it then becomes unimportant. You create a blue ocean. And if anyone's not heard of that before, blue ocean philosophy is you've got red ocean and you've got blue ocean. Red ocean is where all the sharks are. It's all the bottom feeders. It's all of the agencies that are in the race to the bottom on fees. That's a red ocean. That's a commodity based business. That's a, you know, who can be the cheapest race to the bottom. Whereas a blue ocean is you're creating your marketplace. You become a marketplace of one. And if you can get your mindset right, and if you can get your demonstration of value right, and all of those bits and pieces that go with that, personally, I'd rather swim in the blue ocean where I don't have to think about the competition. i totally agree I think that if you can get there and become that attraction agent that people look out to and reach out to because they want to come and list with you because you've set yourself I suppose above the competition because of the value that you can offer um I suppose for those that are starting out or in the early stages of their journey I think the only the only one piece of advice I would say around around the competition is just understanding your market understand the competition in the area and not to well bash the competition or put the competition down. It's just to understand how you're different to that competition. So when you're working or speaking with your clients, you know how you're different and how you can offer them that added value at what potential competition can offer. And that's the only piece. And that's probably why we've kept it very, very short on the competition, because if you can get in the right mindset and create incredible value, then you become the only agent of choice. Absolutely. And it's a good point. There are a list of questions that when someone's sort of setting out and launching, they can ask themselves around their competition. Because I suppose, fair comment, it's all well and good having blue ocean mentality once you've established yourself. So you've reined me in there. Fair comment. But there are a few questions that they should consider, an agent should consider. And that is, who is in your marketplace? What sort of fees do they offer? What contract lengths do they offer? What marketing do they offer? How many staff members do they have? How much stock do they carry at any one time? What's their conversion rate from instruction to sale, from sale to exchange? All of these things are really, really important because you can then look at your own operation and go, well, OK, they do that right now. What do I do and how do I make it better? And the beautiful thing about let's call it the self-employed model rather than, you know, generalised generalisation here is. It's easier for a singular person or a very, very, very small team of people to pivot. And so large companies will find it hard to make changes to the degree that we can. If we want to enhance our video marketing, we just simply enhance our video marketing. If a large corporate entity wants to enhance their video marketing, they've got to restructure almost their entire business. Simply for the fact that they won't have the time to be able to implement that change without affecting every other part of their business. Yeah, and I think that's a beauty, isn't it? Especially, yeah, again, you can also show the difference in what you can offer. Yeah, especially in the South and Florida, having a smaller team of people. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's prudent at this point as well, as we reach the end of this pod, as I say, lots, lots in it. And there's lots more that I'm thinking of. But I think, you know, it's a podcast episode that could go on for hours. And ain't nobody got time for that, but they can reach out to us. And we're happy to share those insights and talk them through. But I think it would be good to share what's coming up as well. So we've got some fantastic guests coming on. The reason I'm sharing it as well is when we're talking about mindset value demonstration and competition. My headspace in the last three years since we launched the Avenue in particular is it's changed from competition to collaboration. Who out there operates in a similar way to us and that we can collaborate with and that we can share ideas with? And on that note, we have got some fantastic guests coming in We've got a business owner, very, very prominent name in UK estate agency with a fantastic origin story. We've then got another chap who is part of another self-employed model who has built himself a fantastic business. So I'm really, really looking forward to getting them on and picking their brains and getting their shares. They're open-minded to the idea that If everyone in the industry improves, then everyone wins. The customer wins, the client wins, the agent wins. And so they want to share their golden nuggets as well. So I'm really looking forward to that. Yeah. So for those that are listening, don't miss out on these upcoming episodes because there's going to be some incredible value that we're going to share. And as we wrap up, Jack, any last golden nuggets connected to mindset value? We've already decided that the competition then becomes unimportant. i think yeah I think the only only thing to summarize is understand how you can differentiate yourself and add incredible value and the mindset just slots in the competition and becomes irrelevant and that kind of summarizes what we spoke about winning until next time it's been a pleasure