Competition | Dr. Ivan Misner®

11Jan2021

Collaborating with Your Competitors Can Improve Your Businessstring(61) "Collaborating with Your Competitors Can Improve Your Business"

January 11, 2021

competitors Collaboration, Competition 1

During my years as a management consultant, I would regularly participate in management organization “hubs” made up of other consultants, many of whom could be considered my direct competitors. However, each of us also had specializations in addition to our general management skills. Someone would have much stronger skills in reading a financial statement; another would be a technology guru; someone else would be a true master of closing large sales.

Depending on the needs of the client, I could turn to one of these competitors for assistance on particular projects with my clients, and they could also pull me in at times to help with theirs. We had a clear delineation and understanding of whose client it ultimately was, but we all became better providers of knowledge for our clients by occasionally using this collaborative approach.

I developed this concept in my book, The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret. For my management consulting approach with my clients, I was the “hub” who brought in other professionals with specific talents as needed. This approach made me a better consultant than I could be on my own.

I was doing a seminar many years ago on networking and was talking about the value of collaborating with your competition from time to time, and how it is actually possible to increase your business by collaborating and cooperating with people who might be your competitors.

A man in his early 20s sitting in the audience raised his hand and argued passionately about how he didn’t think it was a good idea to consort with the competition. We were having a pretty lively debate when an older member of the audience stood up to weigh in. The story he told made a believer out of everyone else in the room.

It is a good idea to consort with your competitors

I’ve been in the investment business my entire professional career. A few years ago, I was courting a company for a gigantic investment package that included retirement, investments, insurance, and more. It was huge — one of the biggest projects I had ever worked on. I spent weeks getting to know the client’s intricate needs and putting together a comprehensive package. I was so close to closing the deal, but literally days before I thought it would close, the client told me they were going with someone else.

I was just gobsmacked, completely shocked. After I caught my breath, I asked him who he had chosen. It turns out he was giving it to a competitor in his mid-20s. This kid had no experience and yet, here they were giving him this monster project. I felt like I had spent enough time with the client to ask him why he would choose this person over me and my package. He looked at me and said, “You want the honest-to-goodness truth? It’s my brother in law, and my wife will go crazy if I don’t give him the business. I do trust him, but I know he hasn’t got the experience you have.”

The kid’s voice literally jumped out of the phone. He said, “I’m from a wealthy family, but I really have no idea how to manage a project this big. I’m connected and I have four more deals just like this one, and I don’t know how I’m going to get it all put together. Could we partner up? I know I can get even more deals like these, but to manage it well, I could really use your help.”

We did just that: partnered up. And that kid is a rainmaker — we have worked on so many deals, all of them the same size or bigger than that original one I thought I lost. I made more money than I had ever made before by calling up my competitor and offering goodwill and advice if he ever needed it.

As you might suspect, the young man in my audience had a change of heart after hearing this story. Will this happen every time you try to work with a competitor? Of course not. But it will never happen if you don’t reach out. What are some effective ways you’ve been able to collaborate with competitors? Let us know in the comments below.

17May2018

Why Partnering With Your Competition Could Be Your Key To Successstring(65) "Why Partnering With Your Competition Could Be Your Key To Success"

May 17, 2018

Ivan Misner

Competition, garage to global, partnership Classic Video, Competition, Garage to Global, Profitability 1

How intelligently collaborating with your competition can vastly improve your business.

While counter-intuitive, partnering with your competition may be among the best ways to grow your business. By intelligently creating a partnership with someone who you would otherwise work against, you can combine your client bases and maximize return on your investment. However, you never know what kind of positives can come from what may otherwise seem like a negative.

Watch this video

In this video, I discuss how to deal with competition in business. This is a part of what I call the “Ivanisms Series”, all of my personal quotes and phrases and why they have worked for me. Therefore, please watch this video to understand what Ivan means.

The value of collaborating with your competition

I was doing a seminar about how it is possible to increase your business by cooperating with your competitors.

A man sitting in the audience argued passionately about not consorting with the competition. We were having a pretty lively debate when an older member of the audience stood up to weigh in.

The story he told made a believer out of everyone else in the room:

I’ve been in the investment business my entire professional career. A few years ago, I was courting a company for an investment package that included retirement and more. It was huge — one of the biggest projects I had ever worked on. Spending weeks getting to know the client’s intricate needs and putting together a comprehensive package, the client told me they were going with someone else.

Therefore, I was just gobsmacked, completely shocked. After I caught my breath, I asked him who he had chosen. It turns out he was giving it to a competitor in his mid 20s. This kid had no experience and yet, here they were giving him this monster project. I felt like I had spent enough time with the client to ask him why he would choose this person over me and my package. He looked at me and said, “You want the honest-to-goodness truth? It’s my brother in law, and my wife will go crazy if I don’t give him the business. However, I do trust him, but I know he hasn’t got the experience you have.”

