Happy Fall Y’all! Right Now is the Time to Stand Out from a Sea of Sameness

Back to school should mean back to work. Even if you don’t have kids going back to school, a lot of people do. Vacations are wrapped up, and in some parts of the country, fall is starting to creep in even though we are two weeks from its official start date. I have already gotten out my Halloween decorations (don’t judge me) in hopes of ushering in cooler weather and the fall season that I love.

September and October are ideal months to focus on setting the stage for 2026. Once mid-November hits, everyone has mentally checked out for the holidays. Even if you don’t plan on executing any new programs and services until the new year, now is the time to create them. Because we all know, once the holidays hit, it is hard to get anyone’s attention, particularly the marketing department and your leadership. And once it is the start of the new year, they are consumed with awards ceremonies, agent retention and recruiting, and new campaigns. During this brief lull, take the opportunity to create, develop, and set your strategy and budget for 2026, ensuring you're ready to hit the ground running.

Gather intel everywhere you go.

I do understand that there are a fair number of regional and national industry conferences in September and October, which will keep everyone busy. It is so vital to ensure your visibility and participation in those events you can afford to attend. And while you are there, feel out the competition and your counterparts in other markets to see what they are doing. See who is winning awards or speaking and lean into their success. Taking one valuable lesson from each session is worth the price of the event.

While we can learn from others, sometimes it's best not to copy them, but to be different than them. Markets are evolving at a different pace, and we can stand to learn from that. What is happening in one market may begin to show itself in yours soon, giving you a bit of a head start.

Now is the time to figure out your unique value proposition and capitalize on it. What are the pain points for buyers, sellers, renters, and sources of business? What matters to them? We are often so focused on what we think they want that we miss what they really need. Have you asked them? Maybe that’s where we should start.

Put in the work to reap the rewards.

It takes work to create unique custom programs for prospective customers and business entities that fit your brand and your market. Examining your market demographics can be an excellent exercise to determine your next program or service. Are you in a retirement community or a military market? What are the needs of the people you serve?

I would caution you about tapping into plug-and-play affinity programs managed by an outside entity. Not only does it send a message to your own leadership that you don’t want to take the initiative to create it yourself, but it diminishes your own value as someone who can conceive and drive that type of program. It also means giving away a chunk of the revenue. As we try to prove our worth, handing off money and responsibility unnecessarily right now is not the smart play.

I don’t expect relocation and real estate to get any easier next year. There are people much more intelligent than I who would agree. Brokerages without a plan are struggling to cope with the challenges and changes. The number of transactions continues to be down for the third year in a row, and we still have too many hobbyist agents. We have seen many brokerage sales and mergers, and I suspect we will see a lot more. Large portals with substantial funding have developed strategies to capture more transactions by leveraging AI and delivering end-to-end services.

It’s time to look at how, at a local level, where you are the expert, you can offer a one-stop shop in a personalized way that these national entities can’t do. That means only using the very best skilled agents who understand the mission. Creating customized programs for your specific market is a huge opportunity right now.

Let me know how I can help you create a strategic plan with money-making programs and services for 2026 to ensure your future in your company and in the industry.

I hope to see you all in Salt Lake City at RDC and WERC! Let me know if you would like to set a time to meet.

“If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.” ~Bob Parsons, American Entrepreneur and Philanthropist.