There’s this little game you all play as real estate company founders, that I sometimes play in small business, too.

Feels harmless at first. But underneath the surface are layers of damage, if you lean into the game to inform your positioning.

I’m talking about classic selection bias re: how good you are in business.

Take that Buyer/Seller Client who is comparing you to the other agent they interviewed for the listing, or the agent they just fired, as they’re now swearing loyalty to you instead. These clients say things like:

“Things started out well with that agent, but then she stopping work hard for me.”

“The other team seemed to rely on more traditional marketing methods and kept giving us more of the same.”

You absorb this feedback. Your head swells. But this is where we all go wrong, because it’s classic selection bias (i.e., a RIGGED GAME) —

We hear these glowing-in-our-favor comparisons when the previous company’s reputation is at its lowest.

Or when our reputation is at its highest.

Or we conveniently ignore the fact that clients may be saying same things when they leave us.

And so we keep tip, tip, tipping the scales in our favor mentally. Never quite averaging all our positive results with the negative ones we also receive at times. It’s mostly harmless. 

So why talk about it?

Because in my work up to now, I’ve learned the comparison game is not “harmless” to your positioning or mine.

Eventually we start REALLY believing that we’re dramatically different from all the other agents (your world), all the other creative firms (my world), etc.

Just the other day, in a conversation about what differentiates her, a Realtor on a podcast said something along the lines of:

“My team and I consistently get feedback that we’re better at marketing strategy for our listings than other local real estate companies. We’re so good, we are regularly asked to take over and clean up for other agents who just made a mess of the process.”

When you compare yourself to other companies, and rely on the perceived differences as the basis of your positioning in the market — that’s a mistake.

Being “more better” than your Realtor-Competitors is not a strategy.

It’s a distinction maybe (not even a meaningful one), but it’s not a point of difference.

There are so many better ways to differentiate yourself in the market than relying on selection bias error.

You and I already know that comparison game thinking is never helpful, even though we all battle some version of it in our lives.

And there’s plenty of self-help literature out there re: what to do when you see people ahead of you professionally, and you start to feel invalidated. 

But we should probably talk more about what to do when we’re the one of the respected front-runners, who feel we’ve now earned the right to…get lazy about differentiating ourselves? Just because we’re getting a lot of credit these days?

So what?

What’s all the comparison for?

Just because you’ve been noticed, or compared in the positive light, by clients you care about doesn’t mean that intel is the most important or relevant to what makes you different in business.

Here’s what I think is better. It’s what I try to tell myself professionally, at least:

That I should focus on deciding what IS most important,

what needs to change,

and what needs accomplishing within my business + brand, on the regular.

Then ignore all the comparisons that don’t relate.

It’s gritty work.

I have a wonderful business friend who reminds me to correct my focus when it falters. “Just stop comparing,” she’ll say. “Remove the oxygen tank from those thoughts and let ’em STARVE. Don’t look sideways at anybody else.”

Very similar to what Seth Godin says: “The most important comparison, in fact, is comparing your work to what you’re capable of. Sure, compare. But compare the things that matter to the journey you’re on.”

Doesn’t that POV breed a purer kind of business confidence for all of us?

Similar to the confidence Mindy Kaling evoked years ago, speaking of her own career trajectory and self-image, when she said that people are uncomfortable around women who don’t hate themselves. “So that’s why you need to be a little bit brave.”

I absolutely love that.

Don’t look sideways.

Don’t have inflated views of what you do, but for heaven’s sake, don’t hate yourself in business. 

Compare your work to what you’re capable of. This creates space for confident positioning work that unearths what DOES indeed differentiate you.

The rest is noise.

P.S — What’s BLUEPRINT, again? 

We’re a gaggle of designers, writers, and creatives on a mission to change the branding narrative in real estate.

We offer a signature branding service and the industry’s most elegant and high-converting digital products to help modern, stylish Realtors do three things:

➝ Communicate their worth;

➝ Become the obvious choice;

➝ Tell the right stories to stand out + SELL more.

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