Working together with other entrepreneurs is the foundation to building a successful business that will grow and prosper. Too often, entrepreneurs and business people choose to create enemies with their competition. Instead of cutting off a helpful connection, why not work together, learn from each other, and both work hard to build your businesses?

Don’t Badmouth Other Companies

One of my biggest pet peeves is when entrepreneurs badmouth other companies. I see this happen at many networking functions, public speeches, and leads groups. A business owner will get up and literally say their business is the best, and all other companies are terrible. When I hear someone make a statement putting down another business I am immediately appalled and will most likely not do business with the company bashing others.  Even if I know another company has a poor reputation, I am not going to go out and say they are a terrible company to all of my peers. Instead I might say: “There are a lot of other great companies, and here are a few reasons why we’ve been successful.” This is seen as taking the high road and customers will more than likely go with your business because they see you as trusting and honest.

Excel In Areas Your Competition Needs Work On

Immediately after graduating from college I owned and ran a small print shop. Running the shop taught me a great deal about customer service. People would commonly call in and ask about our printing services. They’d let me know they were unhappy with the service or quality of another company and that they’d like to hear about what we had to offer. They might often bash that other company, but I’d never tell them not to use them or say they are a bad business. I honestly don’t know the situation over at the other business and can’t speak on their behalf. You don’t want to spread rumors or bad feedback about other companies. Simply acknowledge the information and let the client know how you will do your best to create a positive experience for them.

Sometimes you’ll hear feedback about a competing company. It might be good, or it might not be so good. If it is positive feedback, send a note to the other company or tell the owner that you’ve heard good things about them lately. If it isn’t great feedback, think about what you’ve heard and make sure your business doesn’t have the same pitfalls as your competition. Excel in those areas and you will increase your sales. If you’ve heard an abundance of negative feedback about another company, use it to your advantage and improve your business from it.

Build Alliances

Building alliances with similar businesses in your industry will also help your bottom line. As a printer, there were some services we offered that others didn’t, and vice versa. When I couldn’t offer a service, I’d refer the client to another company that did provide the service. Referring a little business to another printer won us brownie points with our competition. Whenever the other printer didn’t have open press time or had a customer that needed a service they didn’t provide we were the first contact they would call. On the same note, often times we’d have last minute orders and would run out of a certain color of ink or specific supplies for the job. We’d call another print shop late into the night and they’d save our deadline by letting us borrow ink or supplies that we’d otherwise have to order and wait a few days for. Working together with businesses in our industry proved to be a win-win in all situations.

Importance of Referrals and Complementing Your Competition’s Products or Services

Another example that comes to mind about the importance of working together has to do with the medical field. I’ve seen a great deal of bickering back and forth between medical doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, and other professionals. Feuds indefinitely arise from time to time between clinics and offices. Often times a PT will tell a patient the Doctor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The patient will hear this and relay the message to the Doctor. This creates enemies and is not good for the trained professionals or the patient. If the doctors and professionals could work together everyone would be better off. The PT could work on exercises to improve the injury, the chiropractor could work on preventative maintenance, and the doctor could provide the best possible care or diagnosis for the problem. Working together also increases leads among professionals. I’ve noticed that people who do work together and realize the benefits of each professional’s services are more successful. When a PT sees a patient that could use chiropractic services, they should recommend it to the patient. Often times a chiropractor will see a patient who’d be better off with rehabilitative services from a PT. If this is the case pass a referral to a local physical therapy clinic. Realizing the benefits of each other’s services will help your business, build trust, and provide the best possible care for your patients.

Synopsis

I know for a fact there are many other companies competing with our businesses that do an excellent job as well. I think it is important to acknowledge there are other awesome companies out there, and then sell potential customers on yours by letting them get to know you and your company. Giving positive light to other companies will show that you are honest, willing to work to win business from the client, and are trustworthy.

It’s not always easy to work together or to take the high road. However, passing leads and making friends with other business owners and companies in your industry are keys to building a successful, trustworthy, and transparent business. Take the time to learn about other businesses so you can work together, pass business back and forth, and rely on each other in the event that you can’t make a deadline or fit in that extra patient. You may even be able to collaborate on big projects and work toward common goals you couldn’t achieve on your own.

Best of luck with your business and Think Entrepreneurship reminds you to  follow your passion…

Pete Sveen is a blogger with ThinkEntrepreneurship.com and owner of an E-commerce store named SignsoftheMountains.com. Pete is passionate about entrepreneurship and inspiring others to start their own businesses.