I Like My Competition

Anyone who knows me knows that I appreciate good competition. If you didn’t have competitors, you wouldn’t need a strategy. Competition is an important part of the business landscape. It makes us all better.

In our industry, we face several different forms of competition. For example, in our copier business, most of our competitors are independently owned dealerships. In addition, the manufacturers that supply us can also be direct competitors. Fortunately, there are many good quality competitors in this marketplace, which has certainly been a motivator for me to build a better company.

Here are a few of the reasons why I like my competition:

  1. Good competition helps make the industry better.
    I don’t like it when I hear that one of our competitors has failed. I prefer when we all do well. (Of course, I want us to do better). The aggregate of good competitors makes for a good industry. One strong performer and a bunch of marginal players does nothing for an industry. For example, some of us remember the 80’s when Xerox was the dominant copier manufacturer. In fact, we even called a photocopier a "Xerox machine." Over time competition evolved, improving performance and driving down cost. This is just one case where good competition redefined the industry, and I’m sure you can think of many more examples.
  2. Good competition helps make us better.
    If I am going to lose, I’d prefer to lose to competition that sells on value, not price. It usually means some elements of their performance exceed ours. It challenges us to understand and focus on the specific value we need to bring to our customers. For example, we were asked by several customers to support a 24/7 operation with our client services help desk. This has proven to be a good decision because it expands our relationships with our existing customers and creates opportunities for new clients. 
  3. Good competition knows their costs.
    Every industry has low ball competitors. They deflate the value of products and services and can bring down the market. Good competitors understand the hard and soft costs of delivering a strong customer experience. They have figured out the right staff and resources to serve customers well and price their services accordingly. Consistently being the low price leader is not a sustainable business model. A better option is to know your costs, make a fair margin and sell on value and competency.

We certainly have a number of solid local competitors that perform very well in our industry. As I mentioned earlier, if you didn’t have competitors, you would have no need for a business strategy. I like my competition because it helps make Marco a better company.