Build Your Real Estate Empire Using The 1 per cent Method That Changed Sports

In 2012, British Cycling went from underdogs to Olympic Champions.

Before he became famous, James Clear wrote a post on the Buffer blog called What Would Happen If You Improved Everything by one per cent: The Science of Marginal Gains . Basically, it was about the British Cycling Team’s remarkable transformation under Sir Dave Brailsford. The team achieved extraordinary results by improving every possible performance aspect by just one per cent.

• They started by optimising the obvious: nutrition, training, tyre weight, etc.
• Then, they searched for other 1 per cent improvements in areas others overlooked: the quality of the pillows, massage gels, hand washing and more.

Brailsford believed that if they could successfully execute this strategy, then his team would be in a position to win the Tour de France in five years’ time.

They won it in three.

How tiny tweaks can transform your success

The principle of marginal gains revolves around improving everything you do by just one percent.

This concept popularised further by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, highlights how small, consistent actions can create transformative results over time.

Clear emphasises that habits compound much like interest—tiny daily improvements yield exponential benefits. These minor improvements yield significant results when compounding across multiple facets of your business.

Why Small Changes can lead to big wins in real estate

For you as a real estate agent, this means enhancing areas such as lead generation, client communication, time management, and marketing strategies.

The competitive nature of the real estate industry requires agents to evolve and adapt continuously.

Marginal gains can help you:

• Stand Out: You can create a stronger brand presence by refining your marketing techniques.
• Enhance Productivity: Small adjustments to your daily routines can result in more efficient workflows.
• Build Trust: Incremental improvements in communication with clients foster long-term relationships.

What are some one-percenters?

Here are some of the things I’ve heard over the years:

• Get up earlier
• Focus your energy, make sure you’re feeling positive every time you meet someone
• Role-play your listing presentation one percent more
• Practice your gratitude one per cent more
• Spend one per cent more time researching and building rapport with others
• Drop one per cent more more letterboxes
• Make your marketing one per cent more customer-focused
• Make one per cent more callbacks
• Improve your other lead generation activities by one per cent
• Spend one per cent more time positively commenting on other’s social media posts
• Make a one per cent improvement in your systems
• Delegate one per cent more
• Research your area one per cent more
• Read one per cent more
• … and the list goes on…

As you can see, there are many ideas here, but which one is right for you? Where do you start?

Well, as usual, I’m glad you asked.

Let’s build your personal EMPIRE^TM

At Elite Agent, we’ve created a strategic framework to help you find the best place to start.

For example, there’s no point making more calls to get more listing appointments if you struggle to convert your current appointments to listings. You should work on your conversion skills first, then scale up your lead generation.

We call this framework EMPIRE^TM, which breaks your real estate marketing funnel into seven stages, each of which can benefit from incremental improvements.

These seven stages are:

1. ATTRACT (Getting Found): Use AI to create targeted content, social media posts, and lead magnets to attract prospects.
2. CONNECT (First Engagement): Personalise interactions with CRM tools to build relationships.
3. SUBSCRIBE (Building Your Database/List): Leverage email campaigns and content strategies to convert interest into lasting connections.
4. ACTIVATE (Convert Subscribers → Clients): Use strategic follow-ups and AI-driven insights to turn leads into listings or management.
5. ENHANCE (Creating Amazing Experiences): Deliver exceptional service using AI-powered personalisation.
6. ELEVATE (Growing Client Value): Strengthen client relationships and generate more referrals through tailored engagement.
7. ADVOCATE (Creating Promoters): Turn satisfied clients into active promoters with testimonial campaigns and referral incentives.

By identifying which stage of EMPIRE^TM needs the most support – you can focus your marginal gains strategy on where it will have the most significant impact.

Where’s your biggest opportunity?

Look, growing your real estate business isn’t about doing 100 things at once – even if they are only small things. It’s about finding that ONE thing that’ll make the most significant difference right now (and then the next, and the next).

Our EMPIRE^TM Scorecard asks you 27 quick questions about your business – from how you attract new clients to how you turn past clients into your biggest fans. In less than 10 minutes, you’ll see exactly which part of your business needs attention first.

Think of it like a GPS for your business. Instead of trying everything at once, you’ll know the exact next step to bring you more listings, sales, and commission in 2025.

Take the scorecard here.