Small changes that can help agents stand out in any market
At the 2026 Florida Realtors Convention & Trade Expo, Mike Mooney urged agents to focus on small gains, stronger communication, better listening and fewer assumptions.
Big business improvements don’t always start with a big idea. Sometimes, it’s one tiny tweak that nobody questions.
That was one of the lessons from Mike Mooney's education session, Your E.P.I.C. Pursuit: 4 High-Performance Levers to Stand Out in Any Market, at the 2026 Florida Realtors Convention & Trade Expo.
Mooney, who has spent more than 25 years working in NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula One, told attendees that racing teams build performance by hunting for small gains. Real estate professionals, he said, can do the same.
His framework, E.P.I.C., stands for excellence, presence, intentionality and curiosity.
Excellence: Find your 1%
Forget the total overhaul. Look for the small edge.
Mooney pointed to NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham, who pushed his team to examine even the smallest pieces of a race car for possible gains.
One engineer suggested turning hood pins, the small fasteners that keep a race car’s hood from flying up at high speed, to reduce friction. Another team member trimmed unused threading from nuts and bolts to cut weight.
“What's your hood pin going to be?” Mooney asked.
For agents, that could mean tightening listing preparation, refreshing market research before an appointment or dropping work that keeps you busy without producing much value.
Presence: Be the spotter
Drivers can’t see everything coming. Neither can buyers and sellers.
Mooney compared agents to race spotters, who watch for trouble outside a driver's field of vision.
For real estate professionals, that means listening closely, identifying customer blind spots and helping make sense of information.
“AI can't understand the context of what's happening,” Mooney said, particularly when broader information needs to be translated to a neighborhood or ZIP code.
Intentionality: Don’t leave out the detail
A strong plan can still go sideways over one missed detail.
Mooney recalled a race team pursuing a $14 million UPS sponsorship that sent its proposal in a FedEx box.
His point: Don’t assume everyone knows what matters.
That same intentionality can apply to customer communication, follow-up and prospecting. Mooney suggested three calls a week as one manageable way to consistently build a pipeline.
Curiosity: Ask one more question
Assumptions can get expensive fast.
Mooney urged attendees to slow down, challenge what they think they know and “confirm, don't assume.”
His suggestion: When you think you’ve asked enough questions, ask three more.
The goal isn’t to change everything at once.
Pick one lever. Put it to work.
“Life is lived in the pursuit, not the destination,” Mooney said. “It's getting up each day and it's just trying to get a little better today than I was yesterday.”
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