Is There Enough To Go Around?

25th November 2010

What is your first thought when you meet someone in the same line of business as you? Is your immediate reaction to see them as a threat, someone eating into your market share? Or do you think, “That is interesting, I wonder how we can help one another?”

You can’t stop people joining your market, so why waste time and energy fighting against them. More often than not, if you examine their offering in greater detail, you will find that they are not directly in competition with you in any case, and therefore there may well be ways in which you can help each other to find business. I often meet people who say they are coaches/trainers or consultants, but I have hardly ever met someone who provides the same services as me.

As we all know most people buy on emotion rather than logic, and therefore one of the biggest parts of the emotional side of things which works towards your decision as to who you will buy from, is whether you like the person you are dealing with. Now much as I would like to think everyone will like me (and why not), realistically this simply is not going to be the case. So instead of just dropping a lead altogether, why not pass them on to someone else. In this way you can still help the lead you had, and your “competitor” at the same time. For those of you who have read “The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini (highly recommended), you will know that the power of the “reciprocity rule” is incredibly strong. In other words, if you give something to someone, they feel a huge desire (even obligation) to give something back, so by helping your supposed competitor, you should in turn be helping yourself.

So stop worrying about what “the competition” are or are not doing. Believe in yourself, be confident and aware of your own USPs, and learn to work with, not against people. Believe me, it is a lot less tiring and generally far more rewarding.

---

2 responses to “Is There Enough To Go Around?”

1. webhosting with free domain lifetime says:

   January 1, 2011 at 6:47 pm

   Hi! I am sorry meant for my very bad British. My partner and i have got came after your own websites as well as I truly like your own style. Might you actually tell me where could get a web theme similar to this? say thanks to you.

2. Alison Deal says:

   January 6, 2011 at 12:27 pm

   Hi, we used a designer to create the site.