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Guest post by: Jim Bouchard Become an Author

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What’s the competition doing? Who cares! The important thing is what you’re doing, right here and right now.

Before I’m accused of complete naiveté, there are some times when it’s informative, and even some isolated times when it’s important to know what the competition is up to. The problem is that too many people let the competition dictate action. Instead of responding to the competition, let the competition respond to you!

There’s a vast difference between competitive spirit and competitive obsession. I’m all for competitive spirit. To me this means I’m getting up in the morning and doing everything I can do to fully prepare myself to compete in personal and business life. It means I’m spending my time researching new techniques and opportunities, developing myself to perform at optimum levels and re-evaluating areas that need improvement or elimination.

Someone who is obsessed with competition wakes up and wonders how much the competition is charging today. Who is trying to make a move on my job? Who is spending the most on advertising? What is the competition saying about me?

My competitors may, on any given day, finish ahead of me. It will not be due to a lack of preparation, motivation, discipline or effort. That’s competitive spirit.

There’s a vast difference between power and force. For the purposes of this short article let’s just say that power is what you control, force is the attempt to control others.

I can’t control what the competition is charging for their services. I can control what I charge; more important, I can control what I give my customers as value for the price I charge. If you’re obsessed with the competition, you’re likely response to your competitor’s lower price would be to lower your price. When you’ve got competitive spirit, your response is to examine how to add value to your products and services. Do you want to be cheap, or do you want to be valuable?

I can’t control what my competitors are saying about me. I can control the message I’m delivering to my current and prospective customers. If you obsess over the competition in this area you’re presentations either refute or reinforce your competitors. When you cultivate competitive spirit, you emphasize the qualities of your products and services that make you unique.

Consider a prospect asking how you compare to the competition. Which is a more powerful answer?

“I know they guarantee lower prices, but you know that lower prices usually mean inferior service.”

Or…

“I really don’t know that much about what my competitors are willing to do for you, do you? I’ll assume that since you’re asking me about the competition, they probably didn’t leave you with a clear impression about what they’re willing to do.

“Let’s talk about what I can do for you. I know what my company can do, let’s talk about that.”

On any given day, my competition may defeat me with a better message. They will never defeat me because I did not have a message.

It’s really up to you. Which is more powerful? Do you want to be active or re-active? Do you want to commit your time and resources to warfare with your competition, or to the process of creating value for your customers?

Let the competition respond to you. When you’re prepared, your competitors better commit more resources to preparation. Offer value and let them try to match you. Make sure your message clearly communicates your value and let the competition ramp up to match your value.

I really don’t know what my competition is doing today. I know what I’m doing today.

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