Why You Should Befriend Your Competitors
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU:
ARE YOU BEFRIENDING YOUR COMPETITORS?
'CAUSE YOU TOTALLY SHOULD BE AND HERE'S WHY:
1. CAPACITY
As service providers we have a max on how many clients we can take at once. Which means our competitors do too. If you're at capacity (and don't want to waitlist new inquiries or the inquire can't wait) by knowing and having a relationship with your competitors you can recommend clients to them
2. NOT A MATCH
I know you're the bee's knees but every now and then we get leads who come our way that may not be the right fit for a few reasons:
They may have problems that your competitor is more of an expert at solving. Maybe you're a designer and they want a new brand but it requires a lot of illustration (which you're not great at) so you recommend your competitor
Someone may be your competitor because of the skills they offer, but you may not view them as a direct competitor because they charge at a different price point. If a lead comes to you and can't afford your price range (like it's way off for them) then you can recommend them to a competitor who is in their price range
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I was a doula. I'm gonna toot my horn and tell you I became very successful very quickly and before long had a 6 month waitlist. Now, the thing with working with pregnant people is they mos def have a deadline and can't always be waitlisted. So. I would regularly refer out clients who I couldn't take to my peers who I had cultivated a relationship with.
I'll be straight up and tell you there were a few Mean Girls in town and guess what? I NEVER referred to them. Why? Because I figured if they couldn't be bothered to act with integrity and professionalism toward me (their competitor), I couldn't expect them to treat my people well either.
That being said, other than our world just generally needing a little more freakin' human kindness these days, what else are the benefits of being pals with the competition?
That lead that wasn't a good fit? Or you couldn't help because you were at capacity? They'll remember and be oh so grateful to you for connecting them with someone that could help them. So they may still refer you when someone needs your services
Your competitor is more likely to to return the favor and send clients your way who they can't work with <--- this is HUGE, bae!
You can talk to your competitors about having a "finders fee" aka a "kickback." If you send them a client they'll pay you a finders fee and it can go both ways! Win-win
And I'll reiterate: it's plain smart to develop goodwill around your industry. Much much better to be known as someone always willing to help a sister out than someone who's always trying to one-up the competition or, worse, catty (we DO NOT need more of that stereotype plz)
What do you think? Does it make you uncomfortable thinking about being buds with your competition? Do you accept my challenge?