[Exceptional Influence] You Are The Market
In a recent social media post, top-performing real estate agent, Matt Steinwede (currently the #1 agent at John McGrath Real Estate) shared a powerful insight into the mindset that sets successful agents apart. He simply said, ‘You are the market.’
This really resonated with me because it’s easy to blame external forces when things aren’t going your way. In my industry and in the communities that I’m part of, I often hear people bemoan, ‘it’s so slow’, ‘it’s so quiet’. Or they might say, ‘People just aren’t buying’. Or ‘the economy is really holding me back’.
But instead of looking outward, it’s time to look inward. It’s time to embrace the fact that you are the market. This is the mindset of market positioning, and it can make all the difference.
The mindset of market positioning
What is the mindset of market positioning? Well, instead of allowing industry trends to define your practice, take the time to consider how you define it. And take the opportunity to shift your mindset.
In my experience – which Steinway’s perspective echoes – when you believe the market is slow, that’s exactly what it will be. When you adopt a scarcity mindset – such as thinking, ‘Clients just aren’t buying,’ or ‘It’s so quiet out there’ – your actions will begin to align with those beliefs. And that turns your mindset into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead, the challenge is to shift our market positioning mindset, by changing how we think and speak about the market. Instead of seeing a downturn or a slow down as a reason to stall, can we think about it as an opportunity to level up? Can we find new and creative ways to bring in new energy?
I had an experience when I worked in retail many years ago where I saw how a confident outlook directly affected business results. At the time, I was an area manager of a busy retail chain. In one shopping centre we would often get other people from other stores asking how busy we were and gossiping about things being slow. But my boss always advised us to ‘just tell them we’re busy.’
This wasn’t about misleading customers or staff. It was about maintaining a mindset that prevented inertia. This confidence created activity, and that activity created momentum, even in quiet times. Our staff chose to stay active – by cleaning, organising or assisting customers (even if they weren’t actually buying!) in small ways – and this helped sustain a positive, productive environment.
In another shop at another shopping centre, they were struggling far more. When I went there to see what was going wrong, I saw staff who simply slouched around when things were slow, and they complained that it was quiet and were so busy complaining they didn't see customers entering the store, losing energy and engagement. No wonder they had low sales and morale!
Embracing ‘positive delusion’
Having a sense of positive delusion can help you pretend in your own mind that it’s already happening. Positive delusion is where you see a positive potential, even when there’s no real evidence to support this. But it works.
When you imagine that your practice is busy and thriving (that you’re living in abundance) and that your market positioning is right where it needs to be, then this is much more likely to happen. In fact, many successful people, including actors, musicians, athletes and CEOs, adopt this practice with fantastic results.
This isn’t about lying to yourself. Rather, it’s a mindset shift that moves you closer to manifesting the outcomes you desire. When you tell yourself, ‘the market is full of opportunity’ or ‘the right clients are motivated to buy’, then you’re paving the way to be prepared for those opportunities to materialise.
As Jason Calacanis, an American entrepreneur and angel investor, says, ‘If you are delusional, sometimes reality catches up with your delusions, and then all of a sudden you are a genius.’
Your mindset and your market positioning
Your mindset connects directly to your market positioning. When you frame yourself as a leader in your industry, as someone who is driving your practice forward and looking for opportunities to grow and develop, you show yourself as someone who is proactive and solutions-driven.
By adopting this mindset, you aren’t just a participant in the market, being tossed to and fro by market conditions. Instead, you are the market. You are making the market. You are creating opportunity and positioning. And others will respond to that energy.
Productive over busy
I never really like to use the word ‘busy’, but I do like the word ‘productive’. When client work slows down – and sometimes it will – don’t get trapped in panic and fear.. Quiet times are an ideal opportunity to work on activities that bring long-term value. It’s the time to focus on activity, as Keith Abraham, the master motivational speaker, says, “activity solves inactivity”!
7 productive actions to take
Get your next newsletter out or build the process into your practice if you haven’t already.
Write a chapter of your book (or the entire book!).
Make sales calls.
Connect with your top clients and find out what their challenges are.
Work on or create an online course.
Write a white paper or create your next six months of content.
Create your own networking events and work on building your community.
Mindset and market positioning as a thought leader
Ultimately, your market positioning reflects the mindset you adopt. Ask yourself the following questions:
Are you making the most of every situation? Or are you complaining when it seems quiet?
How do you talk about or describe your current circumstances?
What are you doing to be more productive when client work slows? What could you be doing?