Be Friendly With Your Competition in Sales – It’s Definitely Worth your While

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We’re not in high school anymore. Your industry competitors are not the enemy; you can truly learn a lot from your so-called company rivals. It’s advantageous to be civil, and perhaps even more than civil —  ”connected” with your competitors. Sync up with your industry competitors, whether it be via social networks, email, or blogs.  I’m not suggesting you invite your competition to your family’s Christmas dinner, but keep it amicable.

Some may be reading this saying, ‘This is insane – no way! I have a quota hung over my head– the last thing I care about is being friendly with my competition’.

Think about it. As an expansion stage company, how could “connecting” with the competition actually be valuable?

• They will post beneficial information (articles, blogs, other factoids) on their social internet sites that you can learn and share with your networks. It’s important to follow your competition who is exhibiting thought leadership, so you can remain abreast of their strategies and the trends they are witnessing and practicing. Note: There needs to be SOME boundaries.  Block your connection list on LinkedIn so your competition does not poach from your network contacts.
• They are less likely to talk badly about your firm to their customers/prospects. A prospect who is not the greatest match for your competition’s company could turn to you as an alternative.
• Just because your competition offers a comparable product/service doesn’t mean it’s identical, and some prospects might be searching for a particular feature that is exclusive to your company. If your competitor is moral and connected, they might share your information and push the prospect in your direction in hopes that you will do the same for them if you are communicating with a prospect that isn’t the best for your product. As a former recruiter, if I was working with a candidate I could not place, I would certainly share their info with recruiters I respected at other agencies in town. And yes, they sent applicants back again to me who were more appropriate for my open jobs.
• Perhaps they might be a wonderful probable candidate for your team if your company is building a sales team – can you say the words, referral bonus?!
• On that same note – maybe your paths may cross one day down the road at a future place of employment… don’t burn any bridges! It’s a small world.

The moral of the story — it’s usually beneficial to have a lot more friends than enemies in the business world. Keep your sales practices clean, and stay linked to your market rivals. Believe it or not, these folks will probably continue to be a beneficial resource to you and your pipeline.

Devon Warwick is an Analyst at OpenView Venture Partners, and focuses primarily on business development for portfolio companies.

Related articles

• The Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Strategy and The Quest for Competitive Advantage: An Analysis of How to Improve Financial Performance and Competitive Positioning (bizcovering.com)
• Startup 2011: Tuesday, May 10 (businessinsider.com)

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