It\u2019s not easy to be better than the competition\u2026 And saying so doesn\u2019t make it so! What is better anyway? For world-class athletes, it\u2019s faster, higher, and stronger. Olympic events are carefully defined and the competition measured in hundredths and thousandths of a second or an inch.<\/p>\n
Service has become a world-class event. Two-thirds of the global economy (80% of the U.S.) has migrated from a manufacturing base to a service. That makes service serious business – in essence, a world-class event.<\/p>\n
Athletes competing at the highest levels train vigorously.\u00a0 <\/span>They meticulously track performance, exercise great discipline, utilize technology and employ specialized resources to improve performance.\u00a0 <\/span>World-class athletes recognize the value of performance feedback and understand the importance of common standards of performance measurement.<\/p>\n Is there something to be learned from this?<\/strong><\/p>\n There certainly is!\u00a0 <\/span>In business, the consumer is the Olympic committee.\u00a0 ]<\/span>Consumers define the events and judge the results.\u00a0 <\/span>Most industries, especially manufacturing and technology, have long embraced faster, higher, stronger concepts and the metrics that go with them.\u00a0 <\/span>Common standards have become pretty common.<\/p>\n In the service sector and especially in real estate services, it\u2019s more common for the service provider or each organization to define the event, decide what<\/i> to measure, and to develop its own measurement standards – it\u2019s convenient that way.<\/p>\n But the service provider doesn\u2019t make the rules in today\u2019s economy – the consumer does!\u00a0 <\/span>World-class competitors in business today are totally focused on consumer-defined events and are passionate about measuring their performance results with common standards and common metrics.\u00a0 <\/span>And the evidence is clear that progress follows process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As the level of competition intensifies in athletics or in commerce, some other changes emerge with teamwork, specialization, technology, systems, better fitness, performance feedback, improvement, and even tougher competitors.<\/p>\n Applying this to your real estate practice<\/strong><\/p>\n So what is faster, higher, and stronger in real estate service, and who really excels against the competition?\u00a0 <\/span>The measurement standards in real estate services have always been production-based\u2026\u00a0 <\/span>without the balance of how good or how well.\u00a0 <\/span>The belief is that \u201cdoing a lot is<\/i> doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n Do these traditional standards and metrics of \u201cproduction performance\u201d fit as well today?\u00a0 <\/span>Do production standards and measurements without qualitative standards and measurements reflect a consumer-centered business environment?\u00a0 <\/span>But of course, real estate is different.<\/p>\n Real estate service is more like other businesses with the passing of each week.\u00a0 <\/span>When brokers and practitioners completely controlled the information, they made the rules and controlled the game.\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s over, the consumer is in charge.\u00a0 <\/span>In the information age, \u201ccontrol\u201d of information is at the very least undergoing redefinition.<\/p>\n