In my entire professional life, I had never done what I did next. In my area of business, it’s usually dog-eat-dog, but I called the kid and congratulated him. I told him I knew a lot about the company and if he ever needed anything, I was happy to help.

The kid’s voice literally jumped out of the phone. He said, “I’m from a wealthy family, but I really have no idea how to manage a project this big. I’m connected and I have four more deals just like this one, and I don’t know how I’m going to get it all put together. Could we partner up? In conclusion, I know I can get even more deals like these, but to manage it well, I could really use your help.”

We did just that: partnered up. And that kid is a rainmaker. We have worked on so many deals, all of them the same size or bigger than that original one I thought I lost. Therefore, I made more money than I had ever made before by calling up my competitor and offering goodwill and advice if he ever needed it.

Therefore, as you might suspect, the young man in my audience had a change of heart after hearing this story.

Will this happen every time you try to work with a competitor? Of course not. But it will never happen if you don’t reach out.

What are some effective ways you’ve been able to collaborate with competitors? Let us know in the comments below.

7May2018

How To Deal With Competitorsstring(28) "How To Deal With Competitors"

May 7, 2018

Ivan Misner

Classic Video, Competition, garage to global, My Philosophy about Competition Classic Video, Competition, Entrepreneur, Garage to Global 2

My solution on how to deal with competitors is simple: Don’t pay attention to competitors. Success in business is about constantly improving your product or service, team, and culture. If you focus on these aspects, you’ll improve your position in the marketplace.

Focus on the fundamentals of your business. Keep up with metrics and constantly share your organization’s core values. These are a few ways that you can improve your business. But whatever you do, don’t obsess over what competitors are saying about you. If you keep bettering your own business, you’ll have no need to fear your competitors.

“The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.” – Henry Ford

Watch this video

In this video, I discuss how to deal with competition in business. This is a part of what I call the “Ivanisms Series”, all of my personal quotes and phrases and why they have worked for me. Please watch this video to understand what Ivan means.

17Aug2017

Competition into collaborationstring(30) "Competition into collaboration"

August 17, 2017

Ivan Misner

Collaboration, Competition Collaboration, Competition, Guest Blog, Guest Video, Tiffanie Kellog

You can turn your competition into your best potential referral source. In this video, Tiffanie Kellog and Jason Avery share how he accomplished this in his construction business. There is plenty of business out there if you do it right.

About Tiffanie Kellog

For more information on Tiffanie Kellog, please visit her website at tiffaniekellog.com/

Tiffanie Kellog is a professional speaker and trainer with Asentiv, and is co-owner of a business with her husband. Therefore, Tiffanie has helped entrepreneurs over the years make more money while saving time. Thus, they can have more fun. She is dedicated to helping others make more money in less time.

To contact Tiffanie, call her at 813-263-9690 or email at referrals@tiffaniekellog.com

21Apr2016

Partnering With Your Competitionstring(32) "Partnering With Your Competition"

April 21, 2016

Ivan Misner

Competition, partner, partnership, work Competition, Profitability 2

While counter-intuitive, partnering with your competition may be among the best ways to grow your business. By intelligently creating a partnership with someone who you would otherwise work against, you can combine your client bases and maximize on return on your investment. You never know what kind of positives can come from what may otherwise seem like a negative.

Click on the graphic below, or click here, to hear what I have to say.

4Apr2016

Introducing Garage to Globalstring(28) "Introducing Garage to Global"

What does it take to start a home-based business and turn it into a global organization? I am sharing the many lessons I’ve learned to do just that.

In 1985, I started a small business from my home in Southern California. Today, BNI has ov BNI Member Growth Through 2014 er 7,400 locations in more than 65 countries around the world (see the member growth chart to the right).

From business networking to management, scaling a business, and surrounding yourself with good people, I will be sharing with you the secrets for building a global brand.

Go here and subscribe to my new Garage to Global Channel (part of the Entrepreneur Network) on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/garagetoglobal.

Share with me below what you think it takes to go from “garage to global” (but don’t forget to subscribe to my new channel. 🙂

6Jul2015

Quantity Is Fine, But Quality Is Kingstring(37) "Quantity Is Fine, But Quality Is King"

Photo Courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the biggest misconceptions I’m aware of in regard to networking is the notion that it’s an “all you can eat” affair. In other words, people go to an event, work the room in an effort to meet everyone there, and then judge their success by the number of cards they accumulate. Although I see a certain superficial logic in that, there’s only one fatal flaw with this kind of thinking: it assumes that the more people you meet at an event, the more successful your networking efforts are–and that’s simply not the case. Instead, the quality of the connections you form is much more significant than the quantity of connections you make.

