Beat the Rest. Be the Best.

Guy has some new rules for revolutionaries. And as usual they’re hilarious as well as informative. How to drive your competition crazy. I have always welcomed competition. I don’t want to be a single player in a market. Sure, if I’m honest, then I do feel a twinge of sadness when I hear of one, but I feel a stronger urge to be better than the competition, as Guy quotes:

“The purpose of competition is not to beat someone down, but to bring out the best in every player.”— Walter Wheeler

You don’t win sales by telling your customers how bad your competition is. You win by admitting their strengths but also acknowledging your own and not only making a compelling offering but also delivering on it.

Guy’s penultimate point, Turn the competition into allies I exercise in my day job. We turn away PC work to a selected few PC companies and in return we get their Mac work. Even one of the local Mac IT companies bring their customers Macs to us to get fixed. They offer a value-added solution (or maybe they just charge more than we do).

We’re not doing too bad in the other areas either. We have a small team of evangelists who push people our way. But again, evangelists are not important when you’re the only player in the market.

How to avoid being driven crazy?

• Be the best. (Ask yourself?)
• Be Patient. (Impatient people cut corners)
• Love your work. (Enthusiasm is infectious)
• Laugh at your mistakes. (Everyone else will)
• Smile. (You’ve got 10 seconds to catch attention)

It’s a pretty tall order to be honest. I love it when my local user group talks positively about us. I hate rushing into things. I trust people to do their job (and one of the guys said to a friend he’d walk over hot coals for me….that sort of comment makes me feel proud and indebted to my employees). I laugh at my mistakes, but I’ll make sure the customer laughs louder and longer. And I greet everyone with a smile. 10 seconds after dealing with the most infuriating person on the planet (hmmmm, yes), I’m smiling again. Believe it or not, I can be quite charming.

I was meant to be at the pub tonight but stayed in to watch Memoirs of a Geisha with a friend. Great film but I was the only one awake by the end. I’m a big fan of Michelle Yeoh. I digress.

The essence of driving your competition crazy is grace.

Show some grace. Be classy. Be a sport. Acknowledge greatness. Try harder tomorrow. If you act petulantly, you encourage petulance.