I loved the thought of crushing my competition. I reveled in their struggles. My goal wasn’t to get more clients per se. My goal was to take more clients away from my competitors. Looking back, I make myself sick.
Better said, I feel sorry and empathetic toward my formerly massive egocentric self.* Perhaps that is why I needed to learn the greatest, most humbling experience of my life.
What I have come to believe is that all businesses are linked in a profound way. As one business succeeds by doing what’s right, customer confidence builds and the opportunities for all other businesses grow. Conversely, if you focus on ways to crush your competition, your energies go there instead of serving customers remarkably. You deliver less. You become less. Everyone loses.
When your business is out to crush the competition, you in fact are crushing yourself. Put all your energies in delivering something truly remarkable to your clients. Everyone will win – your clients, even your competitors, and even – scratch that – especially you.
*I hope my former massive egocentric self is truly diminished or destroyed, but only the rest of my life’s actions will prove that.
Well, you can go even further and make honesty your great asset: put links to your competition websites on your website. Review their excellent products and even direct your customers to them when you can’t offer equivalents. Spread good word about good competition and say nothing about bad.
Honesty really makes a difference.
Grzegorz – Have you actually done that? What have the results been?
I did it with my forensics company…. and actually had competitors call me and ask me to put their details on my site. It was kinda funny. But I am not sure if it helped attract more business.
I was just having this very conversation earlier today about collaboration versus competition becoming the new biz “norm”, GREAT post Mike!