What is Being #1 Really Like?
How Agents Miss the Metric that matters but can spin em like a spider!
In the Words of Sponge Bob “He was Number 1”
Every agent on 30A seems to be #1. Somehow some way. I guess I am the number one agent on 30A that also is a real estate agent in Costa Rica. Ok that works but what does it really mean?
#1 in sales? #1 in listings? #1 in transactions? #1 in some micro-sub-category that didn’t exist until their marketing team invented it. This is what others do. And yes it is a marketing pillar that gets more business. And in the case of 30A you have about a 80 out of 4000 chance of working with a really competent team or agent. And what is competence? Well that is another whole get to know us article.
We’re living in the era of trophy math — where being “#1” is less about excellence and more about how small you can draw the circle around yourself.
“I’m the #1 agent selling 35 Tupelo in Seaside on September 24th, 2025.”
True? Sure. Relevant? Not even close.
A Team of dozens of agents declare themselves “Top 5 in Florida,” while a focused team of four quietly does $91 million and matches their per-capita output. One team shouts. The other delivers. I do not shout that much….not nearly as much as others. Some tell me I should do more of that. I am torn because we are in this business to make life long friends and do always the right thing.
It’s easy to inflate a number; it’s hard to sustain a standard.
If you’re reading this as part of our Get to Know Us series, this is what we mean by #1 — not a number, but a philosophy of service?
📊 Math Doesn’t Shape Shift — But Agents Numbers Do
Volume without context is vanity.
Per-agent performance, truth in representation, and client outcomes are the only metrics that actually matter. Everything else is brochure math. Now personally what does that mean to me and our team? To Gayle, Ariel and Miranda? and more broadly to our Costa Rica team Casey and Kara?
For a long time, I cared about that “#1” too.
I’ve built my business — and to some extent, my life — around the Ninja Selling philosophy. It’s more than a sales framework; it’s a way of living with clarity and consistency. Each morning, before the phone starts buzzing and the world starts demanding attention, I start with quiet reflection.
I pour a coffee. I find a still moment. And I read.
Sometimes it’s Arthur Brooks, sometimes David Brooks and others, everyday a read — both these two write about happiness not as something you chase but as something you align with. I read a few pages, think about what they’re saying, and let it reframe the day. The goal isn’t to hype myself up — it’s to tune myself in. An this approach anchors our team.
Then I move into gratitude.
Real gratitude — not performative lists for social media, but reflection on what doesn’t change quickly. Gratitude for Values of integrity and learning and growing, for constancy, for the quiet things that repeat and bring renewal - Joys of Life. It’s a daily reminder that success without peace is still failure.
Then I write my affirmation.
In Ninja, affirmations are written in the present tense — “I enjoy…” — because they’re meant to rewire your Reticular Activating System (RAS), the filter in your brain that guides your focus. You write as if the thing you want already exists, because over time, your actions start to make it real.
For months, mine was:
“I enjoy being the #1 agent in Seaside now.”
And it frustrated me.
Because by the usual measurements — sales volume, transactions, Income — I wasn’t. Not that quarter. Not that year. I wrote it anyway, every morning, until one day it stopped feeling aspirational and started feeling… obvious.
Because I realized I was #1 — just not in the way I was measuring it.
I knew Seaside better than anyone. I understood its history, its design, its future. I’d walked every street, studied every code, every setback, every rule. I knew how buyers thought there and how sellers misunderstood it. I didn’t just sell Seaside — I lived Seaside. We still live it today and I stand by this statement.
That’s when it hit me:
Being #1 isn’t a number. It’s an awareness of Self and a Belief in Self.
It’s when what you know, how you work, and how you treat people all align.
It’s when you no longer need to prove it, because the results — and the respect — prove it for you.
And then, of course, the numbers followed.
By 2020, 2021, and part of 2022, the Jabbour Luxury Group was the #1 team in Seaside by measurable sales volume — unseating the original developer’s brokerage after more than 40 years of market dominance.
We didn’t chase it.
We became it — one truthful conversation, one listing, one relationship at a time.
And I know the other teams that rank in math metrics above us and below us and I know they believe and are rightly so the #1 team or agent on 30A because there are many of us here that really dig into being solid and competent at what we do. They stand out…they stand tall…..and they are very quiet. Well mostly.
📈 FACTS STILL MATTER — WHEN THEY’RE REAL
Yes, philosophy matters — but so do results. Philosophy and consistency allow our friends to know what to expect from us. They do not get erratic posts (well for the most part those that know me enjoy my brand of humor). They get the same focused view of our team every day. But some do want numbers and some that do not know us as well as we would like them to need to maybe be reminded of exactly where we fit into this ecosystem of about 4000 real estate agents on the Emerald Coast.
And the truth is, the Jabbour Luxury Group does measure its performance. We track volume, efficiency, and outcomes carefully. What frustrates us is how loosely others use the word “rank.”
Some “teams” include dozens of agents across multiple offices. Some are captive to single-developer projects — like builder brokerages or community-locked sales offices — where volume is a function of inventory, not market performance.
We’re not that.
We’re an independent, non-captive team — free to work anywhere along the Emerald Coast and beyond, from Seaside to Rosemary to Blue Mountain to Watercolor. Every sale we make, we earn. Every client we serve, we find.
Measured that way — among real, independent teams competing in the open marketplace — our 2025 numbers put the Jabbour Luxury Group as the #5 ranked team across the entire Emerald Coast. If we narrow to just 30A we are number 4.
Wow, an agent or a team willing to say they are not number 1?
And we did it with a small, focused team.
Not dozens agents. Not a builder pipeline.
Just a handful (four) of professionals who actually know their markets — and their clients and the contracts and the methods of transactions so well…..we are #1.
That’s what #1 looks like in practice.
Not the loudest. Not the biggest. The most effective. But for those that need numbers.
🏆 What #1 Really Means
Being #1 isn’t about stacking yard signs or outspending competitors on billboards.
It’s about clarity, humility, and mastery — knowing your market so well that truth becomes your brand.
On 30A, anyone can spin a stat.
Very few can back it with substance.
So when you see that next “#1 Agent” headline, take a breath and ask:
Are they measuring what matters?
Because the real #1s usually aren’t shouting — they’re too busy doing the work, one client, one decision, one morning coffee at a time.
If you’re reading this as part of our Get to Know Us series, this is what we mean by #1 — not a number, but a philosophy of service?