Businesspeople unfamiliar with referral networking sometimes lose track of the fact that networking is the means–not the end–of their business-building activities. They attend three, four, even five events in a week in a desperate grasp for new business. The predictable result is that they stay so busy meeting new people that they never have time to follow up and cultivate those relationships–and how can they expect to get that new business from someone they’ve only just met? As one of these unfortunates remarked to me, “I feel like I’m always doing business but rarely getting anything done.”

I certainly agree that meeting new people is an integral part of networking, but it’s important to remember why we’re doing it in the first place: to develop a professional rapport with individuals that will deepen over time into a trusting relationship that will eventually lead to a mutually beneficial and continuous exchange of referrals.

When meeting someone for the first time, focus on the potential relationship you might form. As hard as it may be to suppress your business reflexes, at this stage you cannot make it your goal to sell your services or promote your company. You’re there to get to know a new person. A friend of mine told me something his dad always said: “You don’t have to sell to friends.” That’s especially good advice when interacting with new contacts.

This certainly doesn’t mean you’ll never get to sell anything to people you meet while networking; it does, however, mean that you’ll need to employ a different approach. Networking isn’t about closing business or meeting hordes of new people; it’s about developing relationships in which future business can be closed. Once you understand that, you’ll stand out from the crowd with everyone you meet.

When you’re networking like a pro and treating new contacts as future referral partners, you’ll absolutely blow away any competitors who still feel compelled to meet as many people as they possibly can. Why? Because when you call your contacts back, they’ll actually remember who you are and be willing to meet with you again.

2Jun2014

How to Meet the RIGHT Peoplestring(28) "How to Meet the RIGHT People"

A networking event is not–I repeat not–designed to bring strangers together for the purpose of referring themselves to one another. Why would you refer yourself to someone you barely know? A typical networking event is designed to have people who don’t know one another meet and mingle. But for a networking event to be fully productive for you, you must meet the right people for the right reasons. Meeting the right people will make a positive impact on your business and give you a high return on your networking investment.

Image courtesy of jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So, at a networking event, how exactly do you identify the right people to meet? You do this by considering two types of individuals: those serving your preferred clients and those who have the potential to help you meet your business goals. Today I’d like to focus on looking at those who serve the same professional client as you. “Hey, aren’t those folks likely to be my competitors?” you might wonder. Not necessarily.

Consider these two examples:

Lorraine is a real estate agent whose preferred clients are retired home owners or empty nesters with assets over $1 million, who love to travel, are country club members, and seriously pamper their pets. Other suppliers for their services might include high-end salons and spas, professional landscapers, financial advisors, country club owners, travel agents, home-cleaning service providers, and pet resorts.
Tanya is the owner of a direct-mail company that targets colleges and universities. When Tanya could not determine who else serviced the decision makers at the university, her marketing coach asked her if she had a current client in that preferred market. She said yes. Then she was asked, “How well do you know her? Will she take your call? Would she grant you thirty minutes of her time?” Tanya emphatically replied, “Yes!” Her coach then suggested that she schedule a purposeful meeting and sit down with her to pick her brain on who she grants her time to and who else supports her needs.

Your preferred clients have many suppliers for their needs and it could be in your best interest to connect and build relationships with those other suppliers so, when networking, you want to focus on meeting these people. The answers to the questions that were asked of Tanya helped direct her to the people she should be searching for while networking. You can gain the same benefit by having a similar conversation with one of your preferred clients and asking questions like these: “Who else solves your daily problems?” ; “Who do you allow in the door?” ; “What companies do you call on when you need (product)?” ; “Whom do you trust when it comes to helping you (type of service)?”

At networking events, look for name tags that fit specific professional categories you’re seeking to cultivate. If you meet a professional who services your preferred client–and you like the individual as a person–consider this the first step in building a new relationship. If you build a trusting and giving relationship with someone who provides services for your preferred client market, it stands to reason that your referral potential will increase dramatically. Remember that in a true tri-win (that’s win-win-win) relationship, that person’s referral potential will also increase, and the client will get the best service possible.

Be sure to come back next week as I’ll be posting specifically about the other types of people you want to focus on meeting while networking–those who can help you meet your business goals.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear any stories you may have about how you successfully built a relationship with someone who serves the same professional client as you do and how that relationship has benefited you and/or the other service provider . Please share your experiences in the comment forum below–thanks!

20Feb2014

Jim Blasingame: ‘The Age of the Customer’string(53) "Jim Blasingame: ‘The Age of the Customer’"

I have been good friends with small business expert Jim Blasingame for over ten years and I can fully attest to the fact that his knowledge of what it takes to achieve success in small business is unparalleled (but don’t take my word for it, check out his bio below*). I am excited to announce that just a few weeks ago, he released a revolutionary new book that will change the way the we think about buying and selling.

This short video offers a quick overview of the premise of Jim’s newly released book, The Age of the Customer, which focuses on the momentous marketplace shift currently taking place that is affecting the way we all do business. Watch the video now to get a glimpse of what this significant marketplace shift means and to gain an awareness of the greatest danger it presents to business owners across the globe.

