Being in the list with your competition
February 19, 2008
People make decisions based on comparison.
You, your product, or your business are always being compared against something. It could be an industry standard, a previous supplier, or your competition. Those of you that have ever received a RFP (request for proposal) from a large company understand this intimately.
If you should ever get another RFP and you know that you are not in the top 3 choices. Don’t submit it.
First, if you are competing in a category where you are 4th or 5th, I would suggest finding a niche where you can dominant. You’ll be happier in the long run.
Second, an organization who is faced with too many choices won’t spend time analyzing all of them. They will spend their time on the top players and use the ‘bottom-half’ of the list for other things. Like negotiation of price… The prospect may be telling you that you are in the game, but if you aren’t in the top 3 choices, run away.
The issue is not competing. Everyone is competing with someone. You want to find your niche in which are competing from a position of strength, not of weakness.
