Maxim #37
Never knock the competition
It’s very tempting to knock your competition. We recently had a large competitor suggest to a mutual prospect that our head office was only a “town house.” This was a not-too-subtle way to highlight that we did not have their size and scope. The prospect subsequently told us about it. He also said how petty it seemed and how badly it reflected on the other firm. It was obviously not the way our competitor wanted that punch to land. (Note: our head office is actually a heritage building constructed in 1857). Some people knock their competition even when attempting to come across as supportive or complimentary. This tactic is surprisingly transparent. It’s a little like when you ask someone in a job interview what they think their main weakness is and they respond with something like: “working too many hours in a day.” People instinctively and immediately sense that there is something disingenuous about the statement. No matter how you try to cloak your intentions, anything other than genuine respect for your competition makes you look weaker.Knocking your competition always comes across as self-serving. But it is an easy trap to fall into. We have done it ourselves. In fact, to illustrate this maxim, we knocked our competition in the very first paragraph.
