How Build Relationships with your Competitors

Building relationships with your competitors can seem to be a hard decision. There are no two ways about it: a competitor is a competitor. A competitor is why you get up early and go to bed late.  Competitors are why you sharpen your knowledge and improve yourself daily.

A competitor is why you employ only the best, take your marketing to the next level, and want to lead.

In this context, your motivation, the reason behind your hard work, and your consistent climb to the top are because of competitors.

You have probably been told otherwise by people who have never ventured into this world or know nothing about how things are run, that you should fight your competition or keep them in your black book. However, you should take it from someone who has been there that competition should be drawn closer and not pushed away.

Have you ever heard of the quote, “Keep your competitors at arm’s length”? Well, here it is. 

Even the objective of Porter’s five forces model is to assess the overall competitive landscape of your business sector. This involves studying your competitors; to do this, you must keep them close.

This article is focused on helping you build relationships with your Competitors to keep your dreams up in two phases,

1. Preparing to approach your competitor – 

where you must first;

• Find your common grounds
• Approach your competitor with confidence
• Approach your competitor when it feels right
• If you must, create contrived coincidences.

And 

  2. What to discuss with Your competitor – in;

• Talk similarities 
• Talk Business
• Discuss achievements 
• Commend their achievements sincerely. 

The first thing to do is

Preparing to Approach your Competitor

Find Your Common Grounds.

You can link this to having a solid foundation before laying bricks. If it takes weeks or months of questioning and research to know what you have in common, make this wise investment. 

Permit me to liken this to building a building. Having something in common is like having all the materials ready for building.

With the materials ready, the next step is to get your builders. 

Approach your competitor with confidence

Relative to the building example, getting competent builders is the same as approaching with confidence. Now that you already have things you can relate to, the next step isn’t to leave things as they are.

The next step is to do the right thing with this information—to walk up to your competitor and talk about these things. This way, you will not only know what your competitors like, but you can also glimpse their way of thinking.

Approach when it feels right

People say do it when it feels right; I’ll advise that we go with what people say and walk up to them when it feels right because confidence is one thing, and gut feelings are another. 

As the police call it, intuition. Don’t make a move if you don’t feel right about it.

This way, no matter the aura or wall your competition built, you have the guts to keep going and eventually warm your way into their hearts.

Create contrived coincidences

If you must, create contrived coincidences

It is not all that to approach when it feels right or to approach with confidence and enough topics to discuss. 

Another thing to consider is the environment. Feeling right is one thing, but being in the right environment is an entirely different thing that is rare – considering you haven’t spoken on friendly terms before. 

So, create contrived coincidences to make the environment feel right.  Read also: Debunking The Biggest Misconceptions About Being an Entrepreneur or CEO

What to Discuss with Your Competitor 

Talk similarities

 This is easier, considering it is the first thing you will discuss with your competitor – if you are a natural. 

Discuss obvious similarities, and then mention things you discovered for your research during the discussion. You don’t want him getting suspicious.

Talk business

You don’t want your competition to see you as all work and no play. 

Approaching your competition (Mr. Xavier) in a lighter mode and discussing your similarities is not enough. 

You have to discuss the on-opus and the business you both do. You can now invite Mr Xavier for a coffee or a get-together because your relationship has developed up to that stage. 

Discuss achievements

Mr Xavier would have started to open up to you at this stage. This is where you talk about your achievements and have Mr Xavier discuss his. 

You must note that not all competition can be befriended, and at this point you will know if you should continue trying or retreat undercover. 

The reason is simple: not everyone knows that competition is a good drive, so many people still believe a competitor should remain an enemy. If Mr Xavier still has these thoughts, he will only grow suspicious with every move. 

His body language and tone of communication will show what he thinks. 

Does he always find an excuse to leave you?

Does he divert all your questions, or does he answer them?

You can find more questions here and how to answer them. 

Also, body signs and their meanings.

Commend their achievements sincerely: 

Commend their achievements sincerely

Sincerity can be sniffed from 2 miles away, especially with someone still suspicious of your motive for approaching.

Your sincerity dispels every thought of rivalry and opens a 

 It is one thing to discuss; it is another to appreciate. Learn from customer relations. The most efficient way to maintain a relationship is to appreciate each other. 

Your relationship with your competitor has developed up to the friendship stage. Mr Xavier will invite you out in a week. Read also: The Top 10 Communication Skills to have to be a Successful-Entrepreneurs

Examples of successful collaborations with competitors and partnerships

Collaboration with rivals may seem odd. However, there are plenty of instances of partnerships that have been successful in diverse industries. These partnerships have frequently produced breakthroughs in technology, better products and services for consumers, and better performance for the companies that are.

One successful example of rival collaboration is the one between Apple and Samsung. Although they are fierce rivals in the smartphone market, Apple has long relied on Samsung for its supply of OLED screens, which are crucial elements in many of Apple’s products. As a result, Samsung has benefited from this business relationship, which has helped boost its growth and innovation.

An additional example is the alliance formed between BMW, Daimler, and the Volkswagen Group. These three firms have joined forces to invest in several initiatives, including an electric vehicle charger infrastructure and sharing mobility services. The three companies can solve many issues of developing and deploying innovative technologies while sharing expertise and costs.

In the field of healthcare, there are competitors. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer partnered to create and launch the drug Eliquis, which can be used to treat blood clots. Through pooling their expertise and resources they were successful in bringing the drug to market much faster and efficaciously than they would have independently. The collaboration has proven to be a huge success as Eliquis grows to become one of the top-selling medications around the globe.

These are only a few examples of successful partnerships and collaborations with competitors. Although each partnership is different, however, they all have a common dedication to transparency and collaboration, as well as a focus on common objectives and benefits. When they embrace these values by working in tandem, companies will be able to create new opportunities to grow, innovate, and achieve.

Conclusion

In conclusion, It’s good progress to know that you have a change of mind concerning who your competition is and are willing to take that first step towards building a relationship with Mr Xavier. 

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