In order to be Amazing in our business maybe we should concentrate on being the best we can be, providing outstanding service to our customers rather than being obsessed about what our competitors are doing.
I had a meeting with a Recruitment agency today and was amazed at how much time they were focusing on hiding their activities from their competition and how little they were showcasing their expertise and achievements. For example they did not want to have “Testimonials” from clients on their website as everyone would then know who their clients were. The same rational was applied to LinkedIn. They would not connect with clients as other agencies would see their clients and wrestle them away from them.
Are they a bit paranoid in their thinking? Maybe they are hiding the very assets (testimonials and an ability to communicate and showcase their talent to their clients online) that would attract new business their way?
Here are some of my thoughts on competition:
- If you are focusing on providing outstanding customer service to your clients they should have no reason to go to a competitor.
- If your main client is Google for example, the chances are your competitors are already knocking on their door.
- Competition should be seen as an opportunity and not a threat. For example it gives us a chance to observe what our competitors are doing well and therefore identify ways in which we can improve our business. On the same note we can also see the mistakes that our competition make and learn from them.
- Imagine for a second that there was no competition for your business. What might that mean? May I suggest that this could be because the business with no competition (excluding some monopoly’s of course!) may not be a viable business? It may not have a market big enough to be profitable. So maybe competition is a reminder that there is enough business out there.
- Very few of us need to have 100% of the market to be successful. Very few of us even need 20%. So take some comfort from the fact that there is enough business out there for you and your competition.
- Rather than hide away from our competitors good news or blog posts…we may have an opportunity to able to raise our profile by being associated with them. I am delighted to share or tweet other Career Experts great articles as it provides “valuable” content for my followers and reinforces their perception that I have great industry knowledge and provide great content. NB. I need to provide my own valuable content too.
- Many small businesses are stronger because they make connections and building strong business relationships with their competitors. For example if I want to pitch for a large project my proposal may be more attractive if I can bring in other experts to share the workload. I have also been blessed with meeting and building good relationships with some of my competitors. Many of them have passed me business over the past 12 months. So be aware that your competition may even a source income!
So ask yourself: Are you draining your energy fretting about the competition? If the answer is yes… STOP and start focusing on your business and being as AMAZING as you can be.
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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard
