Defeating the competition is not a rallying cry

- We're going to obliterate them. We're going to steal every ounce of their margin. We're going to make those guys worry about their mortgages. Kill the competition. It is a common rallying cry, and it might work in the short term, but, long term, it's actually detrimental to performance. Focusing on killing the competition instead of winning customers typically leads to two major problems. The first one is short term thinking. Now imagine someone is pitching you a product. They focus on why their product is better than the other guy. They poke holes in the competitor's features. They go through the products side by side for you. For them the win is beat the competition. Now, a second sales rep comes in. They ask you about your business, your objectives, your pain points, and how they can add value to you. They link the solution to the problems you're facing, and the metrics you're evaluated on. Their win is to help you. Which of those two stories is more compelling? You know, even if the kill the competition rep wins the deal they haven't thought about the customer. They haven't gathered any customer intelligence, and their relationship is virtually non-existent, and it's not just in sales. That second narrative about customer impact? Well, that will play out in operations, in marketing, in innovation, and virtually every facet of the business. Now the second dire consequence of that kill the competition narrative is an erosion of long term value. When you're only focused on killing the competition behavior and thinking becomes very reactionary. You're not strategic. You fail to see the big picture. Take Blockbuster for example. They were so focused on beating Hollywood Video that it led them to offer overpriced candy at their checkout line, and discounted weekend rentals. But Netflix was focused on delivering at home entertainment, and that led them to redefine the entire industry. You know, thinking like this is why HubSpot says competitor obsession is a distraction. They say it in their culture code. Your organization, and your team, well they have to stand for something. It can't just be against something else, but that doesn't mean competition is all bad. In fact, competition can be quite healthy because, you see, when your team is dialed into their customer's world the mere thought of someone else helping your customers will make their hearts burn. So, if you're serious about delivering on your purpose, and you truly believe that you can do it better than anyone else your team will become relentless in the pursuit of sales, innovation, operational effectiveness, whatever their area of control is. The difference is the relentless focus in the service of your customers because tenacious pursuit in the service of customer impact will always prevail.