Image courtesy of Apple

We have identified the phenomenon of "complacency" as one of the potential vulnerabilities of market leaders who have outdistanced their closest competitors by a considerable margin. There is tendency to coast on their momentum instead of continuously reinvest in staying sharp. They tend to "rest on their laurels", relying on the recognition of their previous achievements to stay on top. As a luxury real estate marketing professional, if you want to challenge the market leader, this is an important symptom of vulnerability to be able to recognize and also be able to exploit.

In Steven Covey's mega-bestselling book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he writes about the flip side of complacency which is working too hard, for fear of losing ground to the competition, and not taking the time for self renewal or "sharpening the saw". In our strategic branding consulting practice, and also as syndicated bloggers, we are continuously interviewing top producing agents. We notice that the market leaders who are workaholics are equally vulnerable to being challengeed as the complacent ones.

When a new idea of doing business is introduced to the complacent market leader, the response is often "if it isn't broken, don't fix it". When a new idea is proposed to a workaholic, it is often rejected because they do not have the time to take a break from sawing in order to sharpen the saw. In both cases, there is a paucity of innovation, ingenuity and imagination at the top, which makes them vulnerable to challengers who are eager and willing to "think outside the box".

In our previous post, we highlighed the brilliant success of Apple's retail stores. Clearly, Apple is an enlightened market leader that does not rest on its laurels. It continuously stays sharply focused and is an uninterrupted font of innovation. Within a year of the debut of the iPad, iPad 2 trumped its predecessor and preempted many of its would-be competitors by including superiors features like two cameras and skinnier profile.

The genius who is mainly credited for the success of the Apple stores is Ron Johnson, the Senior VP of Retail Operations, who recently was tapped for the CEO position of J.C. Penney to restore its prominence as a market leader. In an interview, Johnson said, "I've always dreamed of leading a major retail company as CEO. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help J.C. Penney re-imagine what I believe to be the single greatest opportunity in American retailing today, the department store."

A true market leader is willing to continuously re-invent and re-imagine its business model. Essentially, a market leader never stops thinking like a challenger.

If you are a market leader and you find yourself getting complacent or becoming a workaholic, these are warning signals that your health and the health of your luxury real estate marketing practice is in jeopardy. You are definitely vulnerable to being caught off-guard by a challenger who is open to new ideas.

This blog posting has been provided by Ron and Alexandra Seigel, the Language of Luxury Community Founders and managing partners of Napa Consultants, International, the leading luxury real estate strategic marketing firm. They specialize in personal and company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing. Pictures provided by Ron and Alexandra.