Bloggers network with their competition. It’s an interesting concept. They associate themselves with people that are in businesses just like their own. Not only do they associate with their competition, they help each other by promoting each others products.
Think about that for a minute. They send customers away from their business to purchase something from their competition. Immediately, one might think this is a bad thing. The reason it works, however, is their competition will do the same in return. Boggers are promoting each others products, each others business.
There are ways in which this could work for offline businesses. Now I know what you are thinking. There is no way I am going to send my customer to my competition. I will lose my customer. The interesting thing about this is that just the opposite will happen.
Let’s say a customer comes in your store looking for something that you are currently out of stock on or do not carry at all. If it’s possible, you will offer to order it for them. If ordering the item is not possible though, what do you do? More than likely you tell the customer that you do not have the product and cannot get it. The customer leaves the store disappointed and wondering where to go to find what they need.
Let’s say that you are part of a network of similar businesses. The same situation as described above happens. Now what do you do? You explain to the customer that you do not have the product and cannot get it but that you think you know where they can get it, referring them to a competitor that is part of your network. The customer then leaves your store happy and appreciative of the information you shared with them.
This customer will go to the competitor you recommended to buy the product. They are not going to take all their business to the competitor however. They are going to be loyal to you because you cared enough to help them find what they were looking for. You took the time to develop a relationship with that customer.
Let’s face it. We are all in business to make money. Just because someone is a competitor doesn’t mean they have to be “the enemy”. In fact, just the opposite should happen. If you refer customers back and forth within your network, the dollars being spent are at least staying within the network. In the example described above, that customer is going to buy somewhere. They cannot buy from you so why not send them to someone in the network.
Developing a relationship with your competition can be beneficial for all concerned. If done properly, it benefits you, your competitor and most importantly the customer. Go out and develop relationships with you competition. You may be surprised by what it does for your business.