Knowledge is power and preparation is one of the greatest keys to success in business; The Age of the Customer arms you with the knowledge you need to prepare your business for lasting success. CLICK HERE FOR A FREE SAMPLE OF THE BOOK.

After watching the video, reading through the free book sample, or reading the entire book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Jim’s ‘Age of the Customer’ concept–please leave your feedback in the comment forum below. Thanks!

* Jim Blasingame is one of the world’s foremost experts on small business and entrepreneurship, and was ranked as the #1 small business expert in the world by Google. President and founder of Small Business Network, Inc., Jim is the creator and award-winning host of The Small Business Advocate^® Show, nationally syndicated since 1997. As a high-energy keynote speaker, Jim talks to small business audiences about how to compete in the 21st century global marketplace, and he talks with large companies about how to speak small business as a second language. A syndicated columnist and the author of three books, including Small Business Is Like a Bunch of Bananas and Three Minutes to Success, which have sold almost 100,000 copies combined; his third book, The Age of the Customer^TM launched on January 27, 2014.

23Jan2014

Branding Small Business for Dummiesstring(35) "Branding Small Business for Dummies"

January 23, 2014

Ivan Misner

Brand Building, Branding for Dummies, Free Book, Raymond Aaron, small business Author, Book, Brand Building, Business, Competition, Educational Resources, Recommendation, Video Blog 6

While in Mexico for a TLC conference, I had the opportunity to talk to my very good friend Raymond Aaron about his book, “Branding Small Business for Dummies,” and why it’s so important for small businesses to build their brand. Unfortunately, it’s a common misconception that branding is something only large corporations need to focus on and this video outlines the key points regarding what small businesses really need to know in relation to branding. For example, if you don’t build your brand on purpose, it get’s built for you and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Watch the video now to learn how to use branding to differentiate yourself from your competitors and to find out how to easily get a free digital download of Raymond’s book, “Branding Small Business for Dummies.” I can’t recommend this book highly enough and if you are familiar with it, I’d love for you to share your take on the book in the comment forum below–thanks!

2Dec2013

How to Get an Edge and Stand out in the Networking Worldstring(56) "How to Get an Edge and Stand out in the Networking World"

December 2, 2013

Ivan Misner

attitude, Edge, Position, Referrals, relationships, standing out, Status Competition, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep, Networking Tactics, Visibility 4

To some businesspeople, networking is something to try when they’re hurting for business. However, networking is actually a primary strategy for generating business relationships that lead to more referrals. When done correctly, networking is a proactive strategy for business growth, not a reaction to slow business.

I think the most important single idea in networking is to do what others don’t. Doing what others don’t gives you an edge. It can position you head and shoulders above your competition. It helps you stand out in a positive way and, when you do, people are attracted to you and your business, and your success grows stronger, deeper and more durable.

So go beyond the norm. Take the time to gather information for improving your business by getting straightforward feedback from people. This will help you identify your business’s strengths and weaknesses so you can take corrective action. Some more ideas that most people don’t take the time or effort to implement are:

Adopt the attitude of a host at networking mixers
Use your influence and professional status to help members of your network solve problems
Learn to specifically ask for referrals
Take every opportunity to educate yourself on how to better your business and your networking efforts

What is something you do to go beyond the norm and do what most people don’t when it comes to your networking efforts? There are so many things you can do to stand out from the crowd and I’d really love to hear your ideas. Thanks!

6Sep2012

Raymond Aaron on Brand Creation & Brand Polishingstring(54) "Raymond Aaron on Brand Creation & Brand Polishing"

September 6, 2012

Ivan Misner

Attracting Clients, Brand Creation, Brand Polishing, building business, competitors, Double Your Income Doing What You Love, July 2012, Ocean of Sameness, Raymond Aaron, wealth Brand Building, Business, Competition, Credibility, Marketing/Sales, Video Blog, Visibility, Writing 1

I had the pleasure of recording this video with my good friend Raymond Aaron while in Canada for the TLC (Transformational Leadership Council) Conference at the end of July and this is a must-see video for anyone wanting to build their business (which, if you’re reading this blog, more than likely describes you).

Raymond says that if you’re having difficulties attracting the clients and the wealth that you want, it’s very likely that this is due to the fact that you’re in an ‘ocean of sameness.’ In other words, you might know how you’re different than your competitors and your clients may very well know it too, but to everyone else out there in the world looking at you, you look the same as every other professional that does what you do.

Watch the video to learn about the easiest way to differentiate yourself using brand creation and brand polishing so you can get out of the ‘ocean of sameness’ for good.

Also, be sure to visit www.Aaron.com to get a FREE copy of Raymond’s book, Double Your Income Doing What You Love.

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