6 Unorthodox Ways to Become a Market Shaker

Just when you thought you could put your wallet or purse away…

Last Wednesday the wireless carrier Verizon released three new phones, including a high-end set that is expected to compete with the iPhone this Christmas. Verizon’s high end phone is called the Voyager.

Among the perks the Voyager offers:

Verizon Wireless hopes the new phone will attract customers put off by the iPhone’s lack of a traditional keypad — the Voyager hinges open to reveal a small computer keypad and a second screen.

There’s a case for those who currently subscribe to Verizon to give the Voyager a close look. The bigger question I think is whether it will actually be the iPhone killer Verizon thinks the Voyager is.

I doubt it.

Verizon is only making an improvement on the iPhone. So the Voyager is not a disruptive technology that will challenge the status quo or overturn the market or even sway iPhone users.

However, I think Verizon had to do it in order to stay competitive and hold onto it’s current client base.

How Disruptive Technology Applies to You

Here’s something to think about: what can you, as a real estate agent, do that would challenge the status quo, overturn your market or even persuade a competitor’s client to work with you?

We can’t deny it: we are in a cooling market. And some of you are starting to feel the pain. The thing about pain is it’s designed to be a warning signal, a wake up call. A time for you to start evaluating what you are doing.

Up to this point your ways of working may have been successful. But think about this: out of the 43 businesses that were showcased in the book In Search of Excellence 14 were out of business in two years. BusinessWeek then studied these 14 failed companies…and do you know what they found out?

“Failure to change” was the main theme for going out of business with these companies.

What does that say to you?

Are you in a position to change? To challenge the status quo? To shake up your market and be a trend setter instead of a passive causality?

6 Unorthodox Ways to Become a Market Shaker

Forget widely accepted principles such as blind optimism and arrogant self-promotion. Instead, break out of the box by asking yourself these unconventional questions that will lead you down a different, unused, but highly prosperous, path to success.

• What worse case scenario could happen, that seems impossible, but if it did happen, what would I do?

• What alternatives to marketing, technology, industry, prospecting, organization are out there…alternatives people are not thinking about?

• What pain are my client’s and prospects GOING to experience in the near future? And how can I provide a solution to that pain?

• What am I personally doing in my business or life that if I don’t change now could provide significant pain in the near future?

• What did other companies do during a recession or sagging growth to survive? How did they change? How did they adapt?

• Finally, what rules can I break? What rules can I rewrite?

The best performers in any industry are the agitators, the pioneers, the rule breakers and the game-changers.

In essence, it’s about staying fresh. So ask your self theses questions. Forecast the future. The ability to peer around corners will pay off big for you.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.