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Your Competitors are Not Your Enemies: 9 Tips to Change the Mindset

With the advent of technology and ease of access to resources, almost every other industry has a competitive market and every other business owner fears that competitors will put them out of business, or at least take some of their customers.

But, your competitors are not your enemies; a very important mindset that needs to be embedded in every sales person mind!

A healthy competition is a good thing and there’s no reason to be panic about it. In fact, competition is one of the factors that help you grow to the next level.

Below are some thoughts on understanding a healthy competition and standing out in the competitive world:

1- Competition keeps you on your toes and is a driving power that nudges you to keep innovating. 

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2- Don’t underestimate the strengths of your competitors, you will only know their real strength when you try them in the shoes of a customer.

3- A Competitor whom you are in good terms with today is your best ally against your common unexpected industry challenges of tomorrow, keep it clean, keep it safe.

4- When recruiting sales people from competition, keep in mind that the same person who used to sell his customers the moon over the sun today cannot simply sell them the sun over the moon tomorrow, it’s tricky.

5- In price wars, competitors lose money and customers win value, in service excellence wars, everybody is a winner.

6- You can always borrow a market share but you can never fully own it.

7- Competition is not about doing things in a totally different way, it can also mean doing the same things your competitors already do but in a much better way.

8- Competition is painful while disruption is deadly.

9- Competition can always lead to collaboration.

The Bottom Line:

Your competitors are definitely not your enemies, as long as your market is large enough, there are plenty of customers to go around. Consider, Apple & Microsoft; Nike & Adidas and there are tens of other similar cases where they make the same thing yet they are all hugely successful. What makes them stand out is their “Differentiators”, i.e. the key differences that make their product different from the competitor.

Your business must have that unique edge too, that sets you apart from competitors! Find your competitive advantage and you won’t have to worry about competitors taking your market share!

And yes, remember the fact that that if you’re still in business you must be doing something right. All you need to do is to learn from the competitors, keep improving your product or service and take care of your customers’ experience, and you won’t have to worry about the competition!

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