Comments on: Put Your Competitors On Your Speed Dial

By: WebWorkerDaily » Archive 5 Ways to Keep Your Competitive Edge «

WebWorkerDaily » Archive 5 Ways to Keep Your Competitive Edge « — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:00:47 +0000

[...] have enough skills for a specific job, or when I’m simply overbooked when they need me. An article over at Freelance Folder suggests the same thing as well, but with a great catch – you should get a deal with your [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:56:27 +0000

@kam

That’s why people have to overcome the fear :-) Customers can smell it.

By: kam

kam — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:20:28 +0000

great tips specially regarding making deals although most dealers are probably scared of loosing customers and they will prob not do this.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:06:20 +0000

@Gary –

What goes around comes around. Even if you pass on a customer to someone who can meet their needs more closely, that customer will get the word out about you.

By: Find your Deal-Breakers and Fix Them to Capture more Sales - Zoomstart

Find your Deal-Breakers and Fix Them to Capture more Sales - Zoomstart — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 02:59:43 +0000

[...] at what the competition is offering. It’s always good to keep your eye on the competiton. What’s working for them? What’s not? You can benefit from their experience [...]

By: Gary - Awareness

Gary - Awareness — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:13:53 +0000

Great advice. When I had customers calling who were looking for a product that a competitor was better suited to provide, I called up their sales person myself. Then called the potential customer back with the information on what to order. I just thought of it as good service and that they would be inclined to call me first next time.

I didn’t get a cut from the deal, but figured that my competitor would do the favor in kind over time. I just made sure my boss didn’t find out I wasn’t pushing our product on to the customer which is what he would have done.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:32:31 +0000

@New York –
Greetings from a fellow Brooklynite (Go Gerritsen!). Glad to hear of your success.

@Shane
Nice added point in your comment. Outsourcing is a great take on this as well, since you retain control (esp. with a non-poaching clause).

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:05:49 +0000

Hey Dave,

This is a great tactic.

It works really well if you have a strong relationship with a small competitor. If you don’t, the best thing to do is broker/manage the business…

Basically, you take the orders from the customer (and payment), and you outsource the job to a competitor. A lot of companies do this because they stay in total control of the customer account. And they put together an anti-compete contract with the competitor to prevent them from “stealing” the customer.

Good stuff!

By: Custom New York Web Design

Custom New York Web Design — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:08:35 +0000

Great post. That’s exactly what I am doing right now. One of the cool benefits is that I have more confidence taking on bigger clients because I know I can refer them to another company.