For professionals, our competitors are not the enemy to be overcome, vanquished and destroyed.
Our Competitors Are Much Like Us
Like us, most of our competitors work hard at trying to help clients make a difference in their lives. Drawing on professional training comparable to ours, they help their clients in much the same way that we serve our own clients. Truth be told, most of our competitors are more similar to us than we are prepared to admit.
Realistically, the only factor that distinguishes us from the competition and vice versa is the unique combination of personality, skills and experience that shapes how we serve clients. All things being equal, we could probably serve each others’ clients equally well.
Given the similarities between us as individuals and our competitors, instead of seeing them as adversaries to be defeated, it’s better for our business development to consider the opportunities for improvement that they represent.
Understanding & Learning From The Competition
Instead of spending time trying to outwit or otherwise beat the competition, put some time into understanding them. What do they do better that you? Without simply copying what they do well, what can you learn from them that will help you improve how you attract and serve clients?
As you start to better understand your competition, you will no doubt start to see them as the potentially useful resources that they really are.
From a marketing perspective, this understanding offers two significant benefits.
First, there is your increased market knowledge, which can only increase your personal profile and professional credibility.
Second, why not add to your network of contacts those competitors? Just because you might be chasing the same clients to whom you can provide comparable services, it doesn’t automatically mean that you won’t or can’t make referrals to each other. In every professional business there are clients we can’t serve for one reason or another.
Instead of just sending these clients away, why not send them to some one who might be able to help them? Your referral could result in referrals …and other benefits …coming from these competitor.
Devoting time and energy to treating competitors as the enemy is a wasteful exercise, generating little more than lost opportunities. If you wan to grow and developing your business, it’s far better to redirect this time and energy to understanding your competitors learning from them how to better attract and serve clients.
