By Jeff Beals
Some of my favorite people to hang out with work in the same profession I do. In other words, I’m friends with a lot of my competitors. It makes sense if you think about it. People who compete with each other have many of the same interests.
But friendships with professionals from competing companies can be touchy.
It is in your best interest to have positive relationships with your competitors, but you have to be careful. On one hand, such relationships keep job possibilities open for you, and if you’re in a leadership position, these relationships form a candidate pool from which you can hire.
On the other hand, it’s easy to let your guard down when you befriend competitors thus compromising your company’s position.
Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind when it comes to befriending people who want to beat you in the sales arena:
1. Even if you have the heart of a cut-throat competitor, be cordial when you run into the competition. You never know when you actually might need them.
2. A wily competitor might be gathering intel during casual conversations, so stick to pleasantries and “sanitized” talk. Don’t divulge your secrets.
3. If you sell for a small organization, you may be able to grow quite wealthy living off the big guy’s table scraps. Befriend people from much larger companies. They just might refer business to you that is not big enough for them.
4. If you engage in one-upmanship and gamesmanship with competitors, make sure you do it for valuable reasons and not simply to boost your ego or satisfy a constant craving for attention. If you engage in one-upmanship just for the fun of it, be careful – make sure the other person has a thick skin and/or good sense of humor. Friendships among competitors can be fragile.
5. Sometimes you must get between your client and your competitor. That’s not just figuratively “in between” them; it might be a good idea to show up if you know your client is going to encounter a competitor. In highly competitive sales efforts, your personal, physical presence may be necessary to ward off competitors looking to steal your client at the last minute.
6. As appropriate, find ways to “hide” your prospects from your competitors. If you find a “diamond-in-the-rough” client, don’t let the world know about him or her. Do what you can to keep them under the radar.
7. All is fair in love, war and sales. Because business can be so brutally competitive, some sales leaders look for ways not only to beat the competition but to weaken it preemptively. Many of Sun Tzu’s ancient Chinese theories on military strategy apply to the game of sales. In sales, you sometimes need to outflank the competition, employ the element of surprise and weaken your competitors before you even begin the battle. A dramatic way to strike a blow to a competitor is to hire away one of their sales reps. If you can’t beat ’em, steal their best salesperson.
Jeff Beals shows you how to find better prospects, close more deals and capture greater market share. Jeff is an international award-winning author, sought-after keynote speaker, and accomplished sales consultant. A frequent media guest, Jeff has been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, Men’s Health, Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.”
Here’s Why Should You Choose Jeff Beals as Your Next Speaker:
“Jeff Beals has presented four different topics at five of our internal events in 2016. At each event, the audience of commercial real estate principals and agents was completely engaged and motivated the entire time. Jeff facilitates his training sessions in such a way that each member of the audience was able to relate and understand how to apply it every day in the field. Jeff is brilliant, and we have hired him to continue speaking at our events in 2017!” – Lindsay Fierro, Senior Vice President, NAI Global, New York, NY
“Your workshop was a huge experience for our attendees by giving them the opportunity to improve their work in the critical environment in which we are living today. Your talent as a speaker and your qualities as a person made the difference during your time with us. I would certainly recommend you to anyone who asks.” – Ana Paula Costa, Educational Planner, Febracorp, Sao Paulo, Brazil
I’m in Phoenix and had breakfast earlier this morning with our semi-retired sales representative who is doing some continued work for us here. He attended your sales meeting last week and told me that in 43 years of selling, you were the best he had ever heard. Thanks for a great experience.” – Drew Vogel, President & CEO, Diamond Vogel Paints, Orange City, IA
“Our corporate partnership team had great takeaways regarding how to network smarter while also understanding the importance of our personal brand to current and prospective partners. Jeff does a great job weaving in real-world examples and how you can apply his teachings to growing your business and building long-term partnerships.” – Jason Booker, Senior Director of Corporate Sponsorships, The Kansas City Royals Major League Baseball Team
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