Fear or Embrace?
Dave Evans of Digital Voodoo posted an article about corporate reactions to tag-along service providers.
In business, a gap in service may be noticed by some enterprising entrepreneur, and the next thing you know, they are up and running, providing a service or product to your hard-won customers.
Viewed from two different perspectives, these new-comers are either leaches or innovative new partners.
Who would you rather do business with?
- Someone who is fearful and squashes businesses they suspect of taking something away from them; or
- Someone who collaborates with businesses who invent a new use of your service?
Seems an easy choice to me.
Dave has two very recent examples of this in his article, MySpace.com and Southwest Airlines.
When your team is faced with competition, which tactic do they choose first?
The knee-jerk reaction is usually fear and attack. Can you help them choose again? The greater good might be to team up with the competition or buy them.
Joining is more profitable for everyone than separation.
Just a few extra reasons joining is more profitable for everyone than separation:
- No one wants to do business with vicious people.
- Attorney’s fees to set up a cooperative agreement are a small percent of attorney’s fees to litigate.
- PR value of showing your market an open and confident face is worth millions more than showing your market a scowl and bare teeth.
- You can’t recruit innovators to work for you and engage their best talents when they know you are vicious. They stay away, and you fade away.
- Ghost story an imaginary competitor who has just ripped the guts out of a small business who dared tread too close. Pretty easy, huh?
- Ghost story an imaginary competitor who behaves ethically. Pretty hard, isn’t it?
- I could go on, but there are other topics I want to write about…
Reader (RSS)
